Recommended Pruning Tools - Long Arm Loppers etc...

Our Wilkinson long arm lopper has recently broke (internal pully system has snapped). Can anyone recommend a decent long arm? Very difficult to find a decent set in my local garden centres, so may have to explore the net.

In addition, are there any powered long arm pruning tools (rechargable possibly)? I did see a house development programme a few month ago where the guy had what looked like a minature handheld chainsaw. Very handy!!!!

 

Hi Lazymonkey, I have the 'Razorsharp' loppers by Spear and Jackson. They cut through really thick branches like a knife through butter. They extend to about three metres and work with a pulley system and nylon cord and a hand grip, all adjustable. I got mine from Argos last year and I'm happy to have bought it, especially when I needed to trim a couple of trees in my garden.

 

I've had my Wilkinson Sword ones for about 8 years, they work in an identical way to strawman's.

Although I bought them Homebase I would add a word of caution when it comes to buying anything in Homebase .... they very seldom carry spares, this applies to even the simplest of things, strimmer cords being a prime example.

 

Homebase and B&Q seem to stock Fiskars - are these Wilkinson Sword in disguise

I read somewhere that Fiskars are based in Finland and make all gardening tools for Wilkinson.

Homebase have a Fiskars long arm lopper at the moment (with saw attachment) for £26 reduced, which seems like a good price?
B&Q on the otherhand have a very very long telescopic cutter for £59.99. Im tempted to buy both as I like the idea of the saw, but also the length of the loppers at B&Q.

I'll try to post some pictures of the 3 apple trees in our garden that are very old and have become ridiculously tall.

 

The loppers that I bought have the saw blade too. Argos has this for £24.49, which after using them on many occasions is a pretty good price.

 

Black & Decker GK1000 Alligator Powered Lopper 550W: Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors

How about these from Amazon - seem like a useful tool and a great bargain at this price.

Not long reach but great for stuff you can reach - especially if, like me, the thought of using a full size chain saw is a bit scary. Reviews are pretty good too.

 

Popped into a different B&Q last night to help my mother buy some shrubs and they had the same extra long telescopic Fiskars longarm (extends to 5m), but they only had one and it had no label on it. The price underneath of £39.99 related to a smaller Wilkinson Swords lopper that was obviously out of stock. Anyway I went to the information desk and no one had a clue how much the lopper was. In the end the guy on the info desk said that I should ask someone on the gardening section (very helpful).........but as I told him, no one was there. Giving up I walked away but spotted a young lady SA near the garden tools. She asked where I'd found the longarm and then proceded to write me out a ticket for £39.99. I didn't say anything, but felt very guilty afterwards. Especially as my mother gets an extra 10% discount on Senior Citizens day. So..........£35.99 for the following:-

http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/v3/lifestyle-telescopic-universal-cutter-220658-p-9509.html

Im feeling very fortunate..........but, bring on the trees !!!!!!