It’s also very easy to use. At 7.5 kg, it’s reasonably weighted, although even this will start to feel heavy when used for long periods at full extension. It comes with a shoulder strap that takes some of the weight, but you may still find it difficult to control. It only extends to 2.34m (7.64ft), and the average user will only be able to reach around 4m (13ft), which might not suit every garden. Those of you who hate heavy garden tools will appreciate how lightweight this pole saw is. At 3.6kg with the battery in , it weighs less than all of the others that I reviewed, and the fact that it comes with a shoulder strap helps to take some of the weight off of your arms. Something else that made this pole saw more convenient to use was the blade impact guard at the tip of the blade. It allows you to basically hook the blade over a branch so that all you need to do is press the power button and hold it steady while it cuts, which, again, makes the pole saw feel lighter and more comfortable. Convenience – being able to reach branches of multiple heights while standing on the ground, simply by adjusting the length of your saw’s pole, makes pruning so much more convenient Steel gearing works on a 12:1 gear ratio so applying minimum force translates to a lot of cutting force.

Most telescopic tree pruners for residential use will extend up to approximately 2 m. This tends to give enough reach for the majority of small trees and bushes without needing to use a step or telescopic ladder. Of course, if you have some trees that are slightly larger, you will be able to use the pruner in conjunction with a ladder as well. However, for the most part you won’t need to.

Reviews

I’ve used the Gardena Starcut 410 Plus lopper to cut many hundreds of branches on trees and tall shrubs in 2022, and overall, I’m delighted with the tool’s performance.

Telescopic tree pruners make neatening up your garden easy. They’re convenient, safe and easy to use; however, there are a lot of different styles to choose between. Tend to be very heavy which (especially combined with an extended handle) can make them difficult to support and control.At 9.25kg, this pole saw is definitely on the heavy side. This isn’t an issue for me, especially since Hyundai supplies a sturdy body harness for when the machine is being used for long periods of time, but if you’re looking for something lightweight, then consider an electric or cordless model instead. Petrol pole saws will always be weightier, but Hyundai has fitted this machine with a padded front handle to make life a little more comfortable. That said, I did notice that it didn’t feel quite as powerful as some of the other pole saws that I tested. This is down to its 600W motor . This isn’t an issue if you’re cutting smaller branches, but you may need to apply a little pressure if you’re trying to cut through chunkier limbs.

I put this machine to the test on a variety of evergreen and deciduous trees to find out how it compares to the other best-selling pole saws out there. It’s lightweight at only 2.1kg (4.6lbs), which is important as I recently spent the best part of two whole days pruning dozens of trees and bushes. I’ve seen competing products that weigh double and even triple this and I can only imagine how much arm ache the user would experience! Battery-operated garden tools can often feel less powerful than those that run on electricity, but that wasn’t the case with this pole saw. Its 18V battery gives it fantastic power, and the fact that Bosch batteries are interchangeable is ideal for those of you who already own Bosch products. My pole saw came with a 2.5aH battery, which gave me about an hour of on and off cutting time. However, once it went flat, I then replaced it with a 4aH battery and continued cutting for a couple more hours.The cutting head moves up to 200° to adjust precisely to strangely angled branches. What’s even better, though, is that you can adjust the angle from the ground without having to bring the entire pruner down to ground level. That said, petrol pole saws shine when it comes to power and speed. Mains and battery models can’t even come close to competing with this. For some, having that extra power is worth sacrificing weight, especially if the pole saw also comes with a harness to help balance that weight. How much a cutting head pivots varies based on the model. Some won’t pivot at all, whereas others will just give you a 15 degree leeway. However, there’ll be some that take things much further, capable of angling themselves to 120 degrees. This makes them so much more versatile – no branch will be able to hide from a saw like that! Weight Directly Impacts Ease of Use To find the best pole saws, I evaluated several pole saws, considering each model’s design, performance, power, ease of use, and safety, as well as how easy it was to assemble each and their value for money. Here’s an insight into how I tested them: With all of this in mind, along with our own extensive testing, we chose the Bosch Cordless Pruner UniversalChainPole 18 as our top choice. It meets the mark on so many levels, from how lightweight and simple it is to use to how well it performs on all types of trees, that it’s easy to see why it has such wide appeal.

They’re chrome-plated and made from carbon steel, resulting in a high-quality tool that can comfortably cut branches up to 6 mm. In some instances, the blades can cut up to 10 mm. The pole is extendable from 130 cm to 200 cm, and is suitable for both mid-range pruning, and cutting higher up. Remember that the further the pruner is extended, the harder it’ll be to control and use safely. Therefore, it’s best to only extend the pruner as far as necessary, depending on the job. Assembling this pole saw took just a few minutes and was very simple. It comes with the battery and charger included, so you’ll just need to make sure the battery is charged.

The models that we tested extend to varying lengths, from 2.6m to 4m – the shorter your pole is, the easier the saw will be to manoeuvre, so don’t go for a longer length unless you know you’ll need it. It’s easy enough to find effective pruners that weigh less than 1 kg. Lightweight telescopic pruners are easier to manage and don’t feel too unwieldy. Given that telescopic pruners are often quite long, they can feel sometimes feel unbalanced – for this reason, it helps if they’re light. Heavier pruners can still be manageable, but you should consider whether you have sufficient upper body strength. Heavier pruners should be used with a shoulder strap for support. One game-changing feature that many of the newer pole saw models now offer is a pivoting head. This means that you’re able to angle the cutting head in different directions, which makes it so much easier to accurately slice through a branch that’s growing in an awkward way. This pole saw has a long-reach handle that allows you to reach branches up to 2.4 m away. It’s equipped with a 20 cm long blade that runs at 8 m/s. It oils automatically, so you’ll always have enough oil for the job.