Ryobi 500W RHT5045

Had it for many years. This year it stopped – Pulled it apart and renewed the motor brushes. Worked OK for a couple of minutes and then stopped. Jiggling the power cord fixed to the trimmer had it running on and off. The Ryobi neutral cable had failed between the plug and the trimmer. Replaced power cord and unit is up and running. Nothing else looked worn out. Show details

Save your $ – Bought at Bunnings in talks with a salesperson several months ago and have used it twice and to be honest shears would have been more effective. $139 spent and lesson learnt " stay away from some salespeople". Yes it's an inexpensive out of the box product but seriously I'd save your money and put towards either a great pair of shears or a more expensive trimmer.  Show details

Great Value & does a good job! – Lets begin with the fact that at $89, this is not an expensive tool. I bought this to cut and trim 16 metres of hedges on my corner block home. And it done the job very well. For the price you pay, this has some very good value. Sure there may be better trimmers out there but you will pay allot more for them. For me a twice yearly cut on a decent amount of hedges, its great value for the money. I recommend it.  Show details

ideal for mock orange hedge – this hedge trimmer is the first i have ever owned and i couldnt be happier. it is lightweight - ideal for a woman. i have two quite substantial mock orange hedges. the trimmer is simple to use and does an excellent job. it has made gardening easier at my place.  Show details

Better than expected – This hedger is in the $90 range and was purchased to tame my Lilly Pilli hedge. It is used strait from the box, all you need is a long power lead and it made easy work of the shrubs. It easily cut through the thicker branches too. My first impressions are good but it is at the cheaper end of the range, if it lasts it will be great.  Show details

Cuts okay but some shortcomings – 1. The slot at the rear for the extension cable to hook into is not designed to take a heavy duty 25m three-core extension cable. Yes, you can jam one in but why Ryobi have shrunk the hole defies analysis. 2. Ryobi suggest cleaning the blades with a 'brush'. Seriously, brush that sap away! 3. Aside from brushing no other maintenance, no… Read more

lubricating... no, nothing for the user to do but "keep cutting tools sharp and clean". Good luck with a brush.

NOTE: Perhaps I should emphasise that I was cutting a real hedge (containing sap) situated in an outside garden. The power outlet was inside the house hence the need for a garden extension lead. I selected electric over battery for weight and grunt.

Broke after 3 minutes – Purchased brand new from bunnings sat in the box for 6 months until we finally decided to trim the hedges. Started smoking as soon as we turned it on and tripped the circuit and died minutes later. Needless to say we will be returning it to bunnings and looking for a different brand as a replacement.

The 'Value for Money' view updated – Since my initial review of this trimmer I was out recently attempting to (yes you guessed it) trim my hedge. The trimmer performed faultlessly for half an hour but only minutes away from making the last pass, the machine simply stopped working without warning. When I checked it had tripped the circuit breaker of the electrical circuit it was… Read more

plugged into. I wanted to take it apart and find the fault but that would have broken the machine's warranty conditions, so I simply did what I do with all merchandise fails that I purchase at Bunnings. I will write a separate review of that Bunnings experience.

Based on recent experiences, the conclusion I've reached is that low-end Chinese manufacturers are simply incapable of machining/assembling electrical components together (in a machine) without creating a high risk of an electrical 'dead short' occurring. It simply becomes a lottery as to when that 'dead short' will occur after purchase.

Despite their cool green/black colour scheme, Ryobi products have to be placed under the heading of "Low-end Chinese Manufactured Products".

A potential purchaser of the Ryobi 500W Hedge Trimmer should first ask themselves this basic question; can I be bothered having to return this machine after trimming my hedge just 4 times?