Black & Decker GTC610 18v Cordless Hedge Trimmer

Bought this from a local dealer in Norway for what would be around £129. Terrible product. Whish I'd read a few reviews before i bought it. I thought Black and Decker was a good brand to choose from, but I was wrong. I also thought that a cordless device would be a good idea to avoid dragging a cord around, but the battery is beyond weak. It only lasts for about 10 minutes, and then it needs to recharge for many hours, and since it did not came with a spare battery, it's a real nuisance. The grip and handling mechanisms are also extremely unpleasant. Next time I will get one with cabel to be able finishing the hedge trimming in one day instead of three..

I also wished I'd found these reviews before purchasing. I trusted the brand - big mistake.

The power cuts on and off in random fashion - at first I thought it was my grip, but it's actually just bad design.

It is slightly more effective than a pair of blunt shears, battery life is very poor, and I'm going to get rid of it.

Strongly recommend not getting this Black & Decker GTC610 18v Cordless Hedge Trimmer.

Bought this Black & Decker GTC610 18v Cordless Hedge Trimmer as I have a mains electric Black & Decker hedge trimmer which has got to be about 15 years old, so trusted the brand to deliver a quality product. How wrong was I!

As a 5' 4" reasonably strong female I thought this would be ideal for me to use. I found it heavy and awkward. The power (or should I say lack of) was awful and it was fully charged. I tried it on young growth on a conifer and I had to hold the trimmer against the stems for a long time while it gradually "chopped" its way through the stems which were less than 1cm thick. I wish I had found the reviews on this site before I bought it. Fortunately its still within QVC's 30 day return period so it will be going back!

Couldn't even get my GTC610 to start. Just smoke coming out of it. Asked B&D and they just said to take it back, so I did, got a refund and won't be replacing it with a B&D one!

I honestly think the Black & Decker GTC610 is a product for the landfill, or be more environmentally conscience and make a product for normal use not one shot!

The interlocking safety switches were so safe, I could hardly get them all on together - then any slight twist in my action would cause it to cut off. In desperation, I got inside and 'bent' a few bits. That cured it, but I should have returned the Black & Decker GTC610 18v Cordless Hedge Trimmer within the 30 days as being inadequate for the job. I see they're still on sale...

I have had two Black & Decker GTC610 cordless hedge trimmers. The first never came anywhere near Black & Decker's claims of 40 mins battery life. The blades also seem to be too soft. After a week B&D suggested I return it for replacement.

The second one was little better and even after three weeks, the battery life (I had four) was never better than 15 mins. Black and Decker's claims you can trim 50 metres of hedge are ludicrous.

When cutting dense (not thick stems) hedge, the trimmer began to squeal, developed a nasty smell and became hot around the lower casing. Investigating this (by removing the cover) revealed that the motor was nearly red hot and might well have burned out if I had not stopped in time.

It would seem that whoever designed this product simply did not know what they were doing. Although it claims to be an 18 volt device, there appears to be a complete miss-match between the battery, the motor, and the charger, which is a crude device itself with no LED`s to warn the owner of the state of charge (as E.G. Bosch provide.)

Another bad feature is that the bottom of the trimmer is not flush - as it should be. Therefore it is difficult to get a flush cut. The line of the guard on the B&D GTC610 continues below the blades by approx 1 1/2 " and gets in the way when traversing the trimmer across the hedge.

There is no engineering reason why this should be so - it`s just a bit of redundant plastic.

The GTC610 looked at the beginning to be a very good product, but unfortunately it appears to have been developed by a product committee more interested in styling rather than function or engineering.

It turned out to be a thoroughly bad product, and not to be recommended. Anyone who has bought one and has the slightest doubts should take advantage of Black & Decker's 30 day refund offer, and get their money back. I did, and bought a Sovereign SHT 24-2 which is a similar (but 24 volt) trimmer, at about 2/3rds the price. It outperformed the B&D GTC610 by a factor of three, straight out of the box. Not perfect, the battery is very difficult to fit - but Sovereign supply a spare battery as part of the deal, not through the tortuous procedure B&D force on their customers (you have to pay for this too). Not as well finished as the GTC610, but works much better and no overheating noticed so far.

The GTC610 is a product best avoided by the average customer. Even with a three year guarantee, it is likely to be a hassle. My experience suggests that it is unlikely to last more than 6 months. Then the owner is left to the mercy of Black & Decker's service set-up - meaning in the UK a variety of thinly spread independent service agents (there are none within 40 miles of Cambridge) with no way of contacting B&D directly, and effectively, no back up at all.

You are supposed no doubt to throw the thing away, and start again.

Better to pay the extra and get Bosch?