Batteries have improved so much over the last decade that they’re now powerful enough to cut through branches up to 200mm (8″), and they can last for well over 50 cuts of thick timber and over 100 branches of various thicknesses. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. In 2022, I published a detailed review of the Gardena Starcut 410 Plus pruner on our blog, check out that review and the photos here. The pruner is very easy to use, but I don't feel confident to force it to cut very thick branches as claimed. As you can see from my video at the top of this page, most of the branches in my garden were no more than 32mm (1.

Purchase today and experience the difference this high-quality, reliable, and accessible tool can make in your gardening tasks. I found this telescopic pruner to be surprisingly lightweight, and as the battery is located at the bottom of the pole, I felt it was well balanced too. I did a great job of sawing through thick branches, but the secondary blade didn’t cut through the branches easily as the device doesn’t have a gearing system, which means it relies on brute force. On Friday 26 January, we’re holding a webinar for farmers where we'll be going through the actions and payments available through our Environmental Land Management schemes in 2024.This suits my requirements perfectly, and although somewhat more expensive than other makes it is well made and cuts branches very easily.

Extending and collapsing the pole couldn’t be easier; I just opened the lever, slid the inner pole to the desired length and then closed the lever. I’ve seen competing products that weigh double and even triple this and I can only imagine how much arm ache the user would experience! The Fiskars FSK1023624 PowerGear Telescopic Tree Pruner UPX86 is sold as a single unit, weighing a manageable 1900g. The Fiskars FSK1023624 PowerGear Telescopic Tree Pruner UPX86, a versatile tool that is perfect for both trade professionals and DIY enthusiasts.Of note is how easily the blades chopped through the branches; I didn’t need to use much strength due to the gearing system, which increases the pressure on the wood by a factor of twelve. The product is great, does what its supposed to and is a marginal improvement over its previous iteration the UP86 ( wrecked mine) however the service was poor and it took over a week to arrive. I liked the saw attachment that made chomping through thicker branches a breeze, and I liked the collapsed length of the pole – at 1. The one redeeming feature of this tool is the saw attachment which is great for cutting through thick branches, although expect to get tired and sore arms, I certainly did.

I initially bought it for pruning overhanging branches but have ended up pollarding numerous large neglected willows and for felling many other trees. PowerGear X™ tree pruners have an orange cutting support for improved visibility and a cutting angle that can be adjusted up to 230°. For cutting branches up to 32mm, I rate it 9/10, but sometimes I came across thicker branches and without a saw attachment, I couldn’t cut them and had to put my ladder up and saw off them the old-fashioned way. I tested this pruner in 2022 and put it through its paces by cutting hundreds of branches of variable thickness. Daniel has over 18 years of experience in the construction, home improvement, and landscape garden industries.

The pruner also includes an orange cutting support for added visibility, enhancing your accuracy and safety while working. I found that the rope sometimes caught on the branches; I never had this problem with the Gardena Starcut 410 as that had an internal mechanism. After conducting an analysis of hundreds of reviews and ratings online, Daniel selected the Gardena Starcut 410 Pruner for testing over a four-day period in June and July 2022. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. It doesn’t have a saw attachment, and in fact, the head can’t be changed at all as it’s fixed in place.

Some tools have a saw attached or allow the user to replace the head with a saw for cutting through thicker branches, but this tool doesn’t. The gearing ratio is 12x, meaning only slight effort is enough to cut through tough stems up to 32mm (1. Daniel has experience of using the cheap Spear and Jackson “classic” pruner from several years ago and wanted to compare it to a modern pruner.I consider this to be an “old school” type pruner, by that, I mean it has an external rope, a basic non-gearing mechanism and a saw attachment. Experience easier cuts with PowerGear™ X technology 3x gear transmission, allowing for effortless and exact pruning without the need for a ladder or bending or straining knees. Comfort is also a key feature of this pruner, with durable soft-grip handles and a non-slip base ensuring optimal comfort and reduced fatigue during use. The Gardena Starcut 410 has been used several times since and as of February 27th 2023, there are no issues to report. This tree pruner has a good long handle (4 metres) so with suitable ladders and your own reach has a very acceptable long reach for pruning tree branches etc.