GardenBanter.co.uk - Overgrown privet hedge

On 15/06/2021 14:08, Nick Maclaren wrote:
I have a neighbour's privet hedge that is a pain in the, er, neck,
and need to cut it back. Unfortunately, over 30 years ago, I gave
away my mechanical hedgetrimmers because I wasn't strong enough in
the arms to use it safely. While the hedge has been trimmed since,
I need something that will go through a year's vigorous growth (say
1 cm plus) and preferably older stuff. I could handle a SHORT tool
with a long enough handle to get my hands 40+ cm apart.

The only possibilities I can find are polesaws and the Bosch Keo/Isio
and I am not convinced that either will handle such use. Has anyone
found a solution?

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

What is the height and length of the hedge?

My pole hedge trimmer (and old Titan from Screwfix) is very heavy and
awkward. I use it as little as possible, although it does the job on a
mixed hedge. Having said that, have a look at the Gtech HT20 (if you can
still get it). It is a lot lighter than mine and I reckon you could use
one hand to work the trigger and use the other to hold the pole itself.
It looks like it has enough power to deal with thickish branches. I
can't see the Bosch tool you mentioned operating as an effective hedge
trimmer as it would more than likely push thinner branches out of the
way rather than cut through them, BICBW.

Maybe the answer is to not DIY if you can find someone else to do the
job properly.

--

Jeff