I'm in the market for new loppers. I've had the old ones for
18 yrs, and my fingers bang together when they close.

Recommendations?

The local hardware store has a nice-looking pair of bypass
loppers for about $30.00. By mail order, Felco are $65! I
really like my Felco pruners, but can loppers be worth that?

I have always used bypass pruners (said to damage the wood
less), but I see some of the heavier loppers are anvil types.

What do folks like?


Mike Prager
Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a)
(Remove spam traps from email address to reply.)

I have Corona brand loppers, in both anvil and bypass type. I prefer
the bypass as it makes for a much cleaner cut, and usually requires a
lot less force to cut, and eaier to sharpen when needed.

On Fri, 05 Nov 2004 01:03:50 GMT, Mike Prager
§kill-spam§mprager@§alum.§mit.§edu wrote:

===I'm in the market for new loppers. I've had the old ones for
===18 yrs, and my fingers bang together when they close.
===
===Recommendations?
===
===The local hardware store has a nice-looking pair of bypass
===loppers for about $30.00. By mail order, Felco are $65! I
===really like my Felco pruners, but can loppers be worth that?
===
===I have always used bypass pruners (said to damage the wood
===less), but I see some of the heavier loppers are anvil types.
===
===What do folks like?
===
===
===Mike Prager
===Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a)
===(Remove spam traps from email address to reply.)

In article , Mike Prager
?kill-spam?mprager@?alum.?mit.?edu wrote:

I agree that the byppass loppers are better and I have both. I am
attracted to some of the new ones that provide additional mechanical
advantage. Agreed that Felco is expensive -- I certainly enjoy their
hand pruners.

Dick

I'm in the market for new loppers. I've had the old ones for
18 yrs, and my fingers bang together when they close.

Recommendations?

The local hardware store has a nice-looking pair of bypass
loppers for about $30.00. By mail order, Felco are $65! I
really like my Felco pruners, but can loppers be worth that?

I have always used bypass pruners (said to damage the wood
less), but I see some of the heavier loppers are anvil types.

What do folks like?


Mike Prager
Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a)
(Remove spam traps from email address to reply.)

On Fri, 05 Nov 2004 01:03:50 +0000, Mike Prager wrote:

I'm in the market for new loppers. I've had the old ones for 18 yrs, and
my fingers bang together when they close.

Recommendations?

The local hardware store has a nice-looking pair of bypass loppers for
about $30.00. By mail order, Felco are $65! I really like my Felco
pruners, but can loppers be worth that?

I have always used bypass pruners (said to damage the wood less), but I
see some of the heavier loppers are anvil types.

What do folks like?


Mike Prager
Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a) (Remove spam traps from email
address to reply.)

With tools, you generaly get what you pay for in this world. If you can
afford the felco loppers, I would go for those. Other wise I would tend
to stay with corona. My corona loppers have lasted six years of commercial
use and abuse with little wear. My third choice would be fiskar. These are
somewhat on the same level as corona now'adays.

(A soap box moment...)
I would tend to steer clear of anvil pruners/loppers. They take much more
muscle to operate and they do much more damage to the item that you
pruning. I could only see using anvils on dead wood, but I tend to use a
hand saw in those moments.


--
Trees are like children, train them right when their young.....
or spend a lifetime trying to correct them.

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Mike Prager wrote:

I'm in the market for new loppers. I've had the old ones for
18 yrs, and my fingers bang together when they close.

Recommendations?

The local hardware store has a nice-looking pair of bypass
loppers for about $30.00. By mail order, Felco are $65! I
really like my Felco pruners, but can loppers be worth that?

I have always used bypass pruners (said to damage the wood
less), but I see some of the heavier loppers are anvil types.

What do folks like?

I have a very old pair of bypass loppers (brand unknown). They
have wood handles, which absorb some of the shock when using them
(e.g., when you finally cut through a branch and the stops on the
blades meet).

Also, I recommend against anything that uses some kind of lever
action to increase the force on the blades. If you need that much
force to cut a branch, you should be using a pruning saw.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that
complies with Web standards. See http://www.mozilla.org/.

I agree with Timothy. The anvil are for dead wood and the bypass are for live wood.
Newt

Thanks to all who replied to my query. I learned quite a bit
about loppers.


Mike Prager
Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a)
(Remove spam traps from email address to reply.)

Mike Prager §kill-spam§mprager@§alum.§mit.§edu wrote in message . ..
I'm in the market for new loppers. I've had the old ones for
18 yrs, and my fingers bang together when they close.

Recommendations?

The local hardware store has a nice-looking pair of bypass
loppers for about $30.00. By mail order, Felco are $65! I
really like my Felco pruners, but can loppers be worth that?

I have always used bypass pruners (said to damage the wood
less), but I see some of the heavier loppers are anvil types.

What do folks like?


Mike Prager
Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a)
(Remove spam traps from email address to reply.)

lets call the felcos 80$ and consider shipping and sales tax
now assume they last 18 years like the pair you have worn out
disregard that all the parts for a felco are available.

18 years = 6575 days is it worth 8 cents a week to work with a quality tool?

You're very welcome!
Newt

Beecrofter,
I like your math! :-)
Newt

Beecrofter wrote:

lets call the felcos 80$ and consider shipping and sales tax
now assume they last 18 years like the pair you have worn out
disregard that all the parts for a felco are available.

18 years = 6575 days is it worth 8 cents a week to work with a quality tool?

That's the conclusion I had come to.


Mike Prager
Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a)
(Remove spam traps from email address to reply.)

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 00:45:52 GMT, Mike Prager
§kill-spam§mprager@§alum.§mit.§edu wrote:

Beecrofter wrote:

lets call the felcos 80$ and consider shipping and sales tax
now assume they last 18 years like the pair you have worn out
disregard that all the parts for a felco are available.

18 years = 6575 days is it worth 8 cents a week to work with a quality tool?

That's the conclusion I had come to.


If you're still in doubt, consider that the Felco hand pruners
probably cost you at least $40 (or whatever was equivalent when you
bought them). You weren't complaining about that price when you
mentioned you liked them. But I guarantee you will be complaining (to
yourself, at least) if you buy crummy substitutes for a good tool.

Having said that, why not insert a range limiter of some sort in your
current pair so you won't bang your knuckles anymore?

k
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