Comments on: Fiskars 9301 Power-Lever 14-Foot Tree Pruner

By: G. Hilton

G. Hilton — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:02:36 +0000

I have a lot of queen palms that need pruning regularly. But did not want the hassle of power cords, or gas engine maintenance . In order to get the job done easily I bought this pole pruner and saw. It is well made and sturdy. I find it cuts the smaller branches extremely easy and quick using the cutter with the rope. I use the saw on the palm fronds and the saw has teeth on it that are sharp and cuts quickly. The extension pole has a lever lock which is great because it is fast and easy to use. So far i have not found any problems with this tool at all. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: Jeremy A. Pettry

Jeremy A. Pettry — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:51:14 +0000

I have a 5 story tree in my back yard. It reaches over from the left side of my back yard, all the way over to my neighbors house on the right side. It was hitting the side of his house and he was concerned. So was I. My uncle has one of these and I couldn’t get it from him. So, I decided to get my own. Since I have 5 trees in my back yard. It cut very well and I was extremely pleased with this item. So was my neighbor. Follow all the safety rules on the packaging. I Highly Recommend this product to anyone who has a lot of trees in their yard. Beats paying lots of money for someone to come and trim your tree for you.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: karless

karless — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:46:02 +0000

This pruner does everything claimed by the manufacturer very well. If it was two feet longer I would have given it five stars.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: Troy Papeq

Troy Papeq — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:38:14 +0000

I gave this 2 stars because you *can* use it to trim branches from high places. But only with clever manuevering. This is just a glorified pole saw, a pole with a blade at the end being sold as something more than it is.

The telescoping extension slips with the slightest pull. So when you try to pull down on a branch, or saw downward, the pole slips instead. The rope stretches so it’s difficult to get a decent “bite”. Maybe on grass, but on a 1″ thick branch? I tried to clip individual coconuts off the tree. The stems are much less than 1″ thick but this pruner was no match – the rope stretched, the pole slipped and the pruner stuck. Finally just sawed the whole bunch down.

I recommend something with a better locking mechanism for the telescoping pole. Like a twist-lock, or spring-loaded pin mechanism like on some vacuum cleaner extensions. And a chain-pulley rather than just rope for the pruner. Or just the pole saw with no pruner.
Rating: 2 / 5

By: Objective Subjective

Objective Subjective — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:38:08 +0000

I bought this primarily for the saw part, though I wanted the pruner too. I didn't want to buy two tools. Well, the pruner works for the 1" or smaller branches and it is good for that. However, I was disappointed in the saw. For one, it binds on the pull (down) stroke, which is the cutting stroke. I am cutting at the top of a branch as a previous reviewer mentioned. While that certainly helps, the point is that this blade cuts poorly and binds. The blade attachment provides little in the way of attachment, and that gives too much play to the blade, which doesn't help cutting. I checked the Fiskars web site, and this Woodzig blade is the only option. That's too bad.

For branches I can reach from the ground, I use a bow saw and I can cut through 3" diameter branches in seconds. With this pole saw, it took nearly two minutes to cut a 2"inch diameter branch. This was because of the binding, which prevented me from pulling more than an inch at a time.

Bottom line, I don't advise buying this to saw branches. Well, maybe if you only have a tree or two and don't mind the sweat equity. Rating: 3 / 5