Hillbilly Terrain electric trolley

slugger

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I collected my Hillbilly at the weekend so thought i'd post a review after my first use.

The trolley was very well packaged and the battery came in a seperate box, although the charger for said battery was in the box with the trolley. As soon as i could, the battery went on for its first 12 hour charge before i headed out to the course.

I fitted the folded down trolley easily into the boot of my car (honda civic) with wheels still attached and with golf bag on top. I reckon there's still enough room in there for another golf back easily. If i need more room, i'll take the wheels off.

Out of the boot and everything clicks into place with a nice solid feeling and it's easy enough to unfold, click into place and put the battery and golf bag on in around 1 minute. So the old argument that electric trolleys are too much of a faff to set up each time is non-substantiated. It takes more time to put my shoes on!

First thing i did was press the 10m button in the car park by accident - so sorry to the person driving into the car park only to see a golf trolley hurtling towards them! I quickly grabbed it and promised myself not to be so thick in future. Although that function almost made a fool out of me in the car park, it proved very helpful out on the course.

The small wheel that's used for speed control is placed very nicely and with easy access for either left or right handers. Indeed, i used both hands through the course of my round. I also managed to operate it whilst wearing winter golf mits. The rubber handle is very tactile and re-assuringly grippy as well.

The course was Swanston on a wet and windy day, so the grass was wet and this was a very good test for the trolleys capabilities as Swanston is not the flatest of courses!!

The wheels have a tread pattern and no doubt this helped on the slippery surface. Not once did it struggle for grip, not even on the rain sodden 10th that has a bit of a hill going up to the green.

At top speed, the terrain is pretty much matched to my normal walk. It would be nice to have the ability to go a wee bit quicker, but it will easily keep up with 99% of peoples usual pace. It's also very easy to be able to set it to go slower if you like be rotating the speed control wheel back towards you.

As i mentioned earlier, the trolley has the function that you can press a button and make it trundle off without you to where-ever you point this. Just don't do it in a car park! You tap once for 10 metres, twice for 20 and thrice for 30 metres. I used this function a few times and i think this feature will get a lot of use from me. As long as you know distances, you'll be fine with it. It meant that i was able to select a club from my bag, tell the trolley to keep going along the fairway for a wee bit, go over to the first cut, then meet my trolley again more conveniently a little more along the fairway, rather than having to walk back up to it.

Now, onto the biggest thing about the trolley, and i'm guessing this applies to any electric golf trolley out there. It took away all of the usual back ache, tiredness, and general inconvenience of having to pick up and put down and then pick up my carry bag. I felt better for it and that can only be good for my golf. With a carry bag, you lift your bag at least as many times as shots you take. Over a round, that's a lot of effort. Then you have to do things like climb hills all with that weight on your back... not with an electric trolley. I noticed this in a big way yesterday and i'd bet that even more energy will be saved in the winter months with the trolley than in the summer, what with the extra gear we carry and the more difficult walking conditions.

I'm very happy with my purchase and look forward to many years of it carrying my bag for me

:)
 

HomerJSimpson

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Very good review. I especially concur with the last part about how much fresher you feel with an electric one. As you say when you pack in a few spare towels and gloves, drinks and food and some waterproofs, you feel like a pack horse carrying but an electric trolley handles it with ease even in the wet or uphill
 

Imurg

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Take care with the preset distances - the 10m is about right but the 30 m goes for about 45!

Its a good trolley - no doubt. I'm still using the cart bag I got with mine even though I sold the trolley in the summer.
 

USER1999

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I have had a few issues with the rivets on mine, which I hope they have fixed for new trolleys. (the rivets that hold the hinge on the main down tube).

Other than that, the only other issue I have is the mud clearance for the front wheel. PowaKaddys suffer the same. I carry a spatula in my bag to clear it out. Might not be a problem for you, depends how muddy your track is.

Oh, and the 10m and 20m are useful, but the 30m always ends up upside down in a ditch.
 
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