start up gear for foreigners

[Dan Maynard]

I'm an advocate of building up gradually, hedges need relatively low investment whereas tree work is difficult to do anything substantial without quite a bit of kit. If you can gradually get to know local tree firms collaborating on weekends is probably the way to go from the point of view of kit, experience and manpower.

I use Stihl kombi, one other thing about it is it comes in half so easy to transport in a car boot. People are very enthusiastic about the new battery stuff though, and for evening and Sunday work might be a really good choice to reduce the noise.

And definitely get a Silky.

[sime42]

Maybe if you buy B&Q specials. Buy a Stihl or Husky and you won't need to faff about like that.

Yeah, I used to frequently run my Stihl Kombi all day doing strimming and/or hedge trimming, stopping only for refueling and clearing up. It loved it! And Stihl does! They're proper work horses. Definitely worth spending the extra for a proper brand in this case.
The other thing about cheaper brands is ergonomics. I got pssed off with the expense of Stihl at one point so thought I'd save some money and get a Ryobi hedge cutter. It was half the price and started and ran pretty well to be fair, but the vibrations were a killer. I had numb hands after only about 10 minutes. I could only stick it for a week or so and then had to sell it and buy a proper one.

[sime42]

Buy a silky n learn how to prune propely would be my advice.. k

I'll second that. You won't believe the difference compared to any other hand saw the first time you use a Silky. Just be careful though! They can be deceptively dangerous. Also as Kriss says, learn how to use it, or lopers or secatures, to prune trees and shrubs correctly. It makes a big difference to the ongoing health of the subject and the final look of the job.

[Boggle4137]

On 07/12/2018 at 08:49, Khriss said:

Buy a silky n learn how to prune propely would be my advice.. 

Got myself one, awesome tool.

[Boggle4137]

Thanks for the advice guys. So kombi with a few attachments looks like the way forward. Ive got a year's worth of garden maintenance and some tree work in me but I'm sensible enough to know when I'm out of my league on certain jobs, it's just that last year I was getting people asking me to do more than the grass cutting so I thought it's time to expand a little.