I have privet hedges 200 feet long, over 5 feet high and 4 feet wide. Takes up to an hour to trim them about every two weeks. First time I bought a hedge trimmer other than a Black and Decker since 1973. But got tired of replacing them every few years after the motor burns out. So I bought this Remmington. The Good: the blades are sharp and cuts both ways effortlessly, the motor powerful enough to cut some thicker branches, and the swivel head makes it easy for the vertical cuts. The Bad: it is much heavier than the B&D, and the electrical cord should be replaced with a direct plug because it sometimes gets in the way. Those are minor things to overcome but the real problem is the damn thing does not stay on unless BOTH the hand guard AND trigger are held in. I used hockey stick tape to hold the hand guard together. That fixed part of the problem but the trigger is sensitive the and the trimmer shuts on and off if you change any pressure on the trigger. The trigger is too sensitive. Remmington would do well to copy the B&D and use a trigger lock with a quick release safety switch.