OK, here is a beginner question to get you guys amused: What is the difference between various pruner types, e.g., Anvil and Bypass? What kind does a serious beginner want, which is not an overkill but also won't need replacing next year?
Fiskars. I bought this one at Home Depot. The thing I like about it is that it has gears on the jaws which multiply the action, making it a lot easier to cut with. They are stout, and I've had this one for about five years. I've cut some pretty hard and large stuff with it. The gearing is where it's at, because the others just use leverage, and if you are stronger than the shears, they will break.
Steve
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However, this is really a matter of taste.
Contrary to Steve B, however, I recommend against any hand shears that use levers or gears to magnify the cutting force. Any branch so large or tough that magnified force is required should be cut instead with lopping shears (long-handled shears) or even with a pruning saw. The same recommendation applies to lopping shears; I would not buy them if they have levers or grears to magnify the cutting force.
Are you talking hand or long handle? I generally prefer bypass on all but the tiniest branches in hand pruners. I've had a set of blade and anvil style long handled pruners and HATED them. Stick to the bypass for long handled ones
You should consider buying a set of each in a moderate price range and deciding which you like better.
And get a pair of shears/scissors too - come fall clean up, those will gets lots of use.
Cheryl
It mostly depends on *what* you're cutting. For delicates like flowers and rose bushes bypass hand pruners are best, they don't crush stems like anvil types. For heavier jobs like clearing brush where a lot of dead wood is also encountered anvil type pruners/loppers work well. After years of experience I've learned to buy the very best tools, they last and are much less fatiguing. always remember "cheap is expensive"... with that choose the lightest weight tool that will do the job, heavy weight loppers will wear you out in short order. Nowadaya I think Fiskars makes the best pruners, loppers, and especially pruning saws... their PowerGear tools are excellent.
loppers, get one that has a bumper on it. This keeps your fingers from greeting crushed when pruning. Enjoy Life... Dan Using an iPad
GETTING CRUSHED... I need to proof read better.
A good pair of Corona bypass pruners is an excellent start. For twice the money you can have Felco's and somewhere in between Okatsune's.
I use FELCO 7 and FELCO 13 pruners. The #7 has a rotating handle (Easy on the hand) and the #13 has a longer hand grip affording more torque. They can be taken apart and have replacement parts.
Forgot to mention that if I prune for 1/2 hour it is rare usually taking off winter kill . Lee Valley tools gave gave me a simple 5 inch bypass pruner and a 5 inch Japanese carpenter knife which I keep in my pocket almost all the time. Handy .
I've never seen loppers where the handles close enough to mash fingers... there is a stop on by-pass types but it's down near the business end... anvil types stop on the anvil. Bumpers on the stops are to minimize shock when they close but still the handles never close enough to mash fingers.
Lucky for you! I had such a pair and tossed them in the trash. It has been a long time ago. They might be making them better these days.
This morning on Garden By the Yard had a demonstration of those newfangled Power Gear tools.
I have some that I must have bent. Now they are knuckle busters, but they didn't start out that way.
I remember an old set of bypass that my grandmother had that would do just that. (I am talking about over 40 years ago and they looked antique then). Do everything just wrong, and smash went your fingers.
C
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Little early to be drinking already, isn't it Shelly?
Fiskars with the gears. If you can wrap the jaws around it, the lopper will cut it off. Don't make any difference. Dead, green, illegal immigrant.
Steve
I would imagine a pruner with gears would be nice but I'd much rather keep things simple. If your pruner doesn't have gears, you don't have to worry about them going bad when your right in the middle of a job.
Rich
The Fiskars I have are so tough that I don't even think of them breaking. Not so with wooden handled and even metal handled loppers and pruners I have broken over the years. Go look at a pair, and then get back to me. If you can break a pair, it's on something you should have used a chain saw on in the first place. We're talking about four hardened steel teeth, and metal that's very thick. I have had much worse luck with the jaws of simple cutters. If one can break a pair of these Fiskars, I'd love to hear about it. The whole story, and see this person, because it would take one strong mofo to break a pair of them.
Steve
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