Just broke mine - still, they've done sterling service & didn't cost me anything.
So ... recommendations for replacement. Anvil? Bypass? Ratchet? Can't say as I care about telescopic - I always used my old ones in their longest setting anyway. Buy a "name"? Or just el cheapo from Screwfix?
£10;Also £35;
I am not a fan of the bypass design in this application since they will often twist and splay a little as you apply a load - hence not giving a clean or in some cases complete cut, and requiring several attempts to get through. Although not surprisingly, better quality bypass work better than cheap ones.
I have a couple of pairs. A S&J non extending set with oval ali handles. Also a cheap B&Q set with steel extending handles. Sometimes handy for getting ridiculous leverage (even if the tubes deform alarmingly in use!) on hard stuff. Of the pair the S&J ali ones are generally far better.
If buying now I would go for an anvil design, and ali construction to keep the weight down (having less inertia makes them easier to quickly move and position them for the next cut I find).
I would go for ratchet types. I have both anvil and bypass ratchet loppers. The bypass loppers hardly ever get used. I would go for anvil, because over time, I find that the hinge bolt on a bypass type wears and the blades no longer meet properly and fail to make a clean cut, and tightening the nut on the hinge bolt merely makes them stiffer to use without solving the cutting problem.
Anvil types will tolerate a certain amount of wear and slack in the hinge bolt and still cut cleanly. I've been using a ratchet anvil lopper for 15 years; they've had some pretty rough treatment over that time and the soft metal anvil is worn and indented by contact with the cutting blade, but they're still giving good service. No maker's name on them, unfortunately, so I can't guarantee to get the same make when it eventually comes to replacing them. The loppers have telescopic arms, but remember that the longer the handles, the wider you have to spread your arms to open the jaws.
Much depends on what you plan to use them for. If it's just light pruning, and you have a pruning saw for thicker stuff, then the first of the ones you've listed might be OK, but if you plan to go at heavier stuff then I certainly wouldn't bother with the first, so either the second or the third.
The very first ratchet anvil loppers I had looked very robust, but the anvil and its support were made of some cheap die-cast alloy that broke the second time I used them.
Do Chris' observations apply to secateurs also?
I would say so, yes, eventually. The hinge bolt will wear and the blades not meet properly no matter how tight the bolt, but they take less stress in use, so the hinge bolt takes longer to wear.
But I know some people swear by bypass types.
I have no idea what make mine is. I found it in the garage of the house we moved into in the 1970s. A wooden pole, c 8ft long, with a handle at the bottom with a wire running up from that to a lopper at the top. It is bypass type, with the jaw opposite the blade being hook shape, so you can hang it over the branch. If it doesn't fit in the hook, the branch is too big. It is still working fine.
Ahh, yes, I have one of those, also. "Secateurs on a stick", I call them. I'm after something that will cut through a 2" or so limb.
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I was under the impression that the two types of secateurs were for different jobs: Anvil for cutting woody stems and bypass for soft stems.
Then you'll definitely need ratchet type, and probably with good strong extending arms, to give lots of leverage and survive the experience without bending. 2" is pretty thick for any manual loppers. I'd use a pruning saw on those.
That's what I was taught, and that's how I use them.
I have both, and both work equally well on either. Sounds like a tale put about by secateur manufacturers to boost sales!
You want a "chainsaw on a stick" then! :-)
I have one of those "Secateurs on a stick" and they work well, however I also have a "chainsaw on a stick" (Ryobi Expand-It) and that will cut through quite serious branches up to 6" or so.
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I have a rope and pulley operated one. Pain in the arse.
I have one of those as well - a red wooden pole, with a green handle. The hook is kind of anvil design, but on mine the hook is made from two layers of steel with a space between them, and that gap is where the blade runs. So the hook supports both sides of the cut like an anvil, but the blade never actually touches it since it bypasses the hook on the inside. No idea how old it is - but definitely older than me!
I have the same pruner attachment... One problem I find is that its oiling does not really work that well. Even though I have checked that the oil path is clean and blown everything out, it still seem to use little or no oil.
I have a feeling that the normal (quite viscus) chain oil is too thick for it.
No longer available from Amazon, but brilliant:-
Li batteries lasts about an hour of cutting.
I've not used anvil secateurs so not sure about this, but I understood that for close pruning, to avoid leaving snags, the bypass ones can get in closer. As for loppers, I'll never have bypass again - once had to go up the tree to wrestle the blades from the bark that was jamming them. I found the Aldidl pair OK until the anvil broke.
I have a pruning saw on a stick for branches that big.
I want some blind friendly ones, maybe with alignment bleaps so it can detect ewhen its around a branch? Brian
And different bleeps when it's around a live cable?
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