Draper Expert 14153 26 cc Petrol 5-in-1 Garden Tool

Hi new to the forum im 19 years old and on my second year on a gardening course and am looking to do a bit of garden maintenance work. Just wondering if you think this multi strimmer will be ideal and be durable to do so. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Expert-14153-Petrol-Garden/dp/B003BVGWK2

Thanks

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

Certainly looks good, better wait for some experienced opinions before splashing out that much though.

 

Yeh is a lot of cash! the huskavanas were even dearer

 

What sort of work are you touting for? and how many hours per week?

Pole hedge trimmers are heavy to work with, thus only ideal for tall stuff that is hard to reach. If you are going to do hedges up to 6', mainly, then a regular hedge trimmer is a better bet. You may well still need something to get up to the higher parts ... but a ladder, or perhaps "ceiling fitters stilts" might be better.

If you are doing this as more than a few hours a week then you need decent kit. I appreciate that you won't have/want to spend much money but:

• Buy-cheap pay-twice
• Take into account hassle (for you,a dn dissappointment/inconvenience for you clients) from breakdowns etc
• Take into account vibration

You will be creating joint problems by using equipment intended for the few-hours-a-year home gardener, compared to tools designed to be low vibration for use many hours a day. I know youngsters tend to ignore that sort of stuff! but when you get to my age you look back and wish that you hadn't done ... hopefully the risks of such equipment are something you will have studied.

I have bought the sort of combination-tools you refer to in the past, and mostly regretted it. I have no experience of the Drapper range, but the ones I have had have been jack-of-all and blinking annoying when all is said and done.

I have a large garden, so more than the average, but less than what a pro. tackles. I have Stilh chainsaw for the branches, Stilh brush cutter (the type that can take a metal blade as well as nylon cord), a decent length double-sided blade hedge cutter (forgotten the brand) and a cheap Ryobi (I think) pole hedge cutter that I use for the harder to reach bits of tall hedges.

I've just replaced the brush cutter as the old one died. I had had it 30 years at least. Quality bit of kit (an even more expensive brand than Stihl) but it doesn't owe me a penny! I picked Stihl for the replacement because of the number of local agents around here, and thus the ease of getting any problems sorted out. Its an ex-demo model that I bought of eBay at quite a saving off a walk-in showroom price.

 

ideally 3 days a week so upwards of 12 hours a week for starting off. So do you think it is worth getting expensive tools even tho i have little experience with machinery with just using them at college and a cheap strimmer at home. I also want to save room by getting a multi tool and draper is a reliable make so im hoping it will do the job?. But it seems that my best bet is to buy expensive like £300 pound stimmer and so on as they will last me in the long run. If so i will be probably best with a strimmer and hedge cutter to start me off and then in the future start adding as i can afford. Any makes you guys recommend? Thanks Liam

 

Yeah, its a difficult call when you are just starting out :( Also, whether this is going to be a long term [self employed] occupation, or just short term to pay your way whilst completing your course - if you are then going to look for a job, rather than being self employed, then you only need a tool that will get you through your course

One option would be to buy second hand of a suitable make.

You might want to register/ask on the Landscape Juice forum, that is targeted at professional garden contractors

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Liam,
I wish you well with your future gardening employment. I'm sure you will always find helpful advice here,

Jenny namaste

 

Thanks for the help guys and id love to work as a self employed gardener or with an exsisting gardner which i did over the summer but travel costs got to expensive to kendal every day and previous to do that i worked part time at a large estate hall but unfortunately three of us got made casual gardeners because of the tight budgets everyones facing lately. I think what your saying is sensible buying the essential strimmer and hedge cutter as quality will last over time. I don't know if to buy second hand though as you never know why the person is selling it and if they are genuinely selling it for that reason ill have a talk with my tutors at college to find affordable but quality strimmer and hedgetrimmer and hopefully can get them for around £550-£600. From what ive read sthil and huskavana sound really good as you see the council using them and they are quite rough with them! Thanks Liam

 

Indeed ... Buyer Beware and all that.

But factor-refurb, or ex-demo, or some other form of "as new" - provided it comes with a guarantee (kosher ones do, the ones that don't ... aren't kosher!) - is as good as the real thing if you are needing to save some pennies.

If you buy it in a shop then make sure that you tell them that the reason you are buying it there, rather than on the internet, is that you need it for your work and you will be expecting (and know you are paying more for) their service should anything go wrong - then if it does you can stamp your feet, so to speak, and ask for a loan machine whilst its being repaired so you don't let your clients down, or anything else that you reasonably should expect.

I'm sure this is all obvious, so only mentioning it in case it is helpful

 

Thank you looking on ebay this looks a good buy http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/stihl-fs9...&prg=1011&rk=1&sd=271055695640&#ht_500wt_1363 not going to buy anything without going other all the options though