New kit on the block

摘要

In the past year, brushcutters and hedgetrimmers have been refined and improved. There is nothing worse than arriving on site for a day's work and finding the brushcutters and hedgetrimmers won't start. Fifteen minutes of tugging at the cord, looking for screwdrivers, fiddling with plugs and filters and finally the equipment limps into life. Half an hour later and your arms and back are starting to ache with the weight of the machine. And before the first hour of work is complete, the vibration, noise and emissions from the engine are getting seriously annoying, Only a third of the job done, and you want to pack up and go home. Over the years we have seen great development in the design of handheld brushcutters and hedgetrimmers. We have witnessedelectric startand the added weight that involved. We have seen the introduction of four-stroke brushcutters - a move largely triggered by Honda but a trend quickly picked up by other manufacturers. This also added weight to the unit. And most recently the focus has been on long-reach tools, especially hedgetrimmers and pruners. So what next? Research and development departments of machinery manufacturers in Japan. the US and Europe are busy trying to out do each other by inventing or developing technology which will lead to the perfect, must-use-one-of-those brushcutters and hedgetrimmers. Their design aims are basically similar - user friendliness - but each is working towards their goals from a different angle.