The hedge to be cut has been well established over a number of decades and is mostly made up of holly and ivy, with some other shrubs. It is over six feet tall. Yes I know I'm mixing up my metric and imperial measurements - we Brits are known for this, please don't hold it against me.
Whilst using the cordless hedge trimmer we found the 4 position adjustable articulated head, enabled the blade to be angled to cut cleanly across the top of the hedge, or at any angle. Even though this was above head height. My sister being taller than me did this task, I stood back letting her know if she missed anything! I think you will agree from the before and after photos above the hedge looks defined and much tidier.
Using the adjusted head of the hedge trimmer for perfect angles
My father called by for a visit (he must of heard there was a new power tool in town)and of course he could not resist.He was most impressed with how much had been completed without ladders. My father has used cordless hedge trimmers in the past, and commented on how light the Ryobi Hedge Trimmer was. In fact he has since borrowed it for his garden too.
A few days earlier one of my neighbours was out using his petrol powered trimmer - what a racket unlike the Ryobi Cordless Hedge Trimmer which was significantly quieter and neighbor friendly. I love…
- the staying power. I was totally surprised by, firstly it only took just under 2 hours to charge the battery and secondly the hedge trimmer just kept on going. I have metres of hedge and shrubbery, it did it all, still with power left. There is no guess work to the battery life, you can see a light indicating how much power the battery has left.
- although it was reasonably straight forward to set up and use, as someone who has never used a cordless hedge trimmer both myself and my sister were reasonably apprehensive.
- Easier and clearer instructions would have helped. The pictorial guides in the manual are three quarters of the way in, after some general written maintenance and care instructions in multiple languages, with no reference made to refer to them. In my opinion the pictorial guides should of been first in the manual, or referred to. We are both risk averse when it comes to diy and gardening with power tools. That said once we had gotten used to it - all was well.
- for all gardeners even if you have less confidence with power tools this is manageable. Exceedingly useful to trim taller hedges and giving a crisp clean sculptured look to your hedges.
- The +One range of Ryobi cordless tools uses one battery pack that can be interchanged to power over 40 different power and garden tools. So you can add to you staple collection of diy and garden tools with never having to buy multiple battery packs and chargers.
- It took under 2 hours to charge the battery.
- Blade length 50cm
- Weight with battery 3.73kg
As with all power tools ensure you use the necessary safety equipment recommended.
Disclosure: I received the Ryobi Cordless Extended Reach Hedge Trimmer, charger and battery for the purpose of this review.