Long Arm Telescoping Pruners

Has anyone else had the joy of using the Long Arm Telescoping Pruner from Lee Valley - or other source?

I've been so impressed by this tool the last couple years I want to recommend it. I've hesitated because it seems so light and fragile, yet it keeps proving itself to be durable and dependable. Who knew? It's 71 inches long, and telescopes in four possible stops to 10 feet long. Able to be gripped in the squeezing hand, and the other hand has a grip on the shaft on a rotating handle that allows the pole/pruner to rotate nearly 300 degrees so it can be positioned for the best snip. Cuts most first and second year wood and some third year. While it does make one more remote from the intimacy with the inner space of the branches -- as one is able to stand on a ladder or a scaffold branch or the ground and reach a long ways in or out to make the snip without actually going there physically -- it does make pruning faster and easier in many ways.

See leevalley.com for details. This pruner sells for $41.50 plus tax and shipping. Worth every penny.

Morninglory Farm
Zone 3b* in Ontario



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2013 08:57PM by Michael Phillips.

I got one of these from Orchard Equipment and Supply down in Massachusetts years ago. But I lack Robbie's restraint in limiting "long arm cuts" to youthful shoots ... so more often end up cursing the snarled-up, half torn branch truly out of my reach. This in turn leads to an even more dramatic cut closer in, and that's often okay as what's kept can indeed be picked. I found this tool more useful in the teenage phase of the tree's life when reining in developing leaders. The ability of the long arm pruner to grasp the removed branch and bring it back down is cool.

Lost Nation Orchard
Zone 4b in New Hampshire