On 22/07/2012 08:10, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sun, 22 Jul 2012 00:30:44 +0100, Lobster
wrote:

Does such a thing exist? Seems odd to me but I'm struggling to find any
long-reach hedge-trimmers which aren't petrol/electric/rechargeable... I
can reach all the furthest-away bit of my hedges with my existing kit,
but there's a narrow strip which is beyond my reach regardless of any
combination of ladders etc, and I don't want/need the hassle/expense of
anything other than some form of manual shears just to do those bits.
Distance would be about 1.5-2m I suppose?

Try Googling for 'long-handled shears'.

Done that, I can assure you!

for lawn edging shears, with the cutting blades at an angle to the
handles, but these ones maybe helpful: http://tinyurl.com/cbbvzth

I do have some edging shears and use them as part of my "hedging kit"
but they aren't great to use and aren't quite long enough - and although
the ebay ones you've kindly flagged look the sort of thing I need,
they're apparently still under 1m, so I think unlikely to gain me much,
if anything.

The trouble with long-handled shears is that you have to spread the
handles very wide in order to get the blades to open a decent width,
which in effect shortens their reach, as well as having to flap your
arms a lot as if you're trying to fly!

Yes I know what you mean! I'd have hoped there might be something out
there with some sort of gear/cog arrangement at the blade pivot to
overcome that, but there's nothing I can find. Judging by the number of
motorised long-reach hedge trimmers out there I'd have thought there'd
have been a market for something like that, but seems not.

I use either long-reach loppers
or a long-handled pruner for getting at the bits of hedge I can't
reach, but you can only cut one stem at a time, which makes it rather
a slow process.

Yes, I do that one too; in fact it's the only way I've ever been able to
get the job done completely! I'm finding it increasingly time-consuming
and arduous to do it that way as I get older, and this year I've given
up I'm afraid, so the hedge concerned still has a Mohawk down the middle
- not a good look.

The only realistic option seems to be blowing £100 on long-reach
electric model; if the only alternative is paying someone to do it for
me I suppose it will be an economy in the long run...

David