I needed a pruning stick for cutting thick brush branches several feet out of reach, and for problematic tree branches.
I went with the Fiskars 12-foot telescoping pruning stick, which features a pivoting head, easy-pull sliding handle mechanism, a pruning head, and a curved saw head.
Advertisement
To use it, you simply brace the back of the stick, or hold the rear handle if only cutting smaller branches, and pull back on the sliding orange handle.
It broke it the second time I used it!
The first time I used it, I made maybe 25 cuts in branches 1/4″ to 3/4″ thick. Maybe there were a few 1″ cuts in there. Yesterday, the second time I brought it out, I made about the same number of cuts in smaller branches, and then tried to cut a branch maybe 1″ thick.
Looking at some of the reviews at Home Depot, there are very many numerous complaints about its quality,
I was trying to cut a thick branch that I thought was well within its cutting capacity. Maybe I was wrong? The capacity for a smaller Fiskars pole pruner is said to be 1-1/4″.
As I was pulling the handle to make the cut, I had a weird gear-slipping-like sound and the head locked up and got stuck around the branch.
Advertisement
I eventually got it free, took the pruner inside, and disassembled the head. After spending some time understanding the internals, which weren’t all that complicated, I reassembled it and tried to get it to work. After the third time, everything seemed right.
One test on a maybe 3/8″ thick branch and it locked up again.
Maybe some part of the chain was deformed? There’s nothing I can see that is physically broken or damaged, but it still seems there’s nothing I can do to get the pruner back in working condition.
I’m going back to Home Depot later today, either for a replacement, or a refund and I’ll pick out a non-telescoping pole pruner that has a more robust mechanism.
What I don’t understand is that there’s a Fiskars 54″ tree pruner that looks to have an identical cutter head mechanism, but it has overwhelmingly positive reviews. Maybe I’ll try that one next. Or maybe the issue I experienced with the telescoping pruner is a random and unique failure.
A lot of the complaints about the model I tried are about its flimsy handle. It’s pretty sturdy when not extended, but when it is extended, there is considerable flex in the mechanism. I can understand the reasoning behind it – you can’t have a traditional telescoping mechanism and ropeless design, at least not easily or inexpensively from what I can see.
I really liked the ropeless convenience of this model, until it failed.
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
Buy Now(via Amazon)
What I’ll try next:
Buy Now(54-inch pruner via Home Depot)
Can you recommend a pole pruner – not a saw – at least 6 feet long?
Jimmie
I have a lot of trees on my property and I need to be able to rake snow off my roof so I wanted something with a pole that I could re-purpose in the winter. I wound up investing in a pruner/saw with a segmented pole from American Tree Service Supply. It wasn’t cheap but the cutter and saw are a lot more robust than my Corona-brand pruner. Non-telescoping poles are definitely the way to go for tree pruners.
Jonathan
Hey Stuart, I do landscape maintenance and freelance with a local arborist as my livelihood. I will say that I’ve switched from Corona to Fiskars just because of their incredible customer service and warranty. Not to mentioned one of the best shovels that is 100% steel (and under $25 on Amazon) no more broken wood or fiberglass handles.
I digress,
I’ve read a lot of the postive and negative reviews on bith Fiskars, Corona and other manufacturers.
While a maximum cutting capacity is kinda of like MPG, ymmv esp with the type of tree branch your soft woods , i.e. conifiers , evergreens etc can be almost effortless and a sharp chainsaw will go thru them like a hot knife… they can be very sappy and cause the blade to bind and catch if not kept clean. While other dense hardwoods besides the well known oak, hickory, etc. Dense hardwoods that you wouldn’t expect to be hard to cut, fruit trees, holly, boxwood, redtips, rhododendren the later are mainly shrubs but can grow quite tall, but you wouldnt think them dense till you got to cut them with a sharp chainsaw or stump grinder and the saw is much slower and can bog.
That said the 12′ prunning stick comes with a saw blade for that reason a new blade should easily cut .5~.75″ branches with little resistance or effort if it doesn’t cut easily then you should use the blade, even the expensive arborist pole saws and pruners will be challenging on some trees, 1″ even with 24~30″ loppers on the ground 1.25-1.5″ can take a lot of effort.
The other thing is if doesn’t cut easily you run the risk of tearing instead of cutting.
That said Fiskars has great warranties and no quibble replacements, snap a quickpicture of the damage and email it to them and they will replace it.
RC WARD
Nice reply dude. and right on.
Mike
Mine’s saw blade got slightly stuck cutting a magnolia limb. That’s not that much of a bind. It was not extended at all and was in the locked position. When I pulled it it pulled right through the stops. I reinserted the pole. Same thing immediately happened where there should have been no bind. and it did damage to the cheap fiberglass holes. You’d think those holes would have a reinforce metal eyelet or something better. When looking with it apart you see the problem. The $1 flashlight holder on my mountain bike that holds a sub 4 oz flashlight is much higher grade material than fiskers’ internal holder.. Yeah maybe their warranty is great. I don’t know. I don’t like taking cheap stuff back for more cheap stuff. I don’t like taking stuff back period. Lesson learned.
David C.
I got this Fiskars a few years ago and it has held up great. I think that the mechanical advantage has to be limited by having the pull chain inside the handle like on your model. It looks like the arm coming off of the blade is rather short.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XSF3YM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
John P
I too have this same Fishers unit that David mentioned. We’ve had it for about 6 years now and has held up very well. We have 2 large Linden trees at our house and use it almost every year. I really like that it was the saw on it to get at the thicker branches up high.
James
I have the version with the rope pull, but it has no saw. I don’t see if for sale at Home Depot anymore. But I’ve used it for years without a problem, and I’ve manhandled it some by try to cut branches that were too thick. I’ve been happy with it.
Jonathan
This is what the arborist I freelance with uses BAHCO POLE PRUNER & SAW COMBO – P3437FP14 you can also check some if the offerings from Wespur, they have some that are priced below and above the Bahco.
I like the Bahco products they were/are owned by MAC tools.
But the same issues apply with Bahco and other brands, sap and wood density, if the cutting head binds its either sap/resin, the branch is thick/dense or the blades is not sharp (less of an issue with a new tool).
But the oscillating/articulating head on the fiskars is very handy at times.
fred
I thought that MAC tools was part of Stanley-Black and Decker – where is the Bahco Group was part of SnapOn
Andy
Bahco makes a great one, as does ARS. I haven’t really been happy with any Fiskars products for years.
Greg
I had one of those fiskars pruners. Mine has held up to quite a beating, but my only complaint is that it’s not the easiest thing to use, I think the older style prunes where the actuator string is separate, not fed through the middle of the pruner are a little easier to get a good pull on.
Rick
I have a Fiskars telescoping pruner with a pull rope and blade, it works great, year after year.
Rusty
I’ve never had good luck using those kind of pruners so I just use a pole saw.
Allen
Fiskars is one of those companies that used to be considered a premium brand, most of their stuff is from China now, am I correct ?
Jeffrey
Allen, you are exactly right. They diluted their brand so stockholders make more money. Every dollar is a vote. I try to always vote against China.
Jeffery
Also… If you consider my point unhelpful ( I think it is valid), polesawdirect.com and Hickok (a brand from the fruit industry) make made in USA products. There are probably many others, as well.
I suggest looking at estate sales for ones made in USA.
Hang Fire
I bought the pole pruner (chainsaw on a stick) attachment for my Stihl Kombi-System powerhead almost a decade ago. When my first chainsaw broke shortly thereafter, I briefly used it for everything. It’s still going strong. It became even more useful when I learned to hand-sharpen the chain so that it self-feeds into wood.
Call me ecologically irresponsible, but I think one working pole pruner after a decade beats a dozen broken Chinese manual pole pruners in our landfills.
fred
My wife has used one (hers made in Finland) since 2009 and it is one of her go-to tools for light pruning.
I do know that I have had to clear it for her from time to time when something jams it. She’s volunteered working at a world class botanic garden alongside professional arborists – and when I bought the Fiskars for her she was looking for something lighter in weight than the fiberglass extension pole pruners that she finds difficult to handle. We have an old Jameson sectional pole pruner laying in the garage that will reach to 18 feet – but it always seems to be my job (when asked) to use it – even with only 1 or 2 poles attached.
For things beyond the capacity of the Fiskars, she uses one from Silky that is purely a pole-saw . I think she had me buy it based on her love for a Silky hand pruning saw.
I know she also uses hand pruners from Felco and ARS plus other tools from AM Leonard that she likes – and ARS and Leonard make pole pruners that might be worth a look.
Mike
STUART STUART STUART, sorry to scream but I want to make sure I get your attention. Look into Silky HAYATE pole saws. Yes I know they are $300. Totally worth it if you are tool-savvy and can even remotely afford it.(Know anybody like that?)
They come in three configurations(or so) but they’re all the same basically, just in different lengths. Telescoping aluminum part-hex/part-round pole, with each additional telescoping-handle segment adding approx eight feet additional reach.
Notable features include:
1) The telescoping function locks tighter than a Honda crank bolt. Tighter than a Makita USA rep’s public outreach program. Just flat out the most secure telescoping tool of any brand or type of comparable size. Do NOT shy away from a certain length configuration because of worries about securing one handle segment to another. Great system; very good tolerances+top shelf retaining pressure bearing+awesome final latch combine with innovative(or logically engineered if you will) pole shape/profile reduces handle’s tendency to act as a sleeve/simple bearing pair. Think of a telescoping basin wrench(plumber’s sink tool type) but with two sides rounded for ergonomics. I’m sure photos/pics will do a better job than me at describing this feature. Point is it’s a waaay better system than any other pole saw I’ve ever seen.
2) The weight and balance are SUPERB. The most comfortable and effective pole saw on the market. The type of tool that provides a sublime experience evry time you use it. Turns a difficult(even impossible for some people) chore into a seemingly effortless wonderful moment of joy. Seriously. Mostly because…
3) The saw blade itself. Silky saws are all excellent. But the HAYATE is just unbelievable. No joke-10 inch diameter branches are easily cut in one minute. Sixty seconds.
The HAYATE is the (Knipex)pliers-wrench of pole saws. If the only other pliers in the world were Harbor Freight.
HAYATE=pliers-wrench
all other pole saws=old cheap Harbor Freight slip-joints.
Check out this saw, even if you’re not looking to buy. Since Silky has low USA market penetration, a review would be a public service for all of your English language readers. Sorry for such a long and rant-style comment, it’s just that the HAYATE is a damn fine saw.
Wayne Ruffner
I’ve had one of these for over 10 years now (same model? earlier? dunno), and it’s been a champ. My only slight complaint is that the lever-lock on the head can get bumped on stuff and get unlocked. BFD it is not.
I’ve put it on branches too big and pulled on that thing, sure it was going to be ruined, but nope, still good after lots of use and some abuse.
AndrewC
I have that 12ft Fiskars pruner, and have really liked it. Gone out of my way to recommend it to others even, but I’ve not used it enough to verify that its durable.
I saw a video on Fiskars on tv/online (don’t remember which), and was really impressed by the amount of innovation and engineering that go into their products. That doesn’t really happen with most companies, who typically just remanufacture a tried and true design and then figure out a new way of marketing it.
It might come down to that fact that, since Fiskars tries new things, there products haven’t had gone through real world testing by buyers of their product, which naturally will find the weakness in said product. Its why the first year of a new car has a ton of bugs in it, and the 2nd year all of these bugs will be fixed.
Tom
I have bought issues with ht this model twice. Both times have had issues with the extender the rope seems to get stuck