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Hi,
Have been using around home for many years a heavy 2 stroke hedge trimmer, use it about 2-3 times a year and takes maybe 3-4 hours or so each time, all while climbing up and down a 6 foot ladder holding it above my head, tiresome work, and dangerous!
Looking for advice on what would be a good model / brand pole hedge trimmer to buy in Melbourne, Australia?
Looked at the Bunnings website and they seem to only sell electric pole hedge trimmers?, I think petrol will be much better!
Thanks

Does anyone know much about "Bigger Boyz Toyz"?, this one says on sale for $249 down from $699 or something....
Like I said I'd really only be doing a few hours of work 3 times a year...
Would this be OK value for money?
I'm not easily finding these pole hedge trimmers made by the usual reputable brands that I know make good lownmowers etc.
http://www.bbta.com.au/products/Pole-Hedger.html
Thanks

Oh Bunnings do have petrol, just not on website....
Ryobi.

From what's available locally looks like I'll buy a Ryobi for about $400 or Masport, I know Masport make good stuff but I'm not sure now if the Masport had the pole as long as I need...
I think Ryobi should be good quality...

efc1978 said:

From what's available locally looks like I'll buy a Ryobi for about $400 or Masport, I know Masport make good stuff but I'm not sure now if the Masport had the pole as long as I need...
I think Ryobi should be good quality...

Click to expand...

I would send a P.M. to ( bertsmobile1) a member on this site, he's from "down-under" and really is the GURU on things down there . Do your research and avoid "buyers remorse" .... good luck .... Boobala ....

Oh I had for some reason presumed this was an Australian based message board!, but I guess not.... I think I presumed so as Bertsmobile had previously answered one of my questions before!!!

Bertsmobile1, I had planned on buying Masport, or Ryobi, both around $400, but I don't think they had the ability to extend beyond 6-8 feet, and have since found Victa available at Bunnings which seems to have an additional extension if needed, I know Victa $450 is nothing hardcore, but like I said it's really only going to be used for 3 hours 2-3 times a year at home.
The 2 Victa pieces I think I'll buy from Bunnings are linked below, would you recommend anything better for around the same total price of $450?

Thank -You

Victa Tornado Plus Straight Shaft Trimmer TTS2226 seen here:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/victa-26cc-tornado-straight-shaft-trimmer_p3380075

And the Victa Tornado Hedge Trimmer Attachment ATH2220 seen here:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/victa-tornado-hedge-trimmer-attachment_p2970324

If you put those two together you will get about 5 ft of reach.

Hi,

There's an additional extension bit you can buy for the Victa brand, unlike the Ryobi & Masport I've seen for the same price, which I'm pretty sure can't be extended.
(and I guess I'm wrong in saying Ryobi & Masport have 6-8 feet reach, I guess they'de be about the same as the 2 Victa bits I linked (without the additional Victa extension bit).

Here's the Victa extension bit, oh it actually only looks to be about 1.6 feet, I had presumed it was another 5 extra feet!!!!
https://www.bunnings.com.au/victa-tornado-trimmer-pole-extension-attachment_p2970326

Victa do not make pole trimmers and neither do Masport. Both of them sell a rebadged trimmer from some one else.
Masport is now owned by MTD and it is most likely they are flogging the MTD one or a Chinese one.
Victa is owned by Briggs & Stratton and the same story for them but more likely a really bad Chinese one, they are slowly and quite possibly deliberately trashing the Victa brand in preperation for closing it down.

I would not buy ether one from Bunnings, in fact I would not buy anything from Bunnings if I could avoid it.
The Ryobi will be very comfortable to use and will either work perfectly or be a total nightmare and if the latter you just keep taking it back till you get a good one.
It is a throw away item. Most Ryobi products are not repairable.

I could only recommend either the Husqvarna or the Stihl as both of these companies own their local distributorship so stand by their products.
Service & spares will be available for them for a long time and if you go for the "convertiable" package the you end up with a whole lot more than just a pole saw.
Both Husky & Stihl dealers will do the saw on finance if it is a bit too good for you pocket at present & Stihl are offering 0 interest for now.

The Echo is the dest unit available down here but it is distributed through the absolute worst network ( Allpower) so service & parts are a big problem.
Word on the grapevine is Allpower are not going to be allowed to renew the contract and then it will be a shitfight trying to get parts or warranty which is why they just lost the Stiga contract to Gripskies.

Big Boys Toys are just that, Big ( wallet ) Boys importing toys from China that look like just like the real thing.
They have no service , no spares warehouse and thanks to the current governments "beneficial" new trade deals are only obliged to carry support for the warranty period.
Some of the stuff is apparently good and some of the stuff is temporay diverted land fill.
How lucky do you feel ?
I am not sure if "Big Boys Toys" selling power tools are the same "Big Boys Toys" that used to sell exotic cars, but the latter were always in trouble with the regulators and regularly went bankrupt to reopen the next day under a new holding company thus leaving previous purchasers in the lurch.

Before you buy anything from them check out the product & the company on "Not Good Enough", " Wirlpool " & "Product Review".
Ignore anything else on the web because big ( Wallet ) boys can pay shonks in India a few rupees to create glowing reviews of their products & the company on every free social media platform.

If you have the time you can check out Alibaba & made in China to see if the same looking product is available through them ( it will have a different brand name ).
If so then there is a 99.9999999999999999999999999999 % chance that is what you are being sold at a 500% mark up.

Thanks for the great info, yep I decided against Big Boyz Toyz as soon as I started reading some online reviews!....

So who would be making the Victa pole hedgers?, I didn't know Victa was so cheap!?
Who makes the Victa mowers then?, the same people who make the pole hedgers?

No idea about the pole trimmers or chain saws.
I am on the urban / rural fringe and farmers don't buy trash no matter how cheap it is.
So I never see anything Victa other than the ride ons which are total garbage imported from a dump in China and push mowers & edgers
The power torq ( 2 strokes ) were made locally. Engine used to be made in Adelaide.
Brigged doubled the price of them then claimed there was no demmand so got approval form FIRB to shut down the production.
The discount store power torques had an inferrior engine made in China but that has been going on for a long time.
The small ( 16" ) model is fully imported from the USA
The 18" 19" & 20" models are assembled locally from imported parts
All the Briggs engines come from the Briggs factory in China & I think the deck pressings are made in China also.
THE handlebars are made locally because they are too awkward to ship in cheap enough from China, but I think the steel is Chinese.
The single bolt handlebars is an Australian invention so any Victa without that mounting on the bars is imported.
The swing back blades are made locally as are the swing back blade bolts.
Anything with a single bar blade ( inferrior cutting for push mowers ) is imported.
Most with swing back blades are at least assembled locally.

Rover is also owned by MTD and nearly their entire range come from the World Lawn factory in China and are essentially the same as Parklander painted a different colour.

The only locally made walk behind mower is the Deucther which comes from Ballarat and they are phasing out mowers in favour of invalid chairs.

I have a power torq 2 stroke from I think 1994 I still sometimes use, still cuts very nicely and runs no problems at all... Bunnings Victa Super Mulcher I have from 2015 is no better than the 1994 Victa!
That's why I thought better of Victa than to be using cheap rebranded stuff.... I can see the 1994 era power torq still performing well in years...

efc1978 said:

I have a power torq 2 stroke from I think 1994 I still sometimes use, still cuts very nicely and runs no problems at all... Bunnings Victa Super Mulcher I have from 2015 is no better than the 1994 Victa!
That's why I thought better of Victa than to be using cheap rebranded stuff.... I can see the 1994 era power torq still performing well in years...

Click to expand...

Power torq's are good for 30 to 50 years.
The problem is the engine was designed to be very low maintanance so most get no maintanance.
So they get slow to start, then difficult to start then impossible to start when instead of spending $ 90 on a full 20 year service they go to Bunnings and buy a new $ 500 4 stroke mower.
One of my fun things to do is service someone's "old back up" Victa to come back and find the Victa at the front of the shed being used & the Briggs in the back for back up.
There are 5 x O rings that go hard and need to be replaced every 10 years or so, particularly the one between the manifold & the crankcase and the one inside the pull start on the shaft, not the crankcase seal which should be replaced whenever you remove the pull start, same as the primer plate O ring.
These both leak air making the mower hard to start.
Lean the mix to between 30:1 & 40:1 if you use 2 stroke oil and the smoke will all but go away and the engine will run a lot better.
Once the PVC air & fuel lines go hard they also should be replaced ( 5-10 years ).
The plastic carb never wears out but occasionally you need to fit a washer under the cam if the engine is over reving.
Diaphragms go hard and should be replaced every 20 years which is about the real life of the air filter. along with both of the diaphragm springs.
It is real fun to watch the faces of the sceptical owners when they pull the cord & the mower starts before they get to the end of the chord, just like it did when it was new.
The swing back blades put no shock loading on the crank so crank bearings & oil seals never need replacing unless it has been under water and crankshaft never bend.
THe most common problem come across is a buggered thread in the carb because idiot owners continually pull the primer plate off for no good reason other than the fact that the main jet is there in front of your eyes.
Much like dissabling the seat switch just because it is there in front of your face.

It could be close to 10 years since it had a service, hadn't planned on getting one as it still starts first pull, maybe I should just get a service even though it all seems fine...

If it is starting first pull then all is fine.
If the fuel lines are hard & stiff , just grab a precut kit off evilbay and replace them.
Be careful with the connection for the decompressor at the carb, they break easily so I always cut them off.
When you have finished mowing and the mower is off, move the throttle control to start position so it is not stretching the rubber boot on the ignition cut out.

Hello there,

I am from UK and I am buying this one:
http://www.trueshopping.co.uk/26cc_...Multi_Function_5_in_1_Garden_Tool_0-9KW_1-2HP

I don't really know much about trimmers, but I think this one has good specifications.

Any advises?

Thank you.

Hi Bertsmobile1,

I purchased the Victa Tornado Plus to use as a "long pole hedge trimmer", it was the cheapest I could get locally without doubling price and getting up to high $900's for Stihl etc. Remember like I said this is something I'll probably only use for 3 hours 3 times a year for hedge trimming. This is it linked here:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/victa-26cc-tornado-straight-shaft-trimmer_p3380075

It came with a "whipper Snipper" attachment, which originally I never intended to use, as the whipper snipper I've had for approx 15 years runs without a problem.
But now with these 2 machines in my garage it's taking up space...
I'm not sure if it would be worth selling my 15 year old whipper snipper and using the Victa Tornado Plus to swap in between using as a hedge trimmer, and whipper snipper (I would be whipper snippering for 1 hour every 2-3-4 weeks in summer and less in winter).
By these photos can you identify what my 15 year old whipper snipper even is?, it says "Yongjia" but I can't find much about Yongjia???, from memory I purchased it from a local mower guy who usually sells good stuff...., but I really don't remember for sure now if I purchased it from him...
Would it be worth keeping this "Yongjia" to use as my whipper snipper instead of using the brand new Victa Tornado Plus which I really purchased to only use as a long pole hedge trimmer?
Any info / advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank-You
I'll attach a couple of pics of the Victa too. I've never seen those 1 piece whipper snipper cutting / cords before!?!?!

Payed $517 AU at Bunnings for Victa Tornado Plus + extension attachment + hedge trimmer attachment, was OK for 5-10-15 minutes, then wouldn't cut through a twig....
Tried to undo properly connected attachment part and were as though welded together, used a hammer to separate "extension bit" from "hedge trimmer attachment".
Wouldn't cut through branches smaller than little finger, would bounce between hedge trimmer teeth and be stripped off layer by layer instead of chopping through, painstaking and useless, first day used wasn't as good as my 15 year old 1 metre long hedge trimmer.
Biggest piece of **** I've ever purchased....

I think I'd have been better off purchasing a $517AU pair of scissors... Trying to work out how the hell Bunnings gets away with selling this rubbish???

Not trying to sound superiour in any way but this is the second time you have bought from Bunnings ( Lowes equivalent for the USA readers )
and the second time you have ended up with something that will not do the job.
You will not get a good product from Bunnings , you will get the "Lowest price guaranteed product".
I also seem to remember advising you off buying Victa branded product & that is exactly what you have done .
If you intend to ignore the best advice that I can give don't come back whinging that what you bought was not up to scratch.
I did also recommend you visit
Not Good Enough
and
Product review

If you had taken this advise , yes I know you have no money so can not afford to spend $ 5 to join NGE
You would have found around 90 % negative feedback about the Tornado
Apparently you have plenty of money to buy junk.
Turn off the TV the BS they transmit is necrotising your ceribal tissue.

When people said it was crap I didn't expect it to be as totally useless as it is hahhaha
And no, I don't think someone giving lawnmower advice is superior to me... hahahahaha

Just having looked very closely at the blades trying to run it as slowly as possible, it seems the blades are not always completely coming into contact / running over each other, which would explain the hacking job they're doing at skinning the bark off the twigs without actually cutting through them...
For example for a few back/forth movements the blades make full contact and run over each other then the next few movements there seems to be a gap where they don't...
I think the hedge trimmer attachment part is actually faulty....
Returning to Bunnings!

REFUNDED!
Thanks again for the advice hahah

Go to a mower shop and by prefference a small local shop, not a glass fronted mega dealership.
Tell the person what you want to do .
Currently both Stihl & Husqvarna are running 0% interest pre season specials ( last seasons stock of course ).
Buy a good unit even if you have to pay it off.
I lend out my Stihl chainsaw that I bought 35 years ago to customers when there will be long delay in fixing their saw.
Every one loves it & I could have sold it 10 times over.
However it was $ 600 back in the days when I was earning $ 150 / week.
That is the sort of money you have to pay to get quality products around 3 to 4 weeks wages.
Good tools are an investment for life.
A small shop will take the time to run through the equipment, show you how to use it properly and generally assemble & check it in store.
You are their best advertisement and in many cases their only advertisement.
Where as the glass fronts run expensive TV & radio commercials to convince every one that they are a good place to buy tools from.
If they were so good they would not need to do the expensive advertising.
Then when you go in there, they will sell you the tool that they make the most money on, not the beast tool for your needs.
Stihl for instance is made in Germany, Spain, Italy , Japan, Brazil, Mexico & China , in decreasing order of quality.
Guess which ones the glass fronts sell the most of ?
The cheapest product has the highest mark up.

It's funny, when I returned it they desk called a guy from garden, the first thing he said was "I have one of these at home and it works fine", I nearly laughed out loud, as when I was looking at mowers a year ago a guy from garden said to me "I use one of these at home and it's great", maybe it's a standard line used by the guys in Bunnings garden section haha

I think maybe the Victa hedger blades just needed adjusting/aligning differently?, they were very sharp, not bent and flat against each other, they just weren't crossing over each other..., but seeing as a bolt or screw used to hold on the throttle/lever which was already put together (not a bit I had to assemble myself) had somehow worked itself off and got lost in my grass I thought bugger it and returned it....

A guy at Baybury Power Equipment 5 mins from my house which sells Stihl said a hedge trimmer with extension will be about $960 I think he said, so that'll be what I buy...
Would Stihl be much lighter than the Victa?, I guess not a whole lot...

It's been said to me they Stihl possibly have more than the 1type of hedge trimmer on the market at the moment???, so thought I better make clear it was the "Kombi" with extension the guy quoted me for....
Just want to be sure everyone that has recommended Stihl knows I'm talking about the "Kombi", so they have a different pole hedge trimmer?, is there any reason one type is better than the other?
And yes I do need to go high, there's bits 20 foot I like to trim!

It will most likely be a little heavier as it is built to last so everything is a touch thicker.
I have a dozen or so in the graveyard and the cheap ones are real light & flimsey.