Black & Decker TR116 3-Amp Hedge Trimmer, 16-Inch

great product for the price

A great trimmer but it quit on me after only 16 months. And I only used it for seasonal trimming so I did not get that much use out of it before it quit....Waste.........Thank you .....BBP

I am quite pleased with the performance of this 16" trimmer especially for the price. While you will have the issue of dragging around an extension cord, the cord attaches firmly and has a cord-catch to prevent it from pulling out of the socket. Since it's electric, there is no concern about charging batteries or losing power in the middle of the job. Also with no battery, the trimmer is extremely light weight and balanced. Except for the hand guard, its fully assembled right out of the box and all you have to do is remove two screws, snap the guard in place and reinsert the screws - it takes about a minute. It cuts through any branch under half an inch with ease and is so light weight its practically effortless to use. To activate the blades, you need to slide the safety/lock button up before you can pull the trigger but once its running, it requires no effort and doesn't tire your hands. Of course, this has moving blades so one needs to exercise caution to avoid a serious injury - in other words don't be an idiot when running power tools or let kids use this thing. Since it's so lightweight it is easy to shape shrubs and the cuts are clean, not mangled though I would imagine this may change as the blades dull. The only complaint would probably be that the guard is made of a flexible plastic , which seems a bit flimsy and it could be a little larger. Still, this sure is a huge improvement over trimming each branch one at a time with hand clippers. Definitely worth the purchase.

Going on 7 years of at home use!

A great little addition to my gardening tools. It's my first electric trimmer so I can't say how it compares to others, but it did the job I needed. Can't say anything about longevity either since I just got it. It works so far. I used it for pruning a Juniper tiered ball topiary, a Boxwood hedge, Dwarf Brush Cherry topiary, Dwarf Mock Orange shrub, and a Breath of Heaven shrub. It handled well with all but the breath of heaven, which is just too willowy. The branches push away before they can be cut. Though, I did finally manage to get it pruned after a few minutes of extra effort, but probably easier to use hand shears on that one, at least for the strays that get left dangling. I like that it doesn't have its own chord, but rather just a plug for the extension chord. Makes it easy to store. It hangs on a wall nicely too. I also prefer the fact that it uses an extension chord rather than batteries as all the power tools I've had that needed batteries end up dying all too quickly (as in the batteries aren't any good and it's not worth buying new batteries for them). I'm thinking this tool will last longer (I hope).

I am just starting out with my quest for a nice, do-it-yourself yard. I have a large, overgrown rosemary bush which needed tending and I thought this would be a good idea. It was! This little trimmer is lightweight and powerful to trim a bush. Not that it matters, but I am a smaller woman so I don't have the muscle most landscapers have. Handheld trimmer blades are not my idea of a good use of time or elbow grease. You need to have a long outdoor cord to attach to this, but other than that, its great for the price. You will need to affix the safety panel yourself, but with a screwdriver, that's easy. I think 1/2 inch twigs etc would be max with this. I store it face down in the box it came in, in my garage as the blade will need to be covered to avoid accidental injury. The safety panel won't allow it to store upright as it arrived, but it works.

This thing is useful for only the smallest of jobs, and even then it is completely annoying. The problem lies in the trigger mechanism, which makes it almost impossible to keep the thing running, and only then, with quite a bit of finger and wrist pain. This poor design also tends to cause the user to lose grip on the device. And i'm no wimp either - I'm a strong guy who does yard and trim work all the time. I actually had to tape the trigger/lock into the "on" position in order to complete what I was doing - a dangerous gerry-rig that I don't recommend anyone try or use. It does seem to cut fairly well - some branch textures more than others, though after only two hours of use, it already seems to be dulling a bit.This device was inexpensive, so I hadn't much to lose (except my fingers, I suppose), but I wouldn't buy it again - not even for small jobs. This seems to be another situation where manufacturers using the cheapest means to meet safety requirements has resulted in a device more dangerous and much less functional than it should be.I'd look elsewhere - maybe not at B&D at all.

My old, really old, hedge trimmer finally died, so I bought this one. It works great, cuts through branches I couldn't cut with my manual clipper, and the best thing about it is that it's lightweight, which makes it easier to work with. I just love it.***I wrote the above after my first use. Have now used it a second time and it's died, completely dead, so I'm not recommending this trimmer.