Experience with pole pruners? Recommendations? (1 Viewer)

[e9999]

Thinking about a pole pruner to help with general tree trimming, both from the ground and possibly -if safe and practical- from ladders, vehicles and in the tree. For example, I have to trim low branches of a gigantic oak that would be difficult to do by climbing in, but if I stand on top of the 80 with a pole pruner it'd be a breeze.

I have tried a neighbor's electric Remington pruner. Not very good quality and durability evidently but helped me see that the concept is appealing. It's really great to be able to prune all the droopy branches that reach the ground on some trees like chinese elms, peppers etc without having to climb in, or be perched precariously on tall orchard ladders etc. One advantage of the electric one is that it's very light and has a long reach, and I have a portable generator, but the power and durability may not be there.

I have a Stihl FS-110 that could have a pruner attachment added, but it's still only a short increase in reach and that makes me wonder if it's worth the cost. Stihl does have longer professional pole pruners but they are quite pricy and I would not use it that much so may not be a great investment or at least deserves some thinking. Used of course is a possibility. Other brands have some too I'm sure.

So, any thoughts about using pole pruners, desirable features, pros and cons, best usage etc before I buy something?

(And am I assuming correctly that using a pole pruner up in the tree after climbing is generally impractical, if tempting in principle?)

 

['74 UA FJ]

A 12 gauge is effective at cutting unreachable limbs.

 

[e9999]

A 12 gauge is effective at cutting unreachable limbs.

LOL. That would indeed be great fun, but sadly not too workable in my neighborhood.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

You need two tools: loppers and an extension pruning saw. Buy whatever strikes your fancy on this page: Bahco Loppers and this page: Accessories for Bahco pole pruner head with rope and pull - 4 pulleys (P34-37)

 

[jts560]

These are great for light trimming: Amazon.com: Fiskars 9234 62-Inch Pruning Stik: Patio, Lawn & Garden

The nicest pole saw I have seen is the Power Pruner, I think Echo bought them out. A friend has one, It extends something like 12 or 15ft, and it is still very rigid even fully extended.

 

[bigndn]

Thinking about a pole pruner to help with general tree trimming, both from the ground and possibly -if safe and practical- from ladders, vehicles and in the tree. For example, I have to trim low branches of a gigantic oak that would be difficult to do by climbing in, but if I stand on top of the 80 with a pole pruner it'd be a breeze.

I have tried a neighbor's electric Remington pruner. Not very good quality and durability evidently but helped me see that the concept is appealing. It's really great to be able to prune all the droopy branches that reach the ground on some trees like chinese elms, peppers etc without having to climb in, or be perched precariously on tall orchard ladders etc. One advantage of the electric one is that it's very light and has a long reach, and I have a portable generator, but the power and durability may not be there.

I have a Stihl FS-110 that could have a pruner attachment added, but it's still only a short increase in reach and that makes me wonder if it's worth the cost. Stihl does have longer professional pole pruners but they are quite pricy and I would not use it that much so may not be a great investment or at least deserves some thinking. Used of course is a possibility. Other brands have some too I'm sure.

So, any thoughts about using pole pruners, desirable features, pros and cons, best usage etc before I buy something?

(And am I assuming correctly that using a pole pruner up in the tree after climbing is generally impractical, if tempting in principle?)

Do you have a rental place nearby? We have a place right around the corner that has everything from scaffolding to gas hedge pruners and pole saws (all stihl). Try before you buy or rent for a bit and be done for several years.

 

[jbsax]

I highly recommend the power pruner/echo. I also have a stihl with the saw attachment. Stihl also has an extension that gives 3' if I remember correctly. I have used the Stihl with and without the extension and it works great. The manual versions will wear you out quickly.

 

[e9999]

I was talking about a power pole pruner. I do have a manual one, but that doesn't cut too well or very fast.

I do recall that there are extensions for the Stihl dedicated HT pole pruners and for the Kombis but I don't recall extensions that could be used on a weed trimmer like the FS-110. Are there any?

Good idea about the rental place, I will check.

Will also look at the Echo ones.

 

[AJP]

I have the Stihl Kombi 130 and the pole pruner attachment along with the "steel" extension. Used together they do a great job ... and will build your upper body strength .... I think that the weight does have one advantage in that when you lay the saw against a high limb ... the weight alone provides sufficient pressure to feed the chain into the limb and cut it. I would buy the KM 130 again as it runs my weed wacker, blower , adjustable hedge trimmer (great tool) and the pole pruner. Also breaks down so that most combo's fit in the trunk of a 1990 Civic Si.


Course when the sumacs get out of control nothing beats an FS 450 with a blade (unless its a 550 - which I have never tried - yet)

 

[e9999]

I was leaning to the Kombis but got this great deal on the FS110 that I could not pass up. It will take a pole saw attachment all right, which is one reason I got it, but I don't know of extensions for it, which is a limitation.

Dang, I may need to get a Kombi after all...

(I did try lifting my 110 over my head for a while to see the reach and the weight... I can see that could get tiring quick... It would get to about 10+' above ground though)

 

[D'Animal]

If I was in your shoes, I would buy the short shaft assembly to turn your FS 110 into a KM 110. I would then buy the HT-KM attachment. You will be at the exact lenght you have right now.

For a longer reach you can buy one of the 37" extension. The Carbon fibre extension is a stand alone unit. The steel extension can be used with an additional steel extention so you can stack them.

The dealer probably has the tube assembly to mount your FS gearbox on so you can still use it as a line trimmer.

You will be out minimal $$ and get the best value/bang for the buck.


My $ 0.02

 

[e9999]

If I was in your shoes, I would buy the short shaft assembly to turn your FS 110 into a KM 110. I would then buy the HT-KM attachment. You will be at the exact lenght you have right now.

For a longer reach you can buy one of the 37" extension. The Carbon fibre extension is a stand alone unit. The steel extension can be used with an additional steel extention so you can stack them.

The dealer probably has the tube assembly to mount your FS gearbox on so you can still use it as a line trimmer.

You will be out minimal $$ and get the best value/bang for the buck.


My $ 0.02

thanks. Interesting. Turn the FS into a Kombi! I didn't know you can do that. Will look into it.
And another plus for that approach, I was told that I'd have to buy the whole Kombi saw attachment anyways as they don't sell just the head for the FS for some reason.

 

[D'Animal]

The HT attachment and the KM HT attachment are the same price.

Most dealers carry the KM HT and just remove the shaft. No need to stock both.

 

[e9999]

Dan, could I also buy the telescoping shaft and saw head of a dedicated pole pruner like the 101 and then put that on my FS110 powerhead?

 

[D'Animal]

You can buy the entire shaft assembly for an HT 101 and put your engine and thottle assembly on it.

Off the top of my head, Shaft assy - $380 + the HT Gearbox assy - $250. You will spend about the same if you just buy the HT 101 ready to go.

 

[e9999]

OK, that is not a good move then, $wise.

It's really nice that all this stuff is so modular and interchangeable. I did not see that advantage advertised on the Stihl site, though.

I'll see if I can find the short KM-style shaft for my FS110.

I did notice though that the web style says that one should only use one steel extension max, but then that's probably as much as can be readily workable anyway.



Any more thoughts on pros and cons of power pole pruners anybody?

 

[e9999]

well, I stand corrected.

I went out and played with my manual pole pruner. After some serious sharpening. And I was impressed. Had forgotten about it but that thing works. Basically I was able to do just about everything up to about 18' very easily with just the shear. (That was a California Pepper. YMMV.) Very light and cuts easily a 1" branch with the shear. 2" can be handled easily by the saw. Not a lot left after that that I could not do fairly easily by climbing (carefully) in the tree with a chainsaw.

Would still get a power pole pruner if I can find a great deal but maybe less urgency to it than I just thought.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

well, I stand corrected.

I went out and played with my manual pole pruner. After some serious sharpening. And I was impressed. Had forgotten about it but that thing works. Basically I was able to do just about everything up to about 18' very easily with just the shear. (That was a California Pepper. YMMV.) Very light and cuts easily a 1" branch with the shear. 2" can be handled easily by the saw. Not a lot left after that that I could not do fairly easily by climbing (carefully) in the tree with a chainsaw.

Would still get a power pole pruner if I can find a great deal but maybe less urgency to it than I just thought.

I could have saved you 5 days of worry.

You need two tools: loppers and an extension pruning saw. Buy whatever strikes your fancy on this page: Bahco Loppers and this page: Accessories for Bahco pole pruner head with rope and pull - 4 pulleys (P34-37)

 

[e9999]

thanks.

It's not exactly that I worried about any of this, though. Enjoyed trying things out.

well, today I tried oak with the manual pole pruner. And it was quite a bit harder than the pepper , unsurprisingly. Did saw a few 2"+ oak limbs up there at about 18' and it was not trivial going even after a fresh (if improvised) sharpening. Got through them, but took several minutes each. I don't think I'd want to try much bigger with that manual pole pruner. Of course, there are surely better and/or sharper manual pruner saws out there than mine.

I can certainly see that a pro would not want to spend that kind of time and effort, though. But to get up to 16-18' up there with a power pruner is a bit pricy, at least for a lowly homeowner's occasional use.

But dang, not having to climb up for each low limb is a serious time saver.

Either way, I think the lure of the power gadget is going to be hard to resist...

 

[Trollhole]

I used my manual pole pruner this weekend. A saw blade on it is a must. You cannot just get buy with a lopper. I have no problem cutting a 4" branch with that thing. As long as you have a sharp blade and are willing to cut for 5 min it's no problem. Unless you have more than 50 trees to prune I stick with the manual. Just get a new blade and keep the lopper sharp.