Petrol Hedge Cutter

Also some machines will have a petrol mix of 25:1

 

I have used a Shindaiwa 230 had it over 15 years but they still appear to make them. Only have the hedge cutter attachment for the multi tool. I would highly recommend the bar on a boom. It massively reduced hedge cutting time as I can now cut faces over 12ft high before needing a ladder. You can also adjust the angle of the bar to this way you can cut tops and your hands do not have to be right against the hedge face. A large cutting bar is also extremely handy to speed the job up, and do not go for a single sided cutting bar (not sure if you can still get them). The only things I would recommend are health and safety related. 2 stroke engines are very noisy the engine is close to you make sure you have a good set of ear defenders that are comfortable (I use a over ear set). Also if you are using for a good few hours straight, use the strap, it helps take the weight of the machine onto your body, they are not that heavy but when cutting for 3 hours straight your arms will know it! Lastly be careful when cutting for long periods of time, they can have quite a lot of high frequency vibration. At the end of the day, the ends of your fingers might be tingly (white noise) it normally goes away within a few hours, and if only a couple of times a year it should be fine. But if you are using it all the time as a professional, more expensive models probably have better anti vibration mounts

 

Don't be put off with two stroke, it is very easy to mix the fuel, some people I know mix it in a 5L petrol can (probably only worth it if you are going to use it in 6 months or less) But it takes about 30 seconds to mix a litre which is plenty for a full days cutting.

I have an Oregon cordless chainsaw with two batteries it only gives me about 1 hour cutting time before both are exhausted (can be irritating chopping logs). I suspect a hedge trimmer will suffer similar issues but be far more frustrating. I think most cordless hedge trimmer unless going for Stihl, you will find have smaller bars and less power than two stoke models

Whichever power source you choose, look for the ability for other attachments. Two stroke multi tools often have various other useful tools you might want. Equally Oregon and Stihl definitely use the same batteries across many different tools so you can just buy more tools later as the batteries are half the cost.

 

I use a Stihl 545 which is fabulous. Ok it isn't the cheapest on the market BUT it's as light as the proverbial feather (important for me as I bust my shoulder a few year back and detached a few tendons in the process so not that strong in the shoulder dept). It uses fuel a la JWK, starts 1st time even after having sat all winter doing not a lot and can cut through fairly hefty Beech branches. I have had a few cheaper types over the years and found they weren't very strong, blunted quickly of were bu..ers to start, another thing not the best for my shoulder. Cutting the various hedges used to be dreaded but not now. Picture is of our "lollypops" which I don't like much but are extremely useful for slowing down the odd idiot driver who never thinks something could be coming the other way. There are 9 "lollipops" which used to take all day to cut, now about 2 hours does the trick. Photo taken in the early spring so the lollies hadn't been cut for a while but still looking fairly neat.

 

I'm with @silu on this one. Buy a Stihl. I use an HS45 with a 60cm blade. Light and well balanced, so easy to use. Its also the only one I've had that will trim my Siberian Pea hedge! The very first I had, a Black and Decker mains electric lasted a metre with that..as did the second that replaced it under warranty.

 

Petrol for me. A 30 year old heavy beast that only has one setting as its faulty and that is on fast only. Takes me an hour to cut a hedge that a "profesional " and his mate spent 5 hours on.
Mind u when im finished i look like im about to have a heart attack,but the hedge looks good.