Ryobi 600W Hedge Sweep Electric Hedge Trimmer Review

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Spring is well and truly in the air. As I write this I am looking out my window at the wonderful blue sky with the sun shining down all around. I really do enjoy Spring. With Spring comes flower season and to make sure that your garden has the best display possible this spring you need to make sure that you are regularly feeding your plants. There are many different ways to fertilise plants but my favourite way is to spray them with liquid fertiliser. To do this job you need a good garden sprayer and today I am going to tell you all about the  Hozelock range of Sprayers. According to Adam Woodhams, Hozelock’s high quality range of specialty garden sprayers will set you on the path to a perfect garden.

Before we get into the article, a quick disclaimer. I was provided with a free sample of the two garden sprayers I am about to review. I was not paid or placed under any coercion to provide a specifically positive or negative review, simply to write my own unbiased opinions. As such the below reviews are my thoughts on the Hozelock garden sprayers. Thankfully…I loved them so this is really easy to write!

Sprayer 1 – Hozelock Garden Sprayer – Retails from $36

This is the basic garden sprayer from the Hozelock range. Its features(from media release);

· Lightweight outdoor pressure sprayer with an ergonomic pump handle for easy pressurisation. (available in either 7L or 10L sizes).

· Features a lockable flow control and trigger, as well as a unique easy fill wide neck to ensure no liquids are wasted or spilt on you.

· Easily adjusted spray nozzle allows for simple pattern change – from jet for spot treatment to cone & mist for chemical application of wide areas.

From my testing I would very strongly agree with each of these features. When i received the sprayer it was in pieces but I found it extremely easy to put together, the pieces just made sense. However the instructions provided are ample if you do need some help in setting it up.

With my gardening work I regularly have to cover large area’s. I have found that the 10L variety easily covers pretty much any size space that I would need to which saves me having to continually fill up. The pump mechanism for building pressure is simple to use and moves up and down with ease. It also locks in to the top when you are ready to use the sprayer. Once pressurised I put the sprayer into a lock position so I could see how long it sprayed for without significant loss of pressure. I was astounded to still be timing after 4 minutes of continually spraying with very minimal drop in pressure. After 4 and a half minutes I pumped it a few more times to see how much it took to get it back to full pressure, only 6-10 pumps and it was back.

This sprayer also has a pressure valve built in so that if, for whatever reason, the pressure does become too much, the sprayer allows some pressure out so that you don’t have an exploding sprayer. Though this shouldn’t ever really be an issue, it is good to have that safety mechanism in place.

Score: 8/10

Sprayer 2 – Hozelock Viton® Sprayer – Retails from $30

This particular sprayer is designed specifically for chemicals that require a little more safety in storage. Features include (from the Fiskars media release);

· A range of three sprayers (1.25L, 7L and 10L) specially designed for heavy duty applications, which require resistance to more aggressive chemicals.

· Equipped with a set of Viton® fluoroelastomer seals and stainless steel lance for added protection against harsh chemicals.

· Suitable for chemicals such as: motor oil, turpentine oil, petrol, ink, methylated spirits,
hydraulic fluid, bleach, degreaser and floor wax.

· Viton® is a registered trademark of Dupont

This sprayer is designed for spraying the more nasty garden chemicals. From lower scale insecticides to high end poisons, the Viton® garden sprayer  will do the job with aplomb.

I tested this sprayer using RoundUp®. I got very similar results in terms of pressure and length of use as I did with the garden sprayer. I was able to fill the bottle and then clean it afterward without having to make contact with anything that had come in contact with the insecticide. The controllable nozzle head made it very easy to choose the right spray so that i could focus on smaller area’s when other plants were present but also make it bigger when I wanted to cover weed infested area’s.

Score – 8/10

What i like most about these two sprayers is that, between the two of them, every spraying task I might have in my garden can be completed. Having one of each also means that I can keep my good chemicals (fertilisers etc) completely separate from my bad checmicals (RoundUp® etc). I don’t have to worry when using fertilisers that there may be traces of poison in my sprayer because I won’t have used anything but good fertiliser in it.

I strongly recommend you consider either or, better still both of these products if and when you are looking to buy garden sprayers.

Last month I reviewed lawnmowers, in particular I recommended that when you go to buy a lawnmower that you buy a Victa lawnmower. However when it comes to making your grassed area look good, mowing is only one aspect. When it comes to keeping your grassed area’s and your garden beds separate one of the quickest and easiest tools to use is a Line Trimmer or a Brushcutter. When it comes to buying a Line Trimmer or Brushcutter in Australia I believe there is a brand that stands head and shoulders above the rest and that is Stihl. So why should you buy Stihl line Trimmers or Brushcutters? Read on to find out.

I myself have owned a few different Brushcutters or ‘whipper snippers’ as I have always called them and I can categorically say the best purchase I ever made was from the Stihl range. I never needed to use it but they offered a fantastic warranty as standard. I never once had a break down and my whipper snipper required very little maintenance. I believe Stihl themselves say it well on their website when they say “No matter what your requirements, be it home garden maintenance, tending parks or landscape maintenance, on farms or in forests: STIHL has a Line Trimmer or Brushcutter to make job done more quickly and efficiently and to make the work feel easier.”

For the moment let’s just assume you have decided that Stihl is the way to go. Great, now what? What Line Trimmer or Brushcutter is right for you? Stihl has a large range. They have light Brushcutters, Line Trimmers, powerful Brushcutters, professional clearing saws and electric Line Trimmers. For the purpose of this article I will review a light Brushcutter, a Line Trimmer and a powerful Brushcutter because I believe this will cover the needs of most of my readers.

Line Trimmer
Stihl Line Trimmers are the most basic trimming tool. If you are looking for a tool to do a basic trimming job every now and then (when you get the lawnmower out once a month), a Line Trimmer is probably all you need. Line Trimmers are good for quickly tidying up area’s such as along fences and along walls and around the various hedges, trees and plants that you have in and around your grassed areas.

Stihl offers 3 different Line Trimmers but I am going to recommend the FS 45 C Easy2Start Line Trimmer because this product is truly designed for gardeners who what no hassle and no fuss, particularly in starting the machine. This offers a basic 0.75kW of power and weighs only 4.3kg. Perfect if you have just a small amount of trimming to do after you have mowed your front and/or backyard.

Light Brushcutter
The main difference between Line Trimmers and Brushcutters is Line Trimmers generally have bent shafts and Brushcutters generally have straight shafts. This is in general and doesn’t always hold but as far as the Stihl range is concerned, it does. Straight shaft’s are designed for more heavy duty work and also allow for the addition of a blade attachment for cutting large areas of grass where a lawn mower cannot reach for whatever reason.

In the Stihl range the best light Brushcutter for home use is the FS 55 RC Easy2Start. It is very similar to the Line Trimmer I recommended above in that it boats a 0.75 kW of power and weighs only 4.8kg. In fact the only real difference is the shaft, straight shaft versus the bent shaft of the FS 45 C Easy2Start Line Trimmer.

Powerful Brushcutter
Perhaps you need a Brushcutter for more heavy duty use. This might be because you are running a gardening business and so use your tool daily. It might also be because you have a larger than normal garden or lawn area to maintain or because you intend on using your Brushcutter on a very regular basis. If this is the case then you may as well get a top notch powerful Brushcutter and as such I recommend the Stihl FS 130 or Stihl FS 130R. The only difference between the 130 standard and the 130R is the standard comes with what is called ‘bulbar’ handles and supposedly offers a more comfortable experience where as the 130R has ‘loop’ handles designed to allow more manoeuvrability. I personally prefer the ‘loop’ handle. This wonderful machine boasts a significant 1.4 kW  of power and weighs in at 5.6kg, a respectable weight for a machine with this power rating.

Last Word
I hope one of these three machines suits your needs. Remember, the Line Trimmer works best for casual, general use. The Light Brushcutter allows the addition of a blade for trimming large grassed area’s that a mower can’t get to and the powerful Brushcutter is for more heavy duty work and more brings more grunt to the table.

On a related note check out Yardsurfer’s post on John Deere Snow Blowers.