All you folks talking about high finance pruning shears. You would all find great laughter in the shears I use. They are scion wood crushing shears available exclusively from the Dollar Tree and each time you make a cut it feels as though a Catholic nun just smacked the palm side of your fingers with a heavyweight ruler. They also (for a strange reason unknown to me) tend to strip about 1/8th inch of bark from each piece of scion wood you cut. This my friends is right out of the package.
No replacement blades available etc. They cost $1, and no, I’m not joking.
Yes…of course they are rubbish. I’ve never had an even mediocre pair of shears…one day I’m going to address that.
Forestry industry uses the a dual blade bypass design for their loppers. Usually one or both of the blades are scythe shaped. Are there any hand pruning shears with similar design?
I use the following for clearing brush up to 2". I like it because it doesn’t crush sides.
True but keeping the blade sharp, which is easy to do on the old Seymour, results in decent cut. I also like them when cutting hard wood. Yes, a bypass pruner is a better choice for live wood pruning unless it’s poor quality.
Just used my new ARS pruners (8Z) and they are great. I used Felco’s for 30 years, but the ARS require much less effort. Thank you Allan for the suggestion.
I have been heading the pencil size fruiting wood on peach trees which requires a lot of cuts. The ARS cut quickly and with very little effort. Some of the best money I ever spent.
What I like about the ARS too is one handed operation. Especially when grafting I may prep a small rootstock by making a fresh cut, and I can open, cut, and close with one hand, most awesome!
One of my treasured, but now unused garden tools is the hoe that belonged to my great-grandmother. A small woman that lived to 96, she always had that hoe with her, with a homemade handle and a blade that has been sharpened so many years that it is the size of a 50 cent piece.
My new favorite is Barnel B808. It has a squeeze to release function, small compact size, small blades fit into tight places with no clunky aluminum bolsters on the lower blade, affordable, cushioned grip, rubber shock absorption at the bottom of the stroke, solid construction and very tightly machined. It also has an oiler bolt. The chrome plating is extremely durable and the steel seems great. I hate my old felcos now. I’d like to check out the ARS recommended here to compare. I had spotted a small pair of ARS that I was set on buying (not sure what model), but trying them in my hand at the store, the B808 really felt much better and I’ve been very happy. The only trouble I had was that at first they were actually getting tighter instead of looser and I had to loosen a couple of times. They seem fine now. I love them so much that for a while every time I drove by the store (where they were under 30.00 btw) I wanted to go buy extras in case they discontinued the model. Now they don’t carry them, but they are only about 35.00 online. I’ve never used a single corona tool that I liked, but plenty that I really disliked.
I’ve tried other tools from Barnel and liked the quality and price.
I would love to find a hand pruner like the cheapest ARS with a closure that can be worked with the thumb of the hand holding the pruner. I love using my ARS pruners with a holster but it tends to open spontaneously because of the squeeze to open feature if I try to keep it in a pocket. Once I badly cut myself by reaching in there when it was open.
Sadly, I do have that same issue with the barnel, which has the same thumblatch, but it is a squeeze to open latch, so I just have to squeeze the handles the pruners pop open. Is that how your ARS work? It will often open on withdrawing from the sheath. I seriously love this feature, but it could be better implemented. I rarely carry them in my pocket without the sheath. I never wear my sheath on a belt, it’s just a sleeve for the pruners in my pocket.
ARS makes a small pruner that is pretty good but the latch wears out way before the pruner does (and it starts opening when you don’t want it to) which grates against my practical soul.
That may end up being the case with the Barnel in the end as well. I’m looking at mine now and wondering if I can modify the latch a little bit to be more secure. I remember it used to be less inclined to come open.
I ordered a replacement one for around $36 including shipping from Amazon a couple of weeks ago. Maybe shipping was free because I pay for prime. When I was told it was discontinued some time ago the sales rep meant AMLeo was discontinuing it. I may have been deliberately misled. It worked and I stocked up on about 6 of them.
I tried both ARS and Felco. Both work well, the ARS felt better in hand as it is a bit bigger than the Felco. Both cut well, Felco opens wider. ARS gets my vote only because of comfort.
You will also find it needs much less sharpening and is a sharper tool once the factory grind wears off and you are left to your own devices. ARS uses harder steel than Feclo or any other hand pruner I’ve tried.
Hmmm, I use a Bahco ultralight orchard lopper, which works better than any other I’ve tried, although I’ve seen some of similar price that seem to be using the shame blade and anvil curvature that forces the wood inward to max leverage and are also similarly light. But the Bahcos word so well I haven’t been inspired to compare. I haven’t even seen the ARS version- I’m searching now.
I do own an ARS extended reach pruner powered by pressing the handles together with one hand, so not nearly as strong as a lopper.
