Side by Side Comparison of: Earthwise vs Greenworks

I have been looking for an extension hedge trimmer for awhile and I chose this after checking out many. It enables me to trim my larger holly's without dragging out the ladder and then still having to stretch to reach the tops. Note it is not a light weight unit, but it has performed perfectly. I wanted a corded unit also because I find them to cut much better than a cordless one. The connections are extremely well designed at both ends of the pole so I feel they'll hold up without issue.

The hedge trimmer worked great for trimming the bushes in my yard. It ran very well and cut through the branches easily. The extension pole gave me the reach I needed to complete the tops of the bushes. I still needed the use of a ladder, but the trimmer worked well.Before I purchased this pole trimmer, I had to shove the ladder into the bush in order to reach the top branches in the center of the bush. A good way to poke your eye out.As other reviewers have stated, this unit mounted on the pole is heavy out on the working end. It can be awkward if you over reach. Some upper body strength and patience will help to cope with it.

This was a terrific buy. I love it. First of all, it came earlier than expected - which was great. Secondly, I am only 5' and have bushes in the front of the house and side that I usually have to lug out ladders and chairs to reach all the parts and then I still couldn't reach out far enough to get to the edges and corners.With this I was able to get through the job in really quick time. The power of the cutters is much better than the older trimmers I have. I was able to adjust the pole, add the grip and slice through the job really quickly. What once took all day now only took a couple of hours and without the strain and pain of the past. I love all it's features and I used all of them. Straight edge, long pole and angled cutting. Works great!!!

This trimmer is very strong and fast. It is very easy to use as a hand held trimmer. When up on the pole, it does take some upper body strength. Changing it from a handheld to a pole trimmer is very easy and simple to do. While on the pole, the trimmer easily adjusts to various angles making it great for tall hedges. I like that there is a slot and hook to hold the electric cord plug in securely. This keeps it from pulling loose mid usage. It also comes with a shield for the blade for storage. I like this trimmer and I would purchase it again.

I have been using these trimmers for the past 2 weeks on some property we have in the country. I can not say enough good things about it.Let me explain. First of all, changing from regular trimmers to the extension could not be any easier, Seriously, they could not have designed this any better then they did. You simply pull a button back and slide is down and off, the same goes for the other side, I could show an 8 yo how to do this in a minute. It would only take you, 30 seconds. You don't have to unplug it when changing to the extension, since that is the part you are adding.This trimmer can cut anything that is 1/4 to 1/2 around. The teeth are wide, and it seems very powerful. My Mother was even raving about how nice this is. HIGHLY recommended, If someone has a bad review about this, I can't see how or why. Very well designed product.

I read the reviews before purchase and most of what I saw was that it was too heavy. Too heavy for what? Put 5 or 6 lbs on the end of any 6' pole and it's going to seem heavy. What are the alternatives, $400-$500 for a Toro gas hedge trimmer. For what it is, and at the price it is the only alternative, and a great tool. Sure I can handle it as a 6'3", 220lb athlete, but even when I extend it and hold it for a couple of minutes, the old biceps burn. What I did right away was rig a ring on the shaft to a shoulder sling, just like we use on our gas weed trimmers. The extra support and counterbalance makes this new hedge trimmer gets a lot more manageable. I'm really surprised, and a little disappointed, that the manufacturer would not include this on the product. Best to leave the ring on the shaft adjustable up and down the shaft so you can place it where necessary for any certain situation/position. Best part compared to my other hand held electric hedge trimmer is the extension. For a couple of large plumbagos I had to get most of the way up an 8' ladder which my wife never liked. With this new tool I can do almost everything from the ground and from behind. Very little ladder work. So, all in all, put up with the weight and pay this price, or pop for the hundreds to buy a gas trimmer. Skeetpick.

I bought this to trim large bushes where I couldn't reach the middle with a handheld trimmer. This fits the bill. It is nicely designed and well made. It isn't a lightweight, even in the pole-less configuration. As noted by others, most of the weight is at the end of the pole and it gets heavy quickly! I purchased it to reach the hard places and that it does. I do most trimming without the pole. It is very quick and easy to convert from one form to the other.To correct some mis-impressions of other reviews: the pole DOES extend. There is a safety lock to pull the trigger, but you DON'T have to hold the unlock button once the trimmer is going.

This thing is great for reaching higher cut areas where a ladder would have been needed. In my case I have some very tall shrubs around the house and some of them are only reachable via ladder AND on unlevel terrain, requiring a 2nd person to hold the ladder, then a long reach to cut the tops. This trimmer solved all of that. Like others have said, it is a bit top heavy when working over your head, but then everything gets heavy when working over head. So I just shift from one strong hand to the other when needed. It gets the job done fast though, so it's a keeper.

I have 12 Rose of Sharon bushes that grew larger than I expected; some up to 15 feet high. I tried using a tree trimmer to prune them, but there are so many smaller branches, it would take forever. I was unaware that you could buy a hedge trimmer that also extends so I was happy to find this one online. Setup is easy as the trimmer arrives with the extension pole separated. You simple push a button and disengage the handle from the trimmer and then insert the extension pole between the trimmer and handle. The handle has a safety button that you need to push in order to start the trimmer. I was happy to see that you do not have to keep the safety button pushed in after starting the trimmer as that would be awkward. My Rose of Sharon bushes had branches that were a good half inch or so thick and the trimmer had no problem going through them. It does get heavy after a while, but I just simply gathered trimmings between doing several bushes. One thing I would recommend is tying your extension cord to the cord on the trimmer so you don't accidently step on and unplug it. All in all a nice piece of equipment that allowed me to get the job done.

Works great. It's definitely heavy when used with the extender like others have already pointed out. It seems like a powerful enough unit and chews right thru most everything it encounters.Update after about 1.5 years of use:I originally rated this at 4 stars and I am going to leave it at that, even though I had an issue with mine. Let me explain... The foam rubber grip on the extender gradually tore time after time and finally came completely off recently . The grip should not be coming off after only this short amount of time. I use the trimmer about once a month for some bougainvillea i have in my backyard. It takes me approximately an hour to trim each time. Calculating the total use, I come up with about 18 hours of use before the grip came off.So why, do you ask, am I leaving it a 4 stars? Well, I have found that it doesn't really impact my trimming. Now, due to the thorns, I do wear gloves when trimming, and maybe if you were using bare hands you might find the lack of foam grip unacceptable, but I don't know. The trimmer still is operating great and for me the grip was a minor issue.I feel compelled to also tell you that due to the weight, it really is a good shoulder workout when using the extender. For those of you with weaker shoulders, or shoulder injuries, I wouldn't recommend this due to the leverage required to wield this thing with the extender. My shoulders are burning (in a good workout kinda way) by the end of my trimming sessions.

Just used this for the first time, trimming about 1 foot off my 12 ft. tall arborvitae trees. I have done this job for years with a ladder and my old corded Black & Decker 24 in. trimmer, working from both sides of the trees. It was a tough job and I decided it was time to find an alternative with an extension pole. I still had to use a ladder, but I was able to cut them all from one side, much faster and easier than in the past.There are several alternatives to this model, with brands I recognized more. They all have about the same specs for reach, but I noticed the reviews of those products all seem to dwell on battery life and even the suggestion for an extra battery. Being corded, this Earthwise model avoids that problem, and is also much less expensive as a result. I was a bit concerned given that it is only 2.8 amps, vs the 3.4 amps of my old one, but that doesn't seem to have been a factor in my application....it did the job just fine.While I am happy with this model, the specs for how far it will reach are overstated, in my opinion. I am about 6 ft. tall and the useful reach for me, without a ladder, is 10-11 ft. in the vertical position, and about 7-8 ft. when the cutter was angled at 90 degrees. True, if I extend my arms out to the max, I can stretch it up to 12 ft, but it would be tough to hold it there for long! With the weight out at the end of the pole, it does get heavy quickly, especially in the angled positions. Practically, for reaching beyond those heights, I found it was easier to use a ladder and I was able to deal with my 12 ft. trees pretty comfortably.The only complaint I have applies to all these pole trimmers, and that is the limit to an 18 in. trimmer length. That probably helps hold the weight down, which is good for use with the pole, but for use without the pole, I find the 24 in. length of my old trimmer is more useful. But as I said, all the pole trimmers seem to have that same length....and being "2 in 1", this model gives the option to use with the pole or without.Otherwise, I'm happy with this product. Seems adequately well made, no extra cost batteries to deal with and gets the job done.

Very easy to use and start operating, straight out of the box. I had it up and operating in less than 5 minutes.It's sharp as well. I had a only 1 year old black and decker 22in electrical hedge trimmer and this cut much better, despite the cutting length not being as long.Everyone needs to be very weary of 1 issue. When using with the pole feature you basically seperate the handle from the motor and blade and a pole slides into place(the pole is easy to install, operate, and/or adjust - no problems there). My main concern is where the pole fits. The weight on the operator(your) side of the pole that you are holding is very light, where as the bulk of the device(90%) is on the end of the pole. This makes 80% of the weight being held out and made if very tiring and near impossible to hold parallel to the ground and cut something parallel to the ground. I'm 28 and in decent shape and my shoulders and arms were jello trying to cut a tall hedge.I guess just know, that when extended, neaerly the weight is with the blade, not in your hands.

Cuts well. Low noise. Low vibration. Purchased five years ago (and still cuts well) when I was 49 and didn't think it heavy at the time. Now that I'm turning 55 it is feeling heavy after about 30 minutes use, especially when extended and held horizontally. I still think it generally a better option than a gas trimmer as there are no fumes or exhaust noise near your face when trimming overhead.

Works extremely well for trimming hedges. I'm giving it 3 stars because it is TOO well made. It's too heavy for a person of average height and strength to use to trim the top of a 6 foot high hedge. I'd be a lot happier if it were 2 lbs lighter. I'm strong and tall, but it's hard on my athletically strained wrists, elbows, and shoulders.

I had read the reviews and had expected for this trimmer to be on the heavy side. It is bulkier and heavier than I had expected.Due to it's weight and bulk, I tend to butcher through the cuts without any sort of precision. This is good for something quick and dirty. Don't expect to use it to sculpt anything in it's 'pole mode'. You do have the flexibility to use it as a regular trimmer by removing the pole attachment... but then you'll have to drag out the ladder - which is why you get this in the first place :)

I have used this for two years now. It works ok. I bought it because I have some bushes and thought the extension pole would work great. However the teeth just don't have the power/size to cut the bushes and it takes way to long to try to cut them. Holding the pole that long really creates a workout for my shoulders and arms. I end up getting up on the ladder anyway. This does work great for my lower bushed but I don't use the extension pole anymore.

I purchased the Earthwise trimmer to trim five ten foot plus burning bushes in my backyard. Having priced gas trimmers the Earthwise trimmer was a good deal cheaper. Received package in good order. Just finished using the trimmer to shape/trim those large bushes.The extension pole feature works quite well and enabled me to cpmplete the majority of the job while standing on the ground. The reamainder had to be completed using a ladder. While doing this the adjustable pole and trimmer head that can be articulated made quick work of the tops and they turned out well. The trimmer has plenty of power to cut through branches up to 3/8 inches thick. Blade leaves a sharp cut,no shredded ends which looks better and is healthier for the plant. I would like to note that the trimmer is heavey when extended and your arms/hands will get fatigued. Negatives for the trimmer are: weight, power switch on the extending pole is awkward to use and trimmer could use a support strap to alleviate arm/hand fatigue.

I bought this hedge trimmer on May 13, 2012, and wanted to use is a few times before I submitted a review. I have 3 large bushes which you cannot reach the top edges or top with a standard hand held trimmer. This unit looked like it would be perfect, and it has helped tremendously. However, I look at a lot of reviews before I purchase a product, they have never steered my wrong, and I should have paid a bit more attention to the comments about the weight being on the cutting end and how top heavy it became with the pole extended. That design, creates a handling problem, especially if you are on a ladder trying to reach the top of a bush or hedge. A couple of times, I thought the weight was going to pull me over into the bush, not a good thing. With the pole set on its shortest length or bit extended, it is ideal for reaching those high sides, especially with the ability to rotate the cutting head. A better design would have been to have the motor part on the lower part of the handle, so the balance would be greatly enhanced, and the tipping or off balance pull would be eliminated when up on a ladder. When used as a standard hedge trimmer, one would remove the cutting section and attach it to the motor section. Bet the engineers who designed this never really tested it when up on a ladder with the pole extended, as I bet they would have realized how hard it is to balance and not get pulled over.

I just returned this before ever using it. The pole extension locking mechanism was broken on mine so I am glad I have an excuse to send it back. I put it together and this thing is insanely heavy. All the weight is focused on the cutting end. I don't know how to calculate the felt weight on your end. But it has to be extreme. My wife, who does a fair amount of yardwork can't even lift this thing. Really poor design.

Advertising on the Amazon website on this is quite misleading. Amazon says "Earthwise 18-Inch Convertible Pole Hedge Trimmer extends up to 12 feet". But the total length of this product from tip of blade to end of handle is 80" maximum. So they are including your arms? But who has 64" arms? Even the box only claims it has a 10' reach. But that is still 40" arms? And trying to hold it out at its maximum length and extending your arms is something you can do for a very short period since it is very heavy.I was expecting this product to be of similar length to the electric pole chain saw that is sold by a national retail imported tool store (HF). But it is much shorter and even much heavier.Really disappointing Amazon.

I should have listened to the reviews about the weight...when fully extended it wears me out fast...I am strong 6' 200lbs guy... since I now own it I do use it occasionally because it is better than dragging out the ladder... well slightly better:)

The description indicates the pole extends the cutting ability up to 12 feet. THAT IS A BLATANT LIE, not a mere misrepresentation. The 'pole' goes no longer than maybe 3 feet, so the total cutting length from tip to tip is no more than 5 feet. I really needed 10-12 feet so I am sending it back. It does cut 1/2-inch branches fine, so if you do not need the length, this is an okay tool.

This item works well, however all of the weight is on the very end of the pole and heavy to hold. After a few minutes of trimming with the pole fully extended, my back and arms were ready to give out. This product could be improved 100% if the weight could be on the handle end near your hands. With all that weight at the very end of the pole you can only trim for about a minute or less before needing to put it down and rest your arms. Used as a standard hand held trimmer it is great.

AS others have said, this is not 10-12' extension. It is about my height at 6'. Others state that the 10-12' is the "reach". What I have also learned is this may not be enough. While I can certainly use my body and arm and the pole length to get the TIP of the trimmer 10-12' in the air, in many cases if working from the ground you will want more reach since you will not be standing directly underneath the spot you wish to trim. You will need to back up at least enough to get out of the bush, but in my case even more to try and see what you are doing. Also, the unit is definitely heavy and hard to use with your arms fully extended if holding it out at an angle. I figured it may be heavy but useable. I am a 26 yr old man with at least some strength but still too much trouble than its worth. Only good at cutting things shoulder height and below (worked ok for reaching back into bushes without crawling in them)

Trimmer doesn't work unless it's on the pole so I can't use it like a normal trimmer, so much for the 2-in-1 mode.I will be sending this back and wouldn't recommend it to others. It's also a poor design (it should come with a handleattached to the pole midpoint so that it would be easier to work with.

I bought this a little over two years ago (2 yrs and 6 months to be exact) and I only used it a handful of times. The motor burnt out and it stopped working. I emailed Earthwise to see if they maybe had a replacement motor or if there was anything they could do to make up for their product dying 6 months after the warranty was up...this was the response "I am sorry the unit has failed, but the warranty is 2 years from the date of purchase and there are no internal parts for the unit." Now this might be acceptable for some of you, but i work for a company that will bend over backwards to make sure you are happy with our product and if you are not and the warranty is up, they at least offer a small discount. I got nothing, so I am will never purchase an Earthwise product cause they die right after the warranty is up and the Customer Service is horrible.However, when the product did work, it was good and the pole came in handy, guess I'll have to find another, but not Earthwise!

The first trimmer sent to me worked for 5 seconds and quit. I've since received my replacement and haven't plugged it in yet...I'm afraid too!!

The motor failed after 20 seconds of operation. Very disappointing, because it seems like a useful tool, even though it is very heavy to use. The motor is unreliable. It froze and would not move the blades. I tried to unlock the motor, but nothing would work. The motor buzzed and smoked, but would not move. I am returning it.I have 2 other electric hedge trimmers that I have used for over 20 years (Black & Decker), and they have never failed - - still going strong.I don't see many reviews about a failure like mine, so maybe I just got a lemon.

Very disappointed with this product. I anticipated that hedge trimmer would be top/tip heavy by design and this is true. The problem is that the blades do not cut very well so you have to hold the trimmer in one position unitl it cuts through the hedges (about 1/4 inch limbs). I need to review the return policy but I think I may have exceeded the timeframe to return the trimmer. After using the trimmer for about 15 minutes, I just put it back in the box in disappointment.

Like the other reviewers say, the unit is quite heavy. You need strong arms to handle it. The hedge trimmer cut really well until it broke. Disappointingly, after less than 30 minutes of use the motor stopped working. I ended up returning it for a refund.