Black & Decker 14.4 V Cordless Dual Action Hedge Trimmer Cht500

Pros: Convenient and reliable
Cons: A little weak compared to electrics

I got this trimmer as part of a set at Wal-Mart in the summer of 2003. In addition to the Black & Decker 14.4 V Cordless Dual Action Hedge Trimmer CHT500, the set, sold as CTP500 Trimmer Package, includes a ...

Pros: Light,convenient, manageable tool that offers good results
Cons: Not a tool for everyone's needs

It seems that everywhere you turn in one of the "Home Warehouse Stores" you are face to face with gas powered tools that look and sound like they mean business, with, I might add a price tag that means business as well. The Black & Decker CHT500 14.4 V...

Pros: Inexpensive, light, cordless, and simple to use.
Cons: Not as powerful as a gas model, feels cheap.

In order to get to the back of my yard with my plug in hedge trimmer I would have to string two long electrical cords across the yard just to reach the neighbors over grown bouganvilla. This was getting really annoying since I spent more time raveling ...

Pros: Cordless, Powerful, Light Duty Hedge Trimming. Comfortable trigger. Long Dual-Action Blades
Cons: None yet.

First, let me state that I'm LAZY. I am not an environmentalist. More importantly, I hate yard wor ...

Pros: Great Concept. Lightweight. Powerful
Cons: Very short battery life

Moment of Hope - I have huge Photinia hedges at my house and these 4 huge Yaupon Holly balls ...

Pros: Cordless would be handy, if it didn't break
Cons: Broke after less than an hour of use. Under-powered

I bought this after being quite happy with a cordless B&D weed trimmer. This one, however, did not have the power necessary to do what I consider routine hedge trimming. It would bog down very easily, or start shearing things instead of cutting them...

Pros: Works very well. Feels good in your hands. Good battery life
Cons: Cheap fake charger. If you want a good charger you gotta buy it.

The trimmer works better than I expected. It will cut through some pretty heavy stuff. If it wont cut on the first pass leave it on the branch and it will saw through. Battery life is much better than I expected, however with a real battery charger it would probably be better. This brings me to the major drawback. B&D does not include a real battery charger, it looks like one but doesn't have the electronic stuff inside. So this charger doesn't condition the battery, it doesn't turn off when the battery is fully charged so you really never know when you have a full charge. You have to guesstimate. If you forget and leave the battery in the charger and plugged into the wall you will ruin the battery. I am going to buy a dewalt charger and get a proper charge, this should increase the battery performance.

Pros: Four tenths of a pound lighter than NHT518
Cons: Battery performance horrible

I tried this unit, and the battery, charged per instructions, lasted all of 10 minutes!! Also, instructions caution users not to leave the battery on charge for more than 8 hours (or battery life will be harmed), which would be a nuisance. Returned this unit to the store, and bought Black & Decker's NHT518, which is almost identical to the CHT500 (blades same size, the tools look the same, the 518 is said by the mfr to be .4 (that's 4 tenths) of a pound heavier than the 500), but the NHT518 uses an 18 volt battery instead of just the 14.4 volts for the 500. Tried the 518 today for the first time and it was still raring to go after 30+ minutes. Plus, you may leave the NHT518's battery in the charger indefinitely without harm, according to the instructions. And, the battery even snaps more easily into the charger and the clipper's handle than the CHT500. I found the CHT500 at Home Depot and the NHT518 at Lowe's. Neither one had the other unit. My recommendation: buy the NHT518, avoid the CHT500.

Pros: Cordless
Cons: Battery life too short

I bought this unit and was quite excited about the cordless feature. The night I bought the unit, I charged the battery for approximately 3 hours and took it off the charger. The next morning, I was able to trim about seven small bushes with no problem. When I got to the next set of bushes, the trimmer slowed down considerably. About 10-12 minutes had elapsed. Considering that the product has an advertised battery life of 40 minutes, I thought my problem was that I had charged it the night before instead of right before using it. So, I took it inside, and charged again for exactly 3 hours, and in the meantime did other yard work. After exactly 3 hours, I took the battery off the charger, put it back in the unit and started trimming again. I made it through my second set of bushes thankfully, but then the blades started to crawl to a halt. Again, about 10 minutes had elapsed. I returned the unit and am considering just getting a corded unit. Three hours is a long time to wait for just 10 minutes of battery life.