In message , Charlie
Pridham writes
In article ,
says...
I am looking at buying a long reach hedge cutter and my fancy has been taken
by a Stihl combi system where one engine unit can have several attachments
like a long reach hedge cutter, or strimmer.

Do any of you use one of these? If so are they as good as a stand alone
machine? Or can you recommend any other brands/alternatives.

Mike



My son has the Stihl, and is very happywith it and uses it commercially,
I have a Roybi and allthough I have not got the long reach hedge cutter I
find the engine unit excellent, but that is purely domestic usage

I have the Viking (now Stihl) electric version of the Stihl long reach
trimmer with the longer of the two poles available. Having used it for
a couple of years I am happy with it. The extra weight over and above a
conventional trimmer takes a bit of getting used to at first but the
shoulder strap support is very useful for long runs of hedgerow. I find
it much faster and less effort to use on a lengthy run than my
conventional trimmer with a longer cutter bar. The only drawback that I
have encountered with the long reach unit is that it could do with a
longer cutter bar for cutting the tops of wide hedges.

If there had been a combi option with electric power I would probably
have gone for it to have the metal grass/brush cutter in addition to the
hedge trimmer but I don't have a need for the other options. AFAIK the
petrol power units for the combis are the same as those for the
standalone models and the weight difference is likely to be fairly
insignificant so I would have thought it comes down to a comparative
cost/do I need the various options question.

As a point of interest I have negotiated better prices on various bits
of kit from my (excellent) local Stihl dealer than I could find anywhere
online.

--
Robert