Hedge Trimmer On a Pole

[MarkMac]

For years I’ve been using a cheap corded Harbor Freight $40 hedge trimmer. It tends to jam on the thicker twigs and spin the gears. Each time the gears grind, it jams a bit easier.

I’ve decided to upgrade.

I’m already bound to the Milwaukee brand, thanks to a loving wife who took me 100% literally when I asked for a Sawzall for Christmas and got me a bonafide cordless Milwaukee.


I live in Phoenix, and every spring I trim enough hedges to pack a 3-horse trailer floor to ceiling. Then I wait a year and do it again.

I’m also in my late 40s and while my back is in great shape, I definitely feel my years after a day bending over. I recently got a ‘carwash mitt on a wand’ and it was such a relief over the hand mitt, because I could stand upright and scrub my cars.


So upon looking at hedge trimmers, I see one that comes on a wand:

Versus traditional:

I’ve only ever used the traditional style. I just bend over at the waist to get low, and lift my arms overhead to get the hedges up high.

Initially I dismissed the pole trimmer because I don’t need the reach anything super high, BUT then it occured to me I could trim both high & low while keeping my back straight IF I get the pole trimmer.

The only drawback I see is the conventional trimmer will cut 1-1/4” thick and the pole is rated for 1” thick. The material I cut is under 1” thick.

I’m looking for any actual experience to prove/disprove my theory, before I just resign myself to staying conservative and getting the conventional non-pole version, since that’s all I know.

 

[ning]

I looked at the echo equivalent recently (though the echo is a lot lighter). That stick setup adds a lot of weight, though a harness may help. Given that my wife is the main hedge trimmer user (though not on hedges), I decided probably not use the pole version for now.

If I were you I'd go to a shop that carries them and pick one up, wave it around a bit, then imagine using it for an hour.

 

[mark in portugal]

I have a pole hedge cutter; it works great with a harness.
I made the harness out of a framed backpack; it has a pipe that goes from about my rib, up to just in front of my forehead, and down to the opposite rib.
You can buy similar things for a few hundred bucks.

The hedgecutter is suspended from the high hook, and you can swing it around with very little effort; it's great.
Holding the thing in the hand is ok for about 20 minutes (if you're strong). After that, it starts to hurt.

I just use it for the few spots I can't get to with my big hydraulic tractor mounted hedge cutter;