Power-assisted pruners?

Anyone out there using battery-powered pruners? In the research phase.

There seem to be two general levels of these. Less expensive (under 100 to a few hundred dollars), self-contained battery, e.g. Ryobi. And more expensive (up to many thousands of dollars), with separate, cord-connected battery carried on a body harness or pack, and sometimes part of a system with different attachments.

Favorites? Ones to avoid? Issues? Advice?

Asking for someone with 66-year-old tendons.

Small Planet Landscaping
east-central Massachusetts
USDA Hardiness Zone 6a (stone's throw to 6b)
Fruit-tree care for hire; approximately 230 trees on 11 private residences

Hello Nick, give this thread called power pruner options a look.

Keep us apprised of your research, I too am looking for powered pruners. Not in the works this year, I had to purchase a sprayer, a chipper, and I managed to get a powered pole saw, a Stihl HT 133.

Washington Okanogan Valley
Zone 6b



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2021 10:03PM by Michael Phillips.

Hi, James. Thanks for checking in. I checked out that thread. The Zenport EP3 with the external battery that was discussed is still available. Looks like a good option, but, like you, i'm in the middle of a number of bigger-ticket expenses (dump trailer last year, truck on the horizon for late spring, etc.) so i don't think i could swing the approximately $1,000 for this now, though that is less than some other, similar pruners.

Zenport also makes some units with the battery contained in the tool; the EP108 ($285, 5-inch cutting capacity), and two newer units that appear to have come out just a couple of months ago, the EP26, and EP27, with 1- and 1.25-inch capacities respectively. I thought i saw a price of around $500 for the EP27.

EP108: [www.theprunerwarehouse.com]

EP26 and EP27: [www.durokon.com]

EP3: [www.theprunerwarehouse.com]

A good thing with the EP3 is that there's a pole extension for "only" about another $200. Some kind of extension would be really helpful.

Extending the others would be challenging. There's a less expensive Scotts pruner with a pole, but at under $100, i suspect one gets what one pays for. Looks like a lot of plastic parts.

[www.lowes.com]

Small Planet Landscaping
east-central Massachusetts
USDA Hardiness Zone 6a (stone's throw to 6b)
Fruit-tree care for hire; approximately 230 trees on 11 private residences

Nick, I an currently the orchard manager at Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa. In my prior life I have run my own plant nursery for 30 years and been generally in the ornamental hort industry for 50. We are managing 10 acres of apples some of which have sorely lacked attention of late. We have a pneumatic system that works very well. It is big enough that several of us can work at once and has both handheld and pole pruners. I personally own a Felco 820 rechargeable electric that is far and a way better than anything else I have ever used. To be unattached by a hose gives you the freedom to move around a tree at will. The Felco has the power to cut a 1.8" branch meaning fewer saw cuts. I would say that I can work a tree over in half the time it takes to prune with the pneumatic. After all, is it not the time we spend where the real cost lie?

Ditto with Lindsay. I purchased the same Felco backpack pruner system. Felco for the quality, and the service to keep the system in top shape, based on cuts/ hours of use. I had sent my unit in to Ambergs in New York for a check up and they updated the 'brains' for the next season. And as we gracefully move into the future, using a click of a finger as compare to two arms on a ladder, with limited motion, to cut branches and limbs SINGLE-HANDEDLY , again, with an index finger, allows for more range when working the top of a tree with less ladder moving. And in half the time. And cutting 1 1/2" limbs! The single battery works all day on an hour or so charge. BTW/ My tendons just turned 68.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2021 12:56AM by Dan Kelly.