Makita XNU01Z Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless, Tool Only 18V LXT 20" Articulating Pole Hedge Trimmer, Teal

Very powerful at cutting thicker branches and a lot faster. Glad I bit the bullet and purchased these, don’t think I’ll be using the trimmers ever again.

I am so pleased with this trimmer. I can trim the hedges in much less time using this trimmer compared with my 3 previous other brand trimmers. And I have some hedges that are 25 years old, so I am talking about large mature hedges. Makita hit a home run with this hedge trimmer. It's built to last. In my opinion I think Makita builds the best products, period. I have used other brands of tools in my 65 years but I always come back to Makita and now that is the only brand I will buy.

I've used a traditional 24" handheld corded Black and Decker hedge trimmer for years. It worked fine. I was able to do the job with it. Unfortunately, I have many tall and wide hedges, and "the job" involved me getting up on a ladder on sloped or uneven ground in order to trim my hedges. Somehow, after looking into a new hedge trimmer, I realized how much I like my other cordless Makita products (drill, chainsaw), so I looked into Makita and was torn between the 30" hedge trimmer and this one (XNU01Z). I obviously went with the XNU01Z, and was able to do all my shrubs in record time -- without the ladder. This was a big effing deal. I ran the trimmer on the highest speed the whole time, and the first battery (18v, 5.0ah) lasted a good two hours, enough to get nearly everything done. Since I had two batteries, that was no problem. The trimmer cuts quite well, both easy stuff and thicker. My only advice to anyone using it for the first time is to get some Advil after using it, as it will definitely exercise some muscles that you don't use when using a regular handheld hedge trimmer. Don't let the 20" length put you off either.The reach that this thing has is outstanding, and along with the cordless aspect, makes up for any perceived lack of length that you may have had with your 24" trimmer or whatever. This one's a winner, for sure, especially if you have hedges that are hard to reach because of their width or height. And last but not least, it's safer!! No more trimming up on a ladder!!

got it 3 days ago and gave it a workout on 180 linear ft of 8' tall photinia (redtip) hedge, two 11' arborvitae, several 8' burford holleys, and some 7' tall loropetalums. Used 2-cycle trimmer on low hanging fruit and finished off with the makita cordless. I like it. Made the job much easier with no ladder or lunging from my tip toes. Read criticism of having to push power button if you let go of trigger too long - not a factor, never gave me a problem. Some critisize battery life - absolutely no problem with my two 5ah batteries. I needed a break long before even one battery ran low. Cutting power? Hey It's not a 2-cycle but very surprised by what it did on Burford holleys as some stems were good 3/8". Arborvitae was piece of cake and very adequate to even the top of photinias. Only gave 4 stars because I5 stars bad karma and no experience with its durability. Light weight and Like the way it folds for storage. Only ran on high speed and doubt i'll ever use other two. Ability to change angle a great feature, wouldn't want one without it. Zero complaints. Next challenge is trimming light brush on a pond bank.

I'm so glad I chose the more expensive one than the other cheaper versions of this. It's solid as a rock and very well built. Will cut through stuff up to 1/2" with almost no trouble. Very quiet and does the job. Only wish is that it had a telescopic pole for bigger stuff.