Yesterday I showed you my results, or lack thereof, attempting to trim off the top 2 feet of the previously neglected cedar hedge by the railing of our deck.
As you saw, the results of that effort were not pretty.
So, the next day I went to Home Depot to rent a more appropriate tool.
As fortune would have it, one of the tools the associate in the Home Depot Tool Rental area suggested was this one:
Sure, it is an electric trimmer, but one with both a much longer blade area than my small shrub trimmer. As well, you can see in the picture below that the space between the teeth of the blade area are twice as wide as that on the old Black and Decker shrub trimmer.
Why was this fortunate for me that I found it? Well, it regularly sells for something in the neighbourhood of $400. However, they were selling it to get a newer model and had it on sale for $150. I talked them down to selling it to me for $125. Even if it did not fully do the job this time, it would be fine to use once or twice a year going forward once my cedar hedge what all ship shape.
Now, my disappointment with this is that I found it very dangerous and cannot recommend it.
Sure, it works on an appropriately sized hedge, which according to the user guide is a maximum of 1/2 inch in diameter. However, the danger is that it was very difficult to handle.
Why?
Well, like most if not all hedge trimmers you need to depress two buttons to engage the cutting blade.
Where are the two buttons on the Little Wonder? Unfortuantely they are both placed right where one needs to grip this hedge trimmer.
One runs the full length of the area on the main handle that one grips to most effectively control this electric appliance. It is the black lever shown in the picture below.
The other one is 1/2 up the length of the side handle part way up the Little Wonder.
The problem is that these two area are precisely where, at least for me, one would hold this electric hedge trimmer when up on a ladder trying to position it before starting the cut.
Yes, there were a few small parts of the hedge which I did trim unintentionally because of this; there was just no way for me to stop holding onto these two handles as I was maneuvering the Little Wonder.
As well, because of the Little Wonder’s weight and my not-as-strong-as-they-used-to-be forearms and biceps many times I had no choice but to continue to hold onto these two areas and thus keep the blade working as I placed it on the top of the step ladder to take a break.
To me, this is a very dangerous tool if you are not really careful.
That aside, how did it work for me?
Select this to continue to the next article and see how the Little Wonder single edge hedge trimmer worked on our neglected and overgrown cedar hedge.
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Wow, thanks for the tip about the safety switch! The trimmer I have is a bit larger than your small one and it’s quite ancient. My grandfather owned it when he ran his hardware store back in the 1600s (or slightly more recently). It has *no* safety switch. However, the power trigger is located in it’s own little cowling so I can grip the tool without it running.
I look forward to see how your hedge turns out!
-Mike
Hey Mike,
Well, truth be told, to see how the hedge turns out you will need to wait a couple of years.
The next couple of articles will explain what I mean!
Dan
Jeez, that is kinda dangerous now that you point out how that is set up – quick question though – if you didn’t have to be up on a ladder do you think it would be as awkward to use with that particular safety trigger setup? I’m usually more wary of using hedge trimmers than even chainsaws, the blades on these things could really do some damage if they came in contact with human limbs.
Hi Luke,
Being on the ground is always more stable than being up on a ladder, even if you do not have a height phobia as I do!
However, yes, to me it is just as dangerous because the weight and size of this trimmer plus the location of the two ‘on’ switches is percisely where one would need to hold the trimmer.
At least that is my take,
Dan