Corded one is inconvient but it is stronger. If you get the battery ones, get the Craftsman 24V yellow color one. That is the only one that I know of that is 24V, all others are 18V. You need all the power you can get. I just saw it in Sears for $89 dollars.

For the corded ones, I think you can get the best price on Amazon.

Get a spray can of Fluid Film to spray the blades before and after trimming. Safe you a lot of trouble cleaning the blades of stuff stuck on it.

We just got a weed eater excalibur hedge trimmer for christmas and I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this trimmer. Is it a good one? I have bushes close to the house but some that is hard to cut with my black and decker that just quit. The azaleas are easy though. The bush is a evergreen juniper that is harder to trim. I try to keep it low below the window. Should I just go with a electric or keep the gas? Thanks Donna

Gas is more convient but....are you going to use it often? If you just use it once in a blue moon, get the electric, save you all the trouble of up keep. Gas is not the type that you can run it for 10 minutes, put it away for half a year and take it out for 10 minutes, it'll die in no time regardless how expensive it is.

Electric, you can use it for few minutes and let it sit for a year, no problem. Just spray Fluid Film before and after cutting to keep things from sticking on the blade. Corded one got to be stronger.

Hedge trimmers are an ok tool but I'd recommend also learning how to prune for the better health of the plant.

Time of year can be important, usually later winter to spring is best for most plants.

Shape is always important. Getting light to lower parts (pyramid shape on taller bushes), or thinning the exterior such that the interior gets light (azaleas, boxwoods, some evergreens).

Hedge trimmer can give a much more even and straight cut the shears cannot. I trim my Japanese Boxwood very frequently and I do not see any browning at all.

I use a short reach hedge clipper of a Shindaiwa M242 with articulate hedge attachment and I like it a lot. I also have a 7V Craftsman tiny hedge trimmer that only have 4 teeth to get the very bottom close to the cement. I won't use the expensive SHindy afraid of the blade hitting the cement and damage it.

thank you for the great advice yungman especially about the fluid film. I do not prune any of my shrubs with a trimmer that I do very lovingly by hand. I use to cut back my ornamental grasses by hand and it took days; last year I took home a hedge trimmer from work and had them cut to the ground in a few hours. I use to love the medative process of hand cutting the grasses but a new job does not allow me that luxury any longer

I understand about the ornamental grasses. I previously had a place that had elephant grass. I used to use a bow saw and would have to wear protective gear when cutting it back. Even with the bow saw, it took over an hour to prune the one stand about 36" diameter. I'm not sure a hedge trimmer would have been able to handle it. A chainsaw maybe but all that small stuff would have potential to cause a kickback or jam the chain.

Anyway, I'm glad you understand pruning.