[NA] I need a killer pruning tool

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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west Texas
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Dave Taylor
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I have 120 pines and oaks that are growing up and the lower branches are too low to drive the mower under so I need to prune them.
Most limbs are <2” diameter with occasional 3”.

I want a cordless electric tool.

I’m not familiar with the pole saws, think the chain/cutting part looks like it has poor durability? (unsure). So I’m leaning towards a shearing tool ie a pruner.

I have milwaukee tools with M10 batteries in case that can be used.

Thoughts?
 
The Milwaukee offers the M12 (handheld, up to 1.25" branches) and the M18 (pole, up to 1.75" branches) sheers. If you happen to have a Sawzall, there are pruning blades available for it.
 
Get a cordless reciprocating saw and a couple of pruning blades. It’ll do great on branches and will come in handy for a lot of other tasks.
 
I have three tools and can't really imagine getting rid of any of them.

This is my go-to tool. I use it for probably 70% of things. It's small, durable, effective. It can't handle bigger things, hence the 30%, but I use it tons...

1784145507835.png

For larger pieces, I use this. Works great.

1784145582995.png

Finally, for things hard to safely reach, I use a pole saw.

1784145653149.png
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
how long does the blade on that pole saw last??
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I don't know if I can give good data on that. But here's my experience. We have an 80 acre lot and I do A LOT of chainsawing with real chainsaws. There are two ways to wear out a chain. First, let them get into dirt or hit a rock. Second, don't give them enough oil. The pole saw doesn't seem any different, but I use it so infrequently that I haven't even required a first sharpening yet.
 
I don’t believe you will be happy with an electric pruner that uses an M10.
 
My Silky pole saw is beyond sharp.
Mine is probably 10 years old on the original blade still doing great with seasonal use. I rarely ever fire up the gas powered pole saw. I would consider similar a valid option.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
…I have milwaukee tools with M10 batteries in case that can be used.

Thoughts?
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You had me up to M10. Assuming it’s a typo, in the M18 lineup, red offers a shear pruner and a sawzall. Those would be what I would get if I didn’t already have them.
 
I bought Margy both the Dewalt cordless pruners and the Dewalt mini chainsaw. They work well enough for her.
 
flyingron said:
I bought Margy both the Dewalt cordless pruners and the Dewalt mini chainsaw. They work well enough for her.
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How heavy is it? I've lost much range of motion in right shoulder and not much strength in that upper arm. I've been thinking of power tools, but not researched it yet as I didn't know what to look for. Weight is an issue for me. I'm expecting to graduate beyond current 5 lb. limit from my surgeon soon.
 
I have an Ego multi tool thing....attachments for a string trimmer, an edger, and a pole saw (mini-chainsaw).
I was just using the pole saw yesterday as a matter of fact....
It works great and I sometimes use it from atop a stepladder, but I'd say that it's not weighted and balanced as well as I'd like so I wouldn't want to use it all day long. I have no experience but I'd guess that a dedicated pole saw like the one @rwellner98 posted might be a bit better to handle.

The chainsaw part has worked great so far, the oiler works, and I don't recall ever having to adjust the chain yet....but so far I haven't used it enough to need a sharpening. My only real dislike is that the oiler leaks in storage. I stand the thing in a corner of my garage and I've found that I need to dump the oil out of the tank before storing it that way.

and re. @kyleb 's suggestion... Just a few weeks ago I bought a cheap and small cordless sawzall at Harbor Freight. I wanted a dewalt one to match the same battery ecosystem that I have but for the price I bought this thing and an adapter from Amazon to use dewalt batteries on the Bauer tool.
I think this might be my new go-to tool. I've used it several times already for cutting metal and wood. I did try some pruning with it but I didn't have a proper pruning blade and it was slower cutting than ideal. I was using one of those multi-purpose demo blades marked as if it's for fire/rescue...cuts wood, metal, nails, etc.... I plan to buy some pruning blades for it.

this saw has a little shorter stroke than a larger sawzall, but I think it's a good compromise for portability and handling
1784631968863.png
 
AuntPeggy said:
How heavy is it? I've lost much range of motion in right shoulder and not much strength in that upper arm. I've been thinking of power tools, but not researched it yet as I didn't know what to look for. Weight is an issue for me. I'm expecting to graduate beyond current 5 lb. limit from my surgeon soon.
Click to expand...
7.4 lbs according to the website.
 
my Hackzall and pruning blades are out for delivery.
If anyone has excess energy, and 16 hours available this weekend….
 
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