Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Charlie Brown wrote:

I have just started my 2 weeks holiday and I need to clear my
garden
of 10 years worth of neglect (we have just moved in). To make
matters worse, I just cut through the cable of the hedge trimmer.
I
went to buy a petrol driven type but they didn't have one - the
guy
said he had plenty of chain saws. Question! what is the
difference
(apart from the obvious) between using a chain saw and a trimmer
for
doing the same type of work i.e. cropping back bushes and scrub
etc?
- will a chain saw TRIM a hedge?
I would appreciate a quick reply so that I can buy one tomorrow
and
save me a few days of my holiday!!

Be sure to buy a few spare legs, the odd spare arm and a spare neck
or two. Plus the odd gallon of blood. It is AMAZING what you can
cut through with a chainsaw.

Alternatively, you could go to an agricultural merchant or GOOD
garden centre, and buy some hand tools (shears, a billhook and/or
machete, a sickle (not a grass hook), a hand axe, some secateurs
and some loppers). Then drop in at the off-licence and stock up
on beer.

It's all a matter of taste, really.

What he said. If you have to ask, you don't want a chain saw. They
are absolutely not for trimming hedges. They're for cutting through
solid trunks and branches when you can see what you're doing, and
there's no small stuff in the way to deflect the machine into your
crutch. Full training and protective gear are basic essentials. The
man who tried to sell you one should be reported to the Trading
Standards Office, if not the Police.

In any case, trimming through flexible stuff in a hedge with one
wouldn't even work.

The DIY shed will sell you a cable connector for a couple of quid.

--
Mike.