24v Battery Charger

RYOBI 24v Hedge Trimmer Review

Like the RYOBI 24v string trimmer I reviewed last week, the RYOBI 24v hedge trimmer is another RYOBI branded product that is actually made by Homelite; and like the 24v string trimmer, the 24v hedge trimmer ends up being quite an impressive piece of hardware.  For starters, the blade handles things up to a half inch in diameter – and not just from hedges either, I was able to trim some of the trees in the back yard with this; it went right through the small oak branches without issue.

I was worried that 24v wouldn’t be enough for a hedge trimmer; when I did have hedges, I swore by a Stihl gas hedge trimmer because I thought gas was the way to go.  At that point in time, your option for a cordless and non-gas trimmer was one with an 18v battery, and those died out way too quick for anyone with a decent number of hedges.  With the 24v battery though, I decided to dry run it to see how long the battery lasted on a full charge.

A little duct tape around the triggers, and the rest was sitting around waiting for it to die.  Periodically (every 10 minutes) I got a quarter inch dowel to make sure it still had the power to cut the whole way through the test.  After an impressive hour and forty-six minutes, the battery finally gave out, but at the hour and forty mark it still cut through the dowel rod like a hot knife through butter.  It took just under an hour after that for the battery to be back at a full charge though, so if I needed to I could have done the whole test again in a quicker time than it took to actually perform the test.

One thing that’s really nice about this hedge trimmer is it extended handle.  I was able to reach branches that were between eight and nine feet high without any stretching, and holding the trimmer up high wasn’t uncomfortable either as it’s very light.  they seem to have really worked out the balance with this trimmer, because even when the battery is attached it’s just plain comfortable to hold.  The head of the RYOBI 24v hedge trimmer is really nice as well, as it can lock into any one of three different positions.  Those positions can enable you to get the very top of a hedge without having to stretch, or the bottom of one without having to crouch down.