Description
From the manufacturer
Ryobi RPT4545M Pole Hedge Trimmer with Extension Pole, 450 W
- Powerful 450W motor
- 45cm laser-cut precision blades for cleanest cut
- Capable of cutting large branches with 20mm blade gap
- 135° articulating, 4-position cutting head for versatile trimming
- Removable shaft provides both long reach and convenient storage
- Length extends to 2.6m with centre shaft, providing a reach up to 4m
Product Details
As one of the world’s largest and most innovative power and garden tool manufacturers, Ryobi specialise in making great tools.
That’s why Ryobi is the DIY brand of choice for millions of homeowners, gardeners, hobbyists and auto-enthusiasts.
Jaybee –
Good but to heavy.I have used this twice now once fully extended. Once with one pole and easier with one pole.When fully extended it is a bit top heavy and you need to not over extend yourself . I will use this again but not fully extended, got the job almost done.
lynne peto –
Wasnt clear that it was electric not cordlessHedgecutting
K J –
Brilliant!I wish I hade bought one a long time ago. Ryobi have got this one right.Fits together easily, it took me about 1 minute to be ready to use. The motor is more than powerful enough and went through 1cm old growth without even changing motor tone, as soon as you hear it running you know it means business. My old, short clipper would probably have stalled on 1 cm branches and I would have spent a couple of minutes trying to free it each time. The trigger is easy to use and well positioned. Comes with a second extension pole which I didn’t need. It looks, feels and sounds very well made.It is on the heavy side and you need to pace yourself, but after cutting about 40 metres of 3 metre high leylandii, including the tops, I was a lot less tired and aching than if I had used my old machine. I also completed the job in about a 3rd of the time it usually took. I didn’t use the shoulder strap. For the sides I rested the handle against my stomach and did long curving sweeps (according to the manual you can buy a separate support strap to rest against your stomach). Just too easy once you get into the swing of it. No more trying to hold a clipper above my head and having the clippings fall all over me for 40 metres.For the tops I still had to go up a step ladder (with someone holding the ladder for me)., some of my hedge is up to 2 metres wide so using the angle feature doesn’t do it all. Holding the clipper horizontally out in front of you takes some effort, but I found that I could rest the clipper on the hedge and simply use strength for the side sweeping movement. with the long reach (even without the extension pole) I found I could get right to the far edge of the wide bits, (with the old one I would have to force myself into the side of the hedge and almost crawl over it, really painful). With the Ryobi I could cut an almost 3 metre swathe across the top so insteady of moving the ladder one metre at a time as with the old clipper I could do it in 2.5 metre bites.So, a 3rd of the time, less than half as achy, not covered in leylandii clippings and dust – Why did I struggle for so long with my old clipper?I needed to develop a new technique for the sides because the Ryobi blade is a little shorter and the machine considerable more powerful than my old one, so it’s easy to get carried away and cut a big dent into the hedge. Once that is understood its a lot easier to get a flatter side with the long sweeps and because you are at a distance from the cutting its easier to see what’s happening flatnesws wise.I would have preferred a bright coloured power cable rather than the black and perhaps a few metres longer – the only improvement I can suggest.I bought a Ryobi schredder a few years ago and am equally impressed with the quality of that.I used to buy everything Bosch, but I’ve been disappointed with their garden stuff quality recently. As its difficult to see how the 2 Ryobi items I have could be improved on and given that they cost a lot less than the Bosch equivelents I’m now a Ryobi convert with flymo stuff a close second.
Aitch –
I needed an assistant to keep things like the cable in checkThis tool has done a job for us after the typical story of cutting thru the cable of the previous one.As others have said, it is heavy. I didn’t get on with the shoulder strap I am a 6ft1″ triathlete and I struggled after 20-30 minutes fighting a 9-10ft hedge about 1m wide which we adopted when we moved. I needed an assistant to keep things like the cable in check.The 90deg flat cut function is useful, but over a certain height or at a particular level of thickness, becomes unworkable. I found I had to have the assistant help me climb ladders, but the cutter in the long telescopic single pole formation, then sweep the hedge from the top, that worked reasonably well. In the end, we took about 2ft height off of about a 4m long hedge, but it was an epic battle. This also fixed the problem of reach, because the hedge was too deep to cut the whole width from front and back. There will be more coming off in the spring. I suspect when we get the hedge under control, this might be a much more agreeable regular task with this toolI think if i was doing this again i might invest in hiring a chainsaw to hack thru it OR doing some thinning out of some branches first. If you or someone else has left the hedge untackled for some time, so the bark is thicker and tangled, you are going to struggle with any consumer device of this sort. But since I’m an obstinate b*gger I’ll be continuing with this.
K. Shaw –
Great hedge trimmer if you’ve got the strength to hold itThis is too heavy even worse when used with the extension, and the support harness that comes with it doesn’t help, gets in the way. Makes it awkward to reach the power switch when set short, difficult to reach the extended areas and when you extend the harness doesn’t give much support. Just like the strimmer i bought the power cable is too short.
Travvi –
Well made and not too heavyI bought the RPT4545M to trim the sides of a very tall Leylandii hedge in our garden. When I read the reviews on here before purchasing I was a little concerned about the comments that it’s too heavy, but I took the plunge as I was mainly going to be using it in a nearly vertical position with the blade pointing vertically. The hedge is around 5 metres tall, and I was aiming with the help of a 1 metre high decorating platform that I would be able to trim the sides right to the top (but obviously not cut along the top). I found the weight of it to be perfectly manageable, and this was even without using the shoulder strap (I needed to fully outstretch my arms above my head to reach the highest parts so the shoulder strap would of restricted me doing this). I am a 5′ 11 , 37 year old male, average/slim built but active, and I was able to use this trimmer for a couple of hours including swinging it over to 45 degrees at times to trim the bits overhanging my garden wall. I was also stood on a small platform to reach the highest bits, and holding it way above my head a lot of the time, it was still manageable to hold and balance. I was able to reach 4 metres high with it (5 metres stood on a standard 1 metre decorating platform) so you don’t need tons of muscle to be able to use this, and I don’t think the motor is too heavy. It assembles quickly and seems well made. The poles are made of fibreglass, they push together and then are secured by rotating large plastic threaded collars by hand which pulls the sections together tight. The cutting blade has quite wide teeth compared to my old standard hedge trimmers and copes well with some of the thicker old wood in the hedge. The cable is fairly thick and bright orange. I didn’t get chance to use it with the blade positioned at different angles, but it seems easily enough to adjust by pressing a button and rotating the head to either 0, 45 or 90 degrees. All in all it’s a very competent tool that I would recommend, I’m glad I didn’t for a cheaper option at the DIY stores.
william edwards –
Ryobi pole hedge trimmerCuts well good up high heavy at vertical good buy
Christo –
It is very heavy!My likes :- Easy to assemble, it cuts very well, good length of electrical cable and extension pole.Dislikes:- Unfortunately this hedge trimmer is extremely heavy and once the extension pole is attached the weight is doubly increased, even when the support strap is in use it’s fixing point would need to be adjustable to give a more balanced weight distribution. I’m sure the Ryobi personnel are aware of it’s weight issues over a number of years, but I’m surprised they have not addressed this issue to distribute the weight of this machine in a more balanced and manageable way! Aches and pains in arms and shoulders caused in using this machine is a BIG let down. I would have returned it only for it being slightly soiled after trying it out.
Mr Alan Webb –
Effective in usethis is very heavy in the cutting head, and it is easy to overbalance whilst using.
TS –
Does the job wellGood product for dealing with our high hedge. Total length includes cutter: we thought there was a section missing from pole as length did not match the advertised 4m: the pole is just over 3m. Possibly the one we were sent had previously been returned, judging from state of the box, and the fact that it had been re-taped.