Ryobi 450W RPT4545M

This was a good value trimmer and served me well for 7 years hard work – Given the purchase cost of $245 this trimmer has work well and very reliable for 7 years until motor burnout. The manual installed extension was a little difficult to assemble at times. The configuration of the cutting blades work well and better than rounded end cutting blades. I hope to buy a replacement trimmer as good as this Ryobi unit. Show details

poorly made rubbish – I have only left one star because it won't allow me to choose none. This was only used twice on 4mm privet before in blew the motor and burst the casing. not fit for purpose, a weak, flimsy piece of machinery. i will never buy a Ryobi tool ever again and advise anyone thinking of buying Ryobi to think again and avoid them at all costs as they are very poor quality. Show details

Works fine, great value – I've used it on a variety of mature NZ natives, ranging from frondy to pretty woody and it works as intended. The 17mm cutting capacity is not something I'd contemplate, even 10mm is quite ambitious depending on the wood type, but i don't think hedge trimmers should be used as chainsaws so that's no slight on the device. I find it to be powerful… Read more

enough and the articulating head works very well.

The only disadvantage with this tool is the weight of the motor/cutting head which means you need to be reasonably strong to wield it for several hours. I knew this in advance and anticipated the effort required and I think it's a reasonable trade-off compared to the additional cost of a mains powered Stihl pole trimmer with a gearbox-head which costs $500 more. (A battery powered device would just add more weight, cost even more, and the limited run-time would frustrate). I'd buy this tool again.

Ok, but too hard to use fully extended – This is ok if you have a long reach or long arms. I find that extending the poles to get full range is too hard to use as it becomes top heavy and becomes awkward to use. Also found that when fully extended that you need to take care when lowering as mine snapped at the tightening point as I started to undo the unit because I didn't have it laid… Read more

completely flat.

This is still very handy to have as the blade is quite long and just means that I still need to use the ladder to get the higher spots.

Worked well....for about 6 months – Worked very well for a few uses and then the blades stopped reciprocating. I clean and inspect all my trimmers and tools after use and there didn't seem to be any other issues. Blades looked good and still relatively sharp. All trimmings were less than 5mm thick. Wouldn't buy another of this type.  Show details

Hopeless – I purchased one of these to replace my old Ozito pole trimmer thinking that the Ryobi would be a better quality product. I used it for two days and then no power. I returned it to Bunnings and replaced it with another Ozito which let me finish of the job. As a comparison between the two hedgers the Ozito is clearly better. It's 900watt as opposed… Read more

to 450W in the Ryobi. The motor is in the handle not at the head of the edger giving it better balance. The Ryobi has an extension that takes the length to 2.6 mts which is totally useless as the weight of the motor and poor harness system makes it almost uncontrollable and very tiring to use. The thinner head on the Ozito also makes it easier to get into tight spots against fences etc.

The Ryobi has limited head angle adjustment compared to the Ozito and the Ozito's locking system seems more robust.

The Ryobi has a 450mm cut to the Ozito's 410mm but this just adds to the weight issue mentioned above.

After having used the two the Ozito would be my clear choice.

Good For Hard-to-reach Areas. Trims Heavy Growth Surprisingly Well – With a lot of 2-3m high hedging, the task is usually done by a professional who then leaves the the smaller 1.5m hedges around the house for us to tackle. However, with garden beds in the way, these hedges are really awkward to reach without stumbling over agapanthus or trying to balance a ladder across uneven ground. When the last conventional… Read more ·  2

electric hedge trimmer failed, we contemplated getting a cheap pole trimmer, but were concerned about the weight, which according to the professionals, appears to double every 30 minutes of use! The Ozito PHT410 was cheaper and more powerful, but also 2kg heavier because of the full length drive shaft. So we went with the lighter 450W Ryobi, which does without a long heavy drive shaft by having the motor integral with the blade, and it works surprisingly well even on overgrown Cypress, Pittosporum and Box hedging. It cuts better than our previous more powerful electric trimmers.

With most of the weight at the trimmer end, there is an art to holding the pole and getting the neck/shoulder strap adjusted just right for each part of the hedge but once that's balanced and most of the 4kg weight is taken on the strap, it can chew through a large section of hedge quite easily, swivelling the pole around in an arc while balanced on the strap attachment. Plugging in the additional extension gives a 2.6m reach, however this can make it harder to control the cut precisely and it likes to chew hedge quickly, even bits you meant to keep!

Apart from a learning curve to get the strap just right for the next section of the hedge, the main annoyance is the strap's attachment point on the pole. This is a fixed collar with a protruding flange and ring, and the shoulder strap clips to this ring. Thanks to this offset attachment point, the trimmer naturally hangs with the blade horizontal but this means that it's a struggle to hold the trimmer at any other angle - the pole wants to twist back to horizontal if you relax and let the strap take the weight.

The collar could be loosened and repositioned 90˚ around the pole to make it much easier to trim the sides of a large hedge but it means fiddling with a spanner to swap back and forth. A slip ring around the pole would be a better way to attach the strap.

The instructions are rather brief, relying on a few cartoon-like diagrams to save paper and avoid multi-language explanations. It occasionally shows the trimmer being placed in a cupboard - not sure if that means store it securely or just ensure it lies flat rather than leaning on a wall.

However, overall it trims surprisingly well for just a 450W trimmer. Being able to reach across intervening garden beds and to be able to at least do the sides of a very long 3m hedge without a ladder means a big saving in 'hedgeman' fees and nicer looking hedges between the professional trims.