Fiskars 7.9′-12′ Extendable Tree Pruning Stik Pruner – Rotating Sharp Precision – Ground Steel Blade for Cutting up to 1.25″ Diameter

This is currently my favorite tool, but somehow I also hate it. The 50% of the time the cut goes off without any malfunction is amazing. The other half of the time, you are:1) getting pinched by an angry plastic knob that flails around2) untwisting the ribbon from around the pole, which a causes a jam3) reattaching the bottom cone piece, because you need to take it off to untwist the ribbon4) reattaching the bottom cone piece, because once you take it off it falls off every 3 or 4 cuts5) slamming the pump handle into your hand when you pull the knob, because the best places to hold the pole are right in the line of fire. That’s another different kind of pinch. The type that just makes you angry; where you yell the F word at the top of your lungs.6) unjamming the sticks of virtually any size from 1 cm up to 1 inch that regularly go sideways and lodge between the blades, regardless of sharpening the blade, tightening the blades, and practicing7) scrambling to catch a falling pole when you make a cut right at the limit of the range of the stik, because the only place you can hold it is on the very bottom of the pole, otherwise the pump slams into your hand- and your other hand is pulling the knob. As soon as the stick is cut, the pole starts to fall. If you reach with the hand that was pulling the cord, the plastic knob will zip up and hit or pinch your other hand, if you reach with the only hand that was on the pole already, then you are almost performing a juggling act, and something will go wrong.I think the best thing Fiskars can do with this product is somehow attach a tiny webcam to it and constantly stream little tiktok clips of people getting hurt or getting really mad. I’m think after every time I get hurt by this pruning stik, the one thing that might make me feel better would be seeing a little video of it hurting someone else.I was actually looking for the 5′ Fiskar’s pruning stick but I only found this longer one. Longer must be better right? Wrong. Here are the absolutely major failures compared to their shorter product which has the exact same pruning shears and ribbon & bike chain operating hardware.1) The ribbon (it’s not a rope! a flat rope is not the same thing as a ribbon!) is on the outside of the stick. It was on the inside of the stick on the other model. I get it, they probably did that so it wouldn’t interfere with the telescoping extension piece. Now it interferes with multiple other things instead.2) Careful where you put your hand if you get a good grip and your hand is over the ribbon, you could get a ribbon burn on your hand when you try and cut, or you might get lucky and merely prevent the product from working effectively.3) Also watch out for wayward sticks or debris, things will get stuck in the ribbon.4) the section of the ribbon running from the pump action grip down to the pull cord likes to start getting twisted around the pole and it will get stuck- you will have to remove the end piece to untangle this.5) The pump grip and the pull cord are now synchronized in tandem on this model- meaning when you pull the cord it also moves the pump grip down the pole and vice versa- pumping the grip gives slack to the pull cord and it will flop around. On the 5′ model these two methods of pruning were independent of each other, which worked WAY better. Pumping the grip wouldn’t send a floppy hard plastic knob falling out of the bottom of the pole trying to find the right place to smack you so it will optimize the pain. And conversely, pulling the knob doesn’t send the pump grip crashing into your other hand, making a fair effort to score a blood blister on that flap of skin between your thumb and index finger. Does that little piece of webbed hand have a name? It is pruner-averse for sure.6) because the pump and knob cord work the same mechanism, watch out where you put your hand! When trying to get to the furthest lengths you can, you will put one hand on the pole near the bottom and then pull the knob with the other hand- only the pump grip will come crashing into your hand when you do, preventing the cut, pinching your hand and possibly causing you to drop the pruner. And if it lands wrong, that pole WILL bend out of shape.7) When cutting with the cord and pull knob, do not let go of that knob after the cut like you’re starting a lawnmower. It it will flail around and retract into the bottom of the pole until it smashes a finger or hand that may be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m torn about which one hurts worse: the knob smack or the pump grip collision. I’m; thinking the pump grip collision.So here is the TL;DR: don’t get this thing. Fiskars always had choice gear at the store and for prizes or demos. I am going to see about other things I can get that aren’t crazy battery expensive . I am almost certain there are at least 1 and possibly 2 or 3 things that I forgot to mention, but this review is long enough and my anger-typing-cramps are pretty bad. Cheers.

This is a must have if you have fruit trees. My vacation property has 4 apple and 4 cherry trees, none of which have given fruit since 2017 due to lack of rain in California. The last rainy season dumped 250% of normal rain and snow, and the second week of July, as in the good old days, my cherry trees were full of fruit, but on a scale we’ve never seen before. On a trip there a month before they were ripe, I noted the amount of green fruit and knew I had to find something that would allow me to get at the higher fruit. I researched, and having always liked Fiskars products, bought this extended pruning shears. Although it also came with a saw blade, I didn’t need it. We harvested about 25 five gallon buckets of beautiful cherries before we let the neighbors across the lake they could have at them. I ended up freezing about 15 gallons of cherries for pies this winter! 90% of the cherries we picked from the branches we cut off would have been unreachable, even standing on my truck’s tailgate.One of the best investments I’ve ever made!

Worth the money. We have been using a little pruning pole which extends about 7′ and has a handle on the bottom like a pair of pruning shears. It just couldn’t deal with anything over 1/2″. So I looked at a bunch and really didn’t want to get one with ropes as I’ve seen them in peoples garages missing the ropes and useless. I like that this uses a strap and it goes up to 12′ I think, and cuts quite efficiently.We have a river birch which is constantly dropping dead branches as it’s a really ‘dirty’ tree. This allows us to get up and get some of those dry hard branches.