• Lithium-ion battery, lighter weight, quicker charging and with more run time than an equal voltage Ni-Cad or Ni-MH battery
• Rubberized soft grip provides comfortable and sure grip
• Stain-free shear blade surface of glittering silver obtained by non-electrolyzed nickel plating that features high anti-abrasion surface for long lasting coating
• Anti-vibration structure consisting of Motor-crank section and handle section linked by 5 cushions to absorb vibration from blade and motor-crank section
• User-replaceable blade The blade can be removed without disassembling housing
• Battery capacity warning lamp Blinking red; Battery power has been nearly used up Solid red; Battery power has been used up (Battery protector will shut off the power)
• Batteries or charger are NOT included

• Makita 18V LXT Li-ion Hedge Trimmer Skin BUH523Z Skin Only

I spent many hours doing my research into what tools to purchase and I’ve decided to write this in order to help others fast track the process and i guess feel a little more comfortable when outlaying a few thousand dollars of their hard earned cash.

I came across some cheaper brand name tools on eBay and couldn’t understand why there was a price difference and being a sceptic myself decided I needed to know.

There seems to be a far few suppliers that seem to be purchasing goods from the USA and importing them into Australia. Not a bad idea i thought. However after a little more research, I came across a few issues.

1. There is no guarantee that these are genuine product.
2. Do they have warranty if something goes wrong.
3. If something does go wrong are the spare parts available in Australia.
4. Accessories such as blades for grinders, are they available in Australia.

I decided I’d ring the Australian distributors and find out exactly what was correct as i had conflicting opinions.

Their response was

1. Unless it was purchased from an Australian retailer there was no guarantee that the product was genuine
2. Some of the distributors even have their approved retailers on their own websites.
3. The Genuine Australian product has Australian warranty.
4. Some of the tools are only available in the US and hence parts weren’t available here.
5. One supplier even requests serial numbers and will only provide parts if the serial number is Australian.
6. Another supplier won't service the item if its not an Australian serial number.
7. I was also made aware that many imports don’t actually meet Australian compliance requirements
8. The US tools also use imperial rather than metric so the Australia blades for instance don’t fit correctly

This was really getting me concerned. I was thinking if I’m going to spend over a thousand dollars i want to be covered. But then a friend of mine also mentioned something to me.

If i was on one of my jobsites and something went wrong, if the tool didn’t meet Australian compliance then I wouldn’t be covered and could actually be found liable for other issues that it may cause.

This was getting very clear to me now, i needed to only purchase from an Australian retailer.

Makita suggested I contact Sydney Tools, they sell both through retail stores and on eBay. They carry almost every brand available in the Australian market place and all their tools are 100% compliant with warranty.

It’s now been 5 months since i purchased my kit and I’m very happy with it.

• Contents to follow...

• Genuine Australian Makita Product.
• 3 Years Makita Australian Warranty
• Warranty covered by Makita Australia.

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3. All items include GST and a full Tax invoice is available on request.
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