Stihl HLA 56

Excellent pole hedger – I purchased the entire STIHL AK 36V battery system with 3 x AK30 batteries and fast charger which includes this BGA 57 leaf blower. This replaced my 7 year old Victa Vforce mower, trimmer, hedger, leaf blower/vac, pole hedger and pole pruner. Prior to that I have had numerous brands and models of petrol powered garden tools. The first thing to… Read more

say about the STHIL AK garden tools range and this pole hedger is the build and manufacturing quality is excellent, the best of all the battery gardening equipment I looked at and researched. Ryobi, Victa, etc are poorly made, plastic crap compared to the quality of STHIL.

I use this HLA 56 pole hedger together with the HSA 56 hedger to maintain several hedges of box and Lilly Pilly totalling probably over 200m.

The HLA 56 is a two piece unit, the battery holder and trigger unit can be separated from the hedge cutting bar and motor. It's really easy to connect the two units using a nice large thumb screw.

One thing to note about his pole hedger is that the motor is located on the cutting bar, this makes the hedger top heavy. I moved the rubber pole grip down towards the trigger switch and D grip more towards the pole connector. This gave me the best balance of the unit. Once you get used to it and set up correctly for the job, I found the HSA 56 easy to use. The adjustable cutting bar angle and long reach means I never have to use a ladder to trim the top of my hedges again, which makes for a much safer way of pruning my hedges. You can get an optional accessory 50cm extension pole/shaft to give a higher reach. I don't have the extension pole and can't comment on its use with this.

Don't be put off by the top heaviness of the HLA 56 in the shop, it takes a bit of getting used to, but once setup correctly and with practice, this hedger makes pruning the top of hedges and high hedges a breeze. Once again STHIL have put a lot of development and engineering into this pole hedger to make it one the best pole hedges I have ever used.

The 55cm cutting bar is adequate, but I wish it was a little longer, 65cm would be perfect. It cuts through my hedges with ease and makes a very clean cut of up to 15mm branches. The cutting bar blades appear to be a unique design with a droplet shape and does a far better job of all the hedge trimmers I have had previously. I am really impressed with the ease and quality of cut, my hedges look like they have been pruned by a professional.

Battery life is excellent.

The cutting bar doesn't get clogged or jammed up and is easy to clean. I use a stiff scrubbing brush and the must have STHIL cutting bar cleaner and lubricator which comes in a spray can.

What would make this pole hedger the perfect garden tool would be the optional accessory of a pole saw pruner. The 2 piece design and extension pole accessory makes this HLA 56 perfect to also use as a pole saw pruner. If you are reading this, please email, write, call your local store and STHIL head office and ask them to develop and add a pole saw pruner attachment to the HLA 56.

What's not to like – Finally got some money together to start looking for a battery powered pole hedger .I started with the tool brands that I have been using over the years Makita ,Milwaukee etc and came to the conclusion that it had to be 36v or 40v to have enough power and hopefully not too heavy. I have a 2 stroke Petrol combi motor with the pole hedger… Read more

attachment as well as pole saw attachment that I am hoping to use less as it's heavy and very noisy .Answer Stihl HLA56 with AK20 battery and 50cm pole extension , and the result is I can't be any happier with this unit .I rate it 6 out of 5 stars compared to any petrol powered pole hedger and I have had a few .I have lots of high cypress and they are a bugger to cut did it faster than the petrol version as it weighs a bit more than half the weight and reaches a bit longer with the pole extension - less ladder use .Battery has never run flat .No ear plugs needed - I didn't believe the stihl catalogue and they were right , the final price was less than I was prepared to spend and not Chinese made !

Great Hedge Trimmer that does the job effortlessly – I purchased this to replace the 240V corded pole hedge trimmer I had. Problem with the corded trimmer is that all the weight is up high in the electric motor, so the balance is all wrong and every time I used it I would spend the next couple of days dealing with back problems. The Stihl runs quietly & smoothly and cuts beautifully. Importantly,… Read more

the weight balance is right :-) Not designed for chopping through really heavy stuff, but does a beautiful job of trimming hedges, shrubs etc. I purchased the larger AK30 battery, and I cant get near using half the capacity in a session. Also purchased the AL300 quick Charger, which recharges in no time. Very impressed with the whole experience.