Why not find what kind of plant that will grow like hedges, and is also something that the deer will eat!
I can just imagine a line of deer eating away at the neighbors hedges, keeping them trimmed back, with no work on his part! YUMMY!
RJ

I for one like to have a 26" blade!!! There are only 24" or 30" on the market. It is either too short or too long!!!

It would be nice to have a double side on the existing single sided hedge trimmer. The single sided hedge trimmer have a better feel when cutting because the handle and the way you hold it is totally different from the normal double sided ones. I think the handle of the single is better and give a more comfortable and precise control. The problem with the single side blade is you can only cut in one direction. Branches grow in both direction and it is always cut better in either one direction sweep or the other. You really need the double side blades.

Keep the power, loose the weight.

For gas clippers maybe some kind of governor to limit the engine/blade speed. Mine seem to cut best when not run flat out through light stuff. While you're at it make the governor adjustable with a thumb wheel on the handle.

Don't have hedges on my current property, thankfully, but the house I owned in town was lined on all sides by privet hedges. Since it was in the center of a traditional city neighborhood with prim + proper historic homes, keeping them trimmed was a relentless task.

One of my peeves was to maintain the hedge tops level with the horizontal lines of the architecture and NOT follow parallel with the grade, or adjacent street-side sidewalk. To do this, I set temporary strings with a line level and stepped the hedge tops at designated points along the sloping grade.

This was a pain to set up each time I trimmed and back then, wondered why tool designers never developed some form of built-in level system.

Think about ways to incorporate a laser system, whereby either a laser beam is integrating into the trimmer - aligning with some fixed horizontal reference line, such as siding courses. Or a smart device which can be set to a horizontal co-ordinate and emits a signal when drifting up or down from that set position.

I think the build in bubble level checker is a very good idea. But all the fancier idea will drive up cost. I rather keep the cost down. Just the bubble leveler.

How about a changeable gear box with different blade length? It might be out there but it should not cost a lot more. In fact, they should make the gear box cheaper because the blades do get blunt after a while, making the gear cheaper and turn into dispossable when the blade wear out. This will give the option of different blade length. You can have 30", 24" and 18" for final touch.

Forgot to mention, it cost $80 to $100 to sharpen the blades. Make the gear box cheaper by not putting in bearings ( Echo HC151 gear box is perfect example of a cheap gear box that don't have anything fancy and last longer than the blades!!). They should be be able to make the blade unit for less than $150 or so.

On a moving tool, such as hedge trimmers, a bubble level is old-school and worthless, without establishing a constant datum line to follow. The technology used with laser transmitters in surveyor's transits can be applied to this application - if, a remote receiver is incorporated. Low frequency lasers have become very affordable - I bought my last laser pen pointer for $10.00.

Otherwise, as I mentioned above, the users eye can follow the transmitted laser beam along a fixed horizontal element beyond - lines of buildings . . even the ocean's horizon, if the hedges have the good fortune to border waterfront property. ;)

When people doing hedge trimming, their eyes are on the hedges and the eveness of the trimming, no body will try to look at the leveler or the lazer during trimming. This is just not the way it work. The bubble leveler is more for checking after you trimmed and correct if necessary.

You want to get the job done fast, it is not practical to set up a horizontal or vertical reference before trimming!!!! This is not precision work. Just trim, then check the level, then touch up if needed. Nobody can tell if it is within a few degrees!!!

While you are concentrate on the leveler, you might chue up the hedge accidentally if your eyes are not on where you trim!!!!

yungman - I'm not disagreeing with you on the importance of maintaining focus and concentration on making the hedge-top level. Of course, this goes without mention.

The OP (who hasn't yet replied) requested ideas for identifying design "problems" with existing hedge trimmers and creative solutions to these issues. I was simply thinking outside the box.

For trimming formal hedges, we all know that level guide strings, secured by long stakes, are typically used. The trimmer operator uses these lines as a guide to form (ideally) perfectly level and flat hedge tops - aligned with the earth's horizon, NOT the ground level. The line serves as a datum reference - w/o it, the tops will end up being uneven with buildings, which are also built to be perfectly level and plumb.

My suggestion of adapting a laser device - which for decades, has been accepted by land surveyors and builders as an accurate measuring tool, was intended to inspire the industrial designer with new ideas for hedge trimmer designs. Don't take it so personally, my friend ;-)

Thank you all for your responses! They have been very helpful and fun to hear at the same time. I do appreciate standard logical solutions as well as out of the box ideas. When brainstorming is occuring, it is a good idea to keep all designs (no matter how seemingly funny or crazy they are, like the deer eating the bushes, haha) on the table. Some great innovations have come from seemingly strange solutions. Keeping the top of the hedges straight seems to be an interesting issue to tackle. Something that I have been struggling with is whether to make it gas or electric. Battery powered designs seem to have the best of both worlds in terms of no cord to get in the way and lower vibration, but I'm afraid of the inconvenience of charging batteries or lack of power while trimming. If you have a battery powered trimmer currently could you respond with how well it functions (I currently have only gas and electric corded trimmers) Does anyone have a preference for one type of trimmer? (gas, electric, single blade, etc.) More posts on current problems or even seemingly crazy innovations or features would be great!

I have 3 trimmers, a short reach articulate hedge clipper for trimming flat top tall hedges. A 20" regular hedge trimmer and a Craftsman little battery hedge trimmer. The battery operated one can interchange a 10" regular hedge blade and a small ( hair clipper look) trimmer. I mainly use the short reach articulate hedge clipper and the small Craftsman battery trimmer. I don't use the regular 20" one anymore!!! I can do all the hedge trimming with the short reach even for the low hedges. I use the battery trimmer to do touch up.

For detail work, a battery trimmer should be better....lighter. But I have not seen a higher voltage small trimmer yet. I would like a 12 to 14 volt one.

Considering how much of an anal retentive hedge trimmer I was with my 500lf of manicured privets surrounding the front yard of my last house in the city, I'm only grateful that there are none to deal with out here in the semi-rural burbs . . . ;-)

Hey Nate

I forgot to answer your question directly. I think the cordless trimmer is very useful. Even it is 18V, it would be a looooot lighter than the gas engine trimmer. You are talking about 12 lbs. I don't know whether the battery ones will ever trim as fast as the gas but for finishing touch, it is very very useful.

I just planted a Hollywood Juniper and trim as a pom pom tree ( few poofs of green at the end of the branch ). It is going to be hard to swing the big gas trimmer around to trim this. Also I am planting 10 of the Boxwood at the back and going to shape it as a round ball of about 24" diameter. That you need a light short electric trimmer also. I don't think my low voltage Craftsman can do it. I need something of a 18V with about 12" to 16" blade. Make it less than 6 to 7 lbs. That would be perfect. Of cause, the lighter the better. Still interchangable blade will be very useful.

I never run out of battery yet. YOu can never have one trimmer fit all. YOu always have to have a gas for fast trimming and the small one for touch up. Don't think you can get the speed with a battery trimmer. Corded trimmer is absolutely out of the question.

Let's get back to the lazer idea. How about a powerful
lazer, set up at the end of a long row of hedges and
when turned on would burn off everything above the set point, in a perfectly straight line? No need for mechanical anything.

Now that's thinking outside the box lbpod - but be sure to hide your kids, and pets before blasting the shrubbery . . . not to mention what it'll do to your neighbor's houses :)

I still think there are design possibilities with the Line Laser Level idea - perhaps the laser could be a remote device, that projects a horizontal level line across the top vertical edges of the hedge face, as a guide for shearing the hedge tops. It's certainly easier than setting up poles and strings - which sometimes get cut by the trimmer blade . . . in my experience at least.