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Thread: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

  1. #61
    Senior Member happymowin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    geez tom, time to start taking your business in another direction, and i dont mean down

    give the dangerous stuff away man,

    personally i will only hedge trim from the 8 foot step ladder, so my feet are about 5-6 foot from the ground at most, i straddle it, its a 2 sided jobbie, i never stand on one step and work - too dangerous.

    i have yet to fall off the mower, lol, sometimes the basic work is the highest paying imo. easier too.


    i refuse to use a chainsaw or pole saw from a ladder. if i cant reach it from the ground, i tell em get a tree guy.

    it hasnt hurt my income any either - you gotta decide whats best and safest for you and follow that path, man

  2. #62
    Dedicated Member Cranbourne Lawnmowing's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    Has anyone got any suggestions for some cheap but safe scaffolding / work platforms about 6 to 8 foot high? I'm thinking second hand to keep costs down and a ladder that has those legs you can shorten on one side as well.

  3. #63

    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    Quote Originally Posted by TomS View Post
    I have a 'workall' Platform Ladder from Trade tools. They sell a practically identical gorilla product for twice the money. your feet are at 1.8 Metres and there is a guard rail another 900 mm above that. So my head is at 3.4 metres. I can cut horizontally at a maximum of three metres. If its over that I offer to do the sides only or they can find someone else.

    I have always felt as safe as houses on this ladder until it went over sideways on a soft garden bed last week. Time slowed down.." which direction should I chuck the new hedger so it doesn,'t cut my arm off or break? is anyone watching? I feel so stupid Geez.. I hope I start breathing again"

    Luckily I fell sideways so didn't break an arm.. and fell with my head on a sleeper so it didn't damage anything(joke). Had my chainsaw helmet on thank goodness.

    Its made my rethink the whole business. Being really careful with ladder placement takes time, weighting with sandbags etc. Think I'm already charging as much as the market will stand.

    Tom
    Yep. Did that about 10 yrs ago. Last job of the day on a Saturday only 5 mins from home and a coffee was smelling good on a chilly day. Oopps fell from 3+ mtrs in front of the home owner who screamed when she let the phone go. I WAS LUCKY that day and it must have not been my time because the ladder landed on the 3 stairs of front porch and I landed on the ladder which broke my fall a little as I rolled. Unfortunately I sprained my right wrist badly and it gives me trouble now so in 10+ yrs I will pay for it. I have never had a ladder issue since!

  4. #64

    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    Quote Originally Posted by Cranbourne Lawnmowing View Post
    Has anyone got any suggestions for some cheap but safe scaffolding / work platforms about 6 to 8 foot high? I'm thinking second hand to keep costs down and a ladder that has those legs you can shorten on one side as well.
    should be able to get the "cheap" part of it on Ebay! Don't know about the safe part tho

  5. #65
    Senior Member BeetleJuice's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    You should play it safe and be a two man job
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  6. #66
    Dedicated Member Cranbourne Lawnmowing's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    Quote Originally Posted by Melbourne Commercial Mowing View Post
    should be able to get the "cheap" part of it on Ebay! Don't know about the safe part tho
    I've got a hedge I'm doing on a reg basis now. Problem is the hedge itself is only about 7 1/2 feet tall which about the limit I will do but its growing in a retainer wall that is about 5 feet tall. I stopped doing anything over 7 to 8 feet a couple of years ago because it was just too dangerous but I get good money for this and a lot of other gardening work at the same property. So its a case of give it away or get the right equipment to do it safely and take on other bigger hedges that I would normally not take on. Dont want to spend a fortune on equipment that is overkill and would like to be able to easily store and transport it.

    Seems to be some decent enough scaffolding platforms on wheels out there but then what do you do if you dont have a concrete base for it to sit on?
    Last edited by Cranbourne Lawnmowing; 06-02-2014 at 11:00 PM. Reason: 2nd edit additional thought

  7. #67
    Senior Member DavidS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    Most scaffolding will still operate fine on grass and dirt, I have had to chock up low legs before but most of the time a slope is not a problem with them either. If the ground is really soft then I put boards under the legs.

  8. #68
    Senior Member LGGF's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    I purchased one similar to this:
    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aluminium...item3a8b1a6bae
    It cost just under $1500, with all the extras, like the fully adjustable wheels which have about 500mm adjustment, I can do a hedge which is about 40 metres in length, two metres wide and ranging in height from 4 metre to 3 metres in about an hour (just the top) by myself, the sides are done from the ground with a Stihl multi tool.
    IMG_1923.jpg
    It has paid for itself in the first year.
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  9. #69
    Member Vic TomS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    I do hedges up to 3.3m with a shindy multitool and a Platform ladder from total tools. Go and have a look at them.

    Tom

  10. #70
    Senior Member BeetleJuice's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    I remember being on a job and next door there were 2 guys wanting to fit a air conditioner to a 2 storey house.

    First thing was they didn't have a 2 storey ladder so they got 2 ladders and tied them together with rope.
    The second thing was the neighbouring properties had a corrugated fence between them and they had the ladder leaning on the wall but it stood on the property next door where i was.

    The problem is if he fell or the ladders came apart he would fall onto the tin fence.
    They didn't look brite,i went over and spoke to the owner and asked if he had a 2 storey ladder they could borrow and he did.
    The guys went ahead without any safety harness or tying off the ladder to the building..I'd finished and left

  11. #71
    Member Littlej's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    I have a client that has a hedge that reaches up to 3.5m high and is around 3m deep, it was trimmed using ladders the first time, when it was getting time to trim it again I declared that I would have to hire scaffolding or similar. (due to physio costs from the first time)
    So the client decided to purchase suitable equipment, the search ended with her buying a dedicated hedging ladder from Aladda, the Henchman Hi-step Major.
    I used the ladder to do the job just before Christmas, surprisingly stable and heaps of adjustment on the legs, it made a huge difference to the ease of doing the job and not damaging myself. Cost was around 1K delivered.

    Cheers, John.

  12. #72
    Senior Member PaulG's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    Seems like good value for what it is although I'd like to see the legs a bit wider at the back for more stability. I bought a fibreglass Chief Platform Ladder last year which gets me to about three and a bit metres but it's not great on sloped or uneven ground. Cost was about $400 delivered.

  13. #73
    Senior Member 4 Gardens's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    Quote Originally Posted by Littlej View Post
    I have a client that has a hedge that reaches up to 3.5m high and is around 3m deep, it was trimmed using ladders the first time, when it was getting time to trim it again I declared that I would have to hire scaffolding or similar. (due to physio costs from the first time)
    So the client decided to purchase suitable equipment, the search ended with her buying a dedicated hedging ladder from Aladda, the Henchman Hi-step Major.
    I used the ladder to do the job just before Christmas, surprisingly stable and heaps of adjustment on the legs, it made a huge difference to the ease of doing the job and not damaging myself. Cost was around 1K delivered.

    Cheers, John.
    Just checked their website, they look pretty good, particularly as the platform height is adjustable

  14. #74
    Member Littlej's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    I must admit I was concerned by the width of the back legs as well before using it, unfounded concerns it seems, as I was quite happy waving the Stihl kombi with hedger attachment around. The adjustment on the legs is a bit fiddly the first few times, but after practice ended up only taking a minute to fine tune every move.
    Why it is so hard to find ladders and mobile collapsible scaff with adjustable legs is beyond me.

  15. #75
    Senior Member Wyadra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Whats the best way to access a high hedge?

    Hi John I see you are new to the forum, don't know how long you have been gardening...

    I think your client is taking a big risk by getting you to use her equipment for a dangerous job. If you fall I think she would be liable.

    I have fallen from the top of my 4.8m. I won't use it now if it is not concrete without an assistant to hold it.

    No sense not to learn from your mistakes, better still to learn from the mistakes of others...

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