Ryobi RHT2660DA

The Ryobi RHT2660DA is a compact but powerful petrol hedge trimmer designed for serious gardeners. If you need to cut hedges which are a long way from a power source, you won’t want to be trailing a long flex behind you. Similarly, if your hedges are of such a length that trimming them takes you much more than an hour or so, a rechargeable/cordless is probably not going to cope without inconvenient regular recharging.

So if a petrol hedge cutter is the right choice, we think that the Ryobi RHT2660DA should be a serious contender.

What about the details

Beginning with the motor, the RHT2660DA features a 26cc 675 watt (0.9 hp) two-stroke unit which provides plenty of power to the blades. The Quick Fire carburettor and electronic ignition are reported to make for easy starting. The carburettor will operate at any angle whilst working.

The blades themselves are 60 cm (24”) long. They have a  double-reciprocating action – which means that both blades move, to make cutting more efficient, as does the cutting speed of 1800 rpm. The spacing between the teeth is 28 mm, or just over 1”, so that coping with really quite hefty growth shouldn’t be a problem. You can see in the picture that there is a set of fixed teeth as well. These hold thicker stems steady whilst the blades cut through.

As the trimmer weighs only 4.9 kg (10.8 lb) you should be able to get the job done fairly painlessly. A thoughtful feature is the pivoting back handle, which rotates through 180 degrees to help you cut the top and sides without straining your arms too much.

The Ryobi RHT2660DA is the only petrol hedge trimmer on offer from this manufacturer, which must say something about the faith they put into the design. We think that with an RRP £150 you can’t go wrong at all.

Where to buy

We spent quite a bit of time researching the best options and concluded that you couldn’t really do better than Amazon. Saving £5 on the RRP, free delivery and good stock and returns policy, it’s the place to go.

CLICK HERE  to get the Ryobi RHT2660DA from Amazon