I don't know about the hedge trimmer but for an extend able tree trimmer, Fiskars looks good to me. I have another brand that I bought at a county fair and it is excellent but much more expensive than a Fiskars and I don't think it is any better. Fiskars have been carried at Costco when they get all of their spring and summer merchandise in stock. Another possibility would be a split shaft unit such as Echo or Shihl. These allow you to put on the head of your choice. I am thinking about them so that I can have a gas powered hedge trimmer and pole pruner using the same handle. I favor the Echo for these because of the handle they have that makes it easier to balance. I own several Shihl tools and they are excellent machines but their trimmer feels heavier than the Echo. You could look at the Echo in the tool rental department at Home Depot. A dealer should have the Stihls in stock.

I am kc8prz (ham call), Mikey. I have been around a long time and I am currently retired thru disability. So hello everyone. Thought I would give my two cents worth on the new Hitachi trimmer, as also found, part for part identical to it's brethern Tanaka. This would be the Hitachi (Deluxe) CG22EASSLP straight shaft grass trimmer with an extra long 60 in. solid steel drive shaft and an anti-vibration system we are to talk about. This is about my 20th trimmer to date with a handful of them being gas. To start with, and get it out of the way, the trimmer is done in a stinky ass, sick looking, slightly grayish tinted, green with gray, black and orange accents on various parts. John Deere looks good in green and Weedeater does green real well too. But this is a very sad shade of green. This shade of green would need lots of vitamines and a psycodilic acid trip to improve it's image. Enough! Now the good stuff.. I tried to find as many of the starting lineup trimmers that the various companies offered and did extensive research on each. Some of the outstanding things about this Hitachi are it's industry leading 7 year warranty for consumers. Also a solid steel drive shaft with a lifetime warranty, as with a lifetime warranty on it's solid state ignition system, according to the service reps I talked to in this area. Shoot me if I misquote something that was told to me. It comes with a special "EASY pull assist" to crank it over and at no added cost to get it that way as was not the case with the Echo trimmer @ $50 dollars extra. Also, I think, it has a Walbro carb on an industrial rated motor. I weighted mine at a hair under 10 lbs. with fuel (outstanding). My stature is small so weight, size, and balance were very important to me having 12 bad disc's in my spine. I found the trimmer to be lite in operation and well balanced. The 21.1cc rating is a fooler as the unit has gobs of power. I bought the Tanaka manual feed head and tried some Hitachi .095, some Oregon with the arimid fiber in it at .118, and some Oregon Max at .130, all being round. All performed very well and lasted a long time. My propritary 2 cycle fuel mix is a one third Lucas, two thirds Sthil Ultra (was what I had left laying around) at 32 to 1 ratio. Plus some Lucas ethenol helper and the standard StaBil. The Hitachi liked it a lot. Unintentionally thrown together but it seams to work real well with no smoke.. This unit is a high reving HOT little monster so I made sure it had a little heaver oil ratio w/silicone and 93 gas grade octane. Dealing with Cincinnati "Summer blend" gas here, UGH!. The Hitachi whipped and hacked it's way through everything without a sweat. Modifications?? Well I did order a mid shaft Echo handle (new) for $12 online. The Echo handle is covered with a cushier grip surface than the hard plastic the Hitachi has. I did find the unit running very well balanced but hardly perfect though better than most. A bit better than average noise level. Lots of torque reminding me of the days of the old 1968 Plymouth Hemi Roadrunner. Above average gas mileage and ultra easy effort to start only needing one pull. For me and my ergonomic fitup puts the off/on switch in a bad location. I bumpted it to "off" a couple of times.. Uh, pardon me if I made it sound like the trimmer is just for little frail people because it's not, it's for everybody. A large commercial Lawn Care service could do a lot worse with many other "so called" commercial/profesional products then owning a bunch of these Hitachi (Deluxe) CG22EASSLP's.. To note, I also own a Gravly Zero Turn mower Im nuts about. A very durable, well thought out and built mower. So in conclusion, The Hitachi is easy to drive with lots of power. The unit is well designed, heavy duty, lite weight, ugly, and overall well built. I am very very impressed. I bought this online for $189 at Home Depravation,.....ah (Depot). This thread is getting long in the tooth otherwise I would tell you what I diden't like about all the others. Let me know if you want that. Also, one more thing I want your comments and opinion on. I bought this from Amazon today. $38.78 Only 16 left in stoc Arnold Extreme WLX-3105 Professional Grade String Trimmer Line .105-Inch x 660-Feet .. order soon. FREE Shipping too. Delivers the durability and performance the professional landscaper demands Cuts nine times more area than residential lines Tough enough for edging and cutting through think vegetation One reviewer wrote the following: I've only used this line a few times so far but it's incredible compared to the line that came with my string trimmer (Husqvarna titanium). I rarely have to bump the head for more string even when going through very heavy grass and thick weeds. I was even able to take care of small wild rose bushes (Word of warning. This string is incredibly hard and durable. This can be dangerous around trees with soft bark or otherwise, fence posts, etc. Don't go anywhere near vinyl siding. If you can keep a trimmer head loaded with the softer stuff for delicate areas. If not just be extremely careful. Updated: I had the opportunity to try some edging with this string on a Husqvarna 327ldx. It worked amazingly well. My word of warning should be extended to include brick! I have a brick lined garden and found this string will actually chip brick. I don't mean it will abrade it, it chips it. I tilted the string to the soil and just edged the garden to the ground making sure not to hit the brick after the first instance. Edging the sidewalk was super quick and long overdue. Awesome string. Whatdoyathink about deal and line type and quality?.....Thanks to all, Mike.

It's not going to take anyone anytime at all to "trim" 20' palm trees. Anything more than $50 would be highway robbery. You can do it yourself with a polesaw and a ladder (if you're into that sort of thing). Whatever you do, don't let them do a "hurricane cut". It's bad for the palms. Only cut out brown fronds. And if you tell them that, you should get a better price because they're not going to do as much work as they "planned" to bill you for by recommending a "hurricane cut". Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/sep/02/doug-caldwell-hurricane-cuts-may-be-death-blows-yo/

Thanks, Nat. I had expected damage the first time, but this time, reflecting on the job they did previously, I was not surprised at the extremem care they took to avoid damaging the plants. There were three of them, including the company owner who did the limb cutting this time. All od them seemed to feel free to make comments and to urge caution. We are very happy with them. kay