Hedge Trimmers

Hedge Trimmers for Your Lawn Care Business

Choosing  Hedge Trimmers

Regular trimming of hedges and shrubs will stimulate healthy growth and help keep plants looking their best.

When it comes to hedge trimmers you have several choices.

Some trimmers are better for some tasks than others.

Here’s the kinds of gas hedge trimmers I’m going to tell you a little about are:

Single Sided
Double Sided
Pole or Extension

Single Sided Hedge Trimmers:

These are more or less made for cutting straight sections of hedges. They’re great if you have large shrubs and need to make straight passes.

Since they only have one sided blades, it can be longer than a double blade, and still not be too heavy. (The longer blades means fewer passes and less work)

A single sided trimmer’s center of gravity is located closer to the body than the double sided hedge trimmers.

Double Sided Trimmers: The double sided trimmers allow you to trim in a back and fourth, horizontal and vertical motion without moving around to much.

Double sided trimmers are better for shaping.

If you have a lot of small shrubs, say 3' or 4', then a shorter, double sided, cutting blade is easier to work with and more efficient.

Pole Trimmers:  

These are used mostly for high shrubs that you would normally have to have a ladder for. Pole trimmers usually have a cutting head that will adjust 90 degrees to increase comfort, reach, and efficiency.

Pole trimmers look like a straight shaft grass trimmer with hedger blades.

Some gas trimmers have attachments that will turn them into pole trimmers. Redmax and Stihl both make the “convertible” tools at the time of this writing but more and more companies are starting to make them.

Commercial gas hedge trimmers have blade cutting options that will roughly range from 18"-40".

They’re designed with larger gaps between teeth than the homeowner models. This allows for more productivity and durability.

If adding a hedge trimmer to your fleet, look for certain aspects.

Remember to make sure the machine is well balanced. Don't just pick a hedge trimmer based on weight.

Go to your local lawn care equipment dealer and try different models out. Imagine how you will be using them and see if they’re comfortable to hold in those positions.

Most commercial hedge trimmers weigh from 10-15lbs.

Compare manufacturer commercial warranties. Two years is good. Here in the south we trim Hedges and shrubs 3 to 4 times a year. With that amount of usage, even if you have tons of customers, you should get a lot of life out of your hedger.

A few things to look for in hedge trimmers are:

Excessive vibration
Hand Guards
Blade locks- Keep blades from moving when engine is idling

Throttle lock switches- When this is on, the throttle can not engage.
Stop buttons and or a kill switch
A Sleeve for the blade when it’s not in use

 

I mentioned it above, but it warrants repeating. Always go to your local lawn care equipment dealer to try different version of hedge trimmers out.

Ask the guys who work on the equipment what they see the most of. They will be brutally honest in most cases and tell you what to stay away from.

Also ask if they have a loaner you can borrow while yours is in the shop.

Well, that about wraps up my article on gas powered hedge trimmers.

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