McCulloch Gladiator 550 Hedge Trimmer

Bought a McCulloch strimmer from makro in renfrew. Went fine for a while, was always really hard to start. then the pull cord snapped. Tried about half a dozen places to get a new cord fitted. No one would look at it as it was a mculloch strimmer. Said it was to hard a job, but if it was a Flynn there wouldn't be a problem. So I skipped it and bought a Flynn. 100 times better. So if you've got any brains ( never buy McCulloch ). There a very bad make. Cheap rubbish

Even when first bought this hedge trimmer was troublesome to start. After two seasons of only occasional use it became very hard to start and impossible to keep going, stalling frequently.

A local specialist in garden and agri-equipment refused to touch it, saying that they are rubbish and that it would fail again leaving them with a bad reputation. When I found a dealer willing to look at it he could not get it to run either.

Better to rent a professional machine [from Jewson, say], buy a heavy duty electric from Bosch or save up for a serious product. This machine is not worth all the trouble.

My gladiator 550 ran for less than 3 hours before it failed due to a defective flywheel. This was replaced under warranty but the replacement flywheel developed the same fault in only a few hours more. I have contacted Mcculloch through their limited contact system and Mcculloch refuse to respond to me. Most reputable dealers and maintenance/repair people to whom I have spoken will not touch them with a barge pole. Be warned!!!!!!!

I believe that Mcculloch, Flymo and Electrolux are one in the same. Perhaps all their products are not fit for purpose and not of a merchantable quality.

Owned for four years. Very cheap to purchase and starts easily and reliably.

However, drive gears stripped after two seasons use. Repaired it but no manual available and parts very expensive compared with purchase of machine. Also, as far as I can see, the blades can not be replaced in isolation so it looks like £60plus for a new blade module. I find it heavy to use for long periods. Would spend far more on buying a more upmarket replacement.

wont start. depsite carfeully following instructions

Have used the Gladiator for about 3 years. But it's a bit of a

Absolute rubbish, never starts, gets heavy after a while. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.

No support rubbish design horrible startup.

Very good price and cuts well when working, but an ignition problem developed after a couple of hours use and mine has proved difficult to restart or start at all; personally I would not recommend it.

The reason the engine stopped working was because the timing wheel is secured to the crankshaft using the clutch mechanism as a bolt - and it simply comes undone spins around and then the timing goes out of sync and it wont start! I have repaired it several times but its a bad design and the problem wont go away! You have to take the engine apart and re seat the timing wheel at top dead centre and tighten it up! It will then work again - but not for long!

Other than that its a good machine!

I ran a new McCulloch Tivoli 65 petrol hedge trimmer for approx 3 hours and all was well. However, on starting up the machine 3 months later, after approx 5 mins, the machine backfired and the engine stopped working. No attempt to restart the hedge trimmer succeeded. I then took it to an authorised McCulloch servicing agent who on seeing it stated 'Oh no, not another McCulloch that the engine has stopped working and will not restart'. We have several in the workshop at the moment and are having dificulty in finding out why'!

When I contacted McCulloch it wasn't very helpful because, whilst the machine had only been unpacked from being new for 3 months, the item had been bought 13 months before the failure. The fact that the hedge trimmer had sat in my garage for 10 months in it packing and had not been put to its intended use, had no impact with them.

Upon further research on the web my McCulloch engine problem appears not to be unique, and I appear to be one of many others who have suffered.

I will now be looking for a more reliable make of hedgetrimmer.