Performance Power PWR18VHTA 18v Cordless

The general comment is that it works well for one summer only - then the battery only charges for roughly 2 minutes' work, then conks out. Year on and the battery does not work - so only buy this if you want a trimmer for one short season!

Performance Power Hedge Trimmer

A few years ago I was given a hedge trimmer as a birthday present. My family believe in practical gifts! As I had been in charge of hedge cutting for a number of years, this was not considered strange - perhaps a little mundane, but not unusual. I had previously had a lawn mower after all and Christmas usually brings forth cooking appliances!

The main hedge in our garden, which is also the barrier between the house and the road (even though that is some ninety feet of garden away), is what is termed, I believe, as 'ancient hedgerow' - and pretty ancient it is too! To my knowledge it has been there for at least seventy years and probably more than that as the house was built in about 1904. It consists mainly of elm and hawthorn, is approximately five feet high (when cut) - six feet on the inside as the pavement is higher than the garden. I haven't measured the length but would estimate fifteen feet and the depth (has to be seen to be believed) is at least four if not five feet! Takes a bit of cutting with shears I can tell you!

On one occasion a 'travelling hedge cutter' (a good ol' Essex boy) offered to charge £60 for the privilege of cutting it for us. After a bit of negotiation we got it down to £30 and he set to. The resulting mess is still being repaired (by me)! I vowed then that no-one else would be allowed near it and, with one slight lapse when the two younger members of the family decided to do it for me, that is what has happened.

Well, to get to the point. Last year, I did the early cut in June (allowing the birds time to raise their young and vacate their nests). By this time I had mastered the hedge trimmer of course having used it for a few years. However, when I got it out to do the autumn cut - no power! All wires, fuses, etc. were checked - I had to get the shears out again! Of course, nothing was done about the hedge trimmer - except to pack it away into the shed and plan to get it sorted by the spring. Did it get sorted? No, of course not. Would it work (as if by magic)? No, of course not! Meanwhile the hedge grew - it rained and the hedge grew more! So off we went to B & Q to see if there was anything reasonable to use whilst ours was repaired.

There were plenty, of course. All the well known makes - and believe me I've read some of the reviews. The one we found was the Performance Cordless Hedge Trimmer at a price of £24.98. Made by Performance Power Tools - which is a trading name of B & Q - it seemed to be quite adequate for what we wanted. Being cordless was a bonus as, having a ninety foot front garden; you need a lot of cable to reach the hedge in the first place. Another thing - I wouldn't have to worry about cutting through it - again! Yes, I'll admit it, I've done THAT too!

The specifications:

Battery: 18Volt/1.7Ah which has an operating time of approximately 30 minutes.The charge time for the battery is 3-5 hours. (Initial charge 5 hours - recharge 3 hours).

Blade length: 46cm (18.1") Blade cover for protection when not in use.Cutting width: 8mm. Weight: 2Kg. It has dual safety switches and a hand guard. Guarantee: 1 year

Having charged it up, I was now ready to go. It was a joy not having to worry about the cable. I was a little concerned that the cutting width (size of branches/twigs) would be too small, however that was no problem at all so for a 'lighter weight' hedge such as privet, it would be fine. The other thing was running time - would thirty minutes be enough? I knew my usual time was nearer an hour. Well, it WAS nearer and hour - AND the hedge trimmer was still going - so no problems there either. How did it compare to the other one? Well, it was lighter and had no cable. The switches were in a different position - apart from that not a lot of difference. The overall effect? Well, it cut the hedge and the result was a nice tidy garden. Would I recommend this item? Yes, for tidying-up and general garden use it would be most useful. However, NOT if you intend cutting into thick branches, but the guideline is clearly given as 8mm anyway. I found that this was equally as good as the more expensive item I had used previously and I was very happy with its performance.

I hope that this may help you make a decision - thank you for reading.