Cordless Garden Gadgets

The idea of cordless secateurs is a completely new one to me. I have several pairs of secateurs, including a left-handed pair. None of them need power other than what my hand (left or right) gives them.

Off to look up electric secateurs.....

If I need more power I use loppers.

Anyway, good luck with your elbow, casdon.

I know what it's like to be raher one-handed as I've broken each wrist over the years. Luckily I fairly ambidextrous. Also, my garden is okay left a bit (a lot!) wild.

I'd never heard of cordless secateurs or hoe either. I've just looked them up and they're about £60 and £200 respectively. I'm sorry to hear you've hurt your elbow, and hope it gets better soon. Maybe it would be cheaper and of help to you to get a gardener in until your arm is fully recovered.

Thank you Baggs.

I like gardening, so I don’t want somebody else to do it for me, just to make it less effort for my arm if I can, as it would be a long term investment if that’s possible.

My husband bought me a pair of cordless secateurs from Bosch. He is no gardener and I have developed bad arthritis so was having difficulty cutting through any but the lightest stems. They are a brilliant help. Only adequate on the thinner stems but where there is something thicker it seemed to sense this and with just a light squeeze it cuts through the stem. Wouldn't be without them and found the charge lasted longer than I thought they would. They couldn't have been cheap but very pleased with them.
Hope your elbow gets better soon.

Have you tried ratchet loppers? Darlac do a handy lightweight one. They are supposed to need 30% less pressure to operate. I have one by xcut which I’ve found very useful it’s about 12” long and very light.

I have an electric saw. It's not cordless but with an extension lead and a ladder I can tackle most pruning jobs.

I have a Bosch cordless hand held saw. It’s brilliant and cuts through quite thick branches as well as making light work of thinner ones.

Thanks for these tips, I’ll investigate ratchet pruners, saws and the secateurs because I’m likely to have an ongoing weakness in my elbow. I just need to find an easier solution for the hoeing.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202602/medium-289cni-bosch-secateurs.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202602/medium-dutn7j-bosch-trimmer.jpg

I have some Bosch rechargeable secateurs. They cut stalks up to 1cm thick effortlessly, but I do find them a bit chunky for my arthritic hands, and sometimes have to use two hands to operate them. I wouldn't be without them. I also have a little Bosch trimmer which I use a lot, as well as a Gtech lightweight long handled hedge trimmer, but I think that would be too heavy for your elbow.

Have you tried the easy grip long reach hoe? Or border hoes by Bentley which have long wooden handles and small heads so they are lighter to use. If you have a disabled living foundation near you or even online they may have helpful advice.

With a hoe, my aim is to try to avoid the push/pull movement if I can, it’s not so much the weight of it, but the constant movement backwards and forwards that is painful, I wondered about an electric hoe because as I understand it, you just pull it towards you, and it does the hoeing, I wondered if I could do that whilst keep my elbow in one position, I don’t know if that would be feasible.
I’ve got a Bosch cordless hedge trimmer, which I’m hoping to be able to use with my left arm, I haven’t tried it yet though.

I have Ryobi secateurs - they are quite heavy and are really for cutting thin branches, not cutting back shrubs. I only ever used them twice then reverted to my very sharp secateurs.

I have the Bosch tools as illustrated in Shysal's post, but find the STIHL set much easier to use and is more powerful.
Cheapest (including battery and charger)
Is 119 pounds from www.machinemart.co uk
Hope to start using it very soon, certainly everything in need of a massive haircut after all the rain.

Casdon,

I recommend that if at all possible you find a local tool-hire place and hire garden power tools to try them out before investing. Even cordless ones can be pretty heavy.

My arm/ shoulder strength has weakened with age to a point I no longer use garden power tools that require " lift" and side to side sweeping motion. I got rid of my hedge cutter, HD blade strimmer etc.

That’s a good idea butterandjam, I’ll investigate the local hire shop and see if I can try them out. I’m going to need to buy secateurs I think ultimately though, unless I can master it left handed.