Heavy Duty Hand Pruning Tools

Richard L. Parish, PhD, PE

Your first and most basic tool for pruning is a good pair of pruning shears. They can be either bypass shears or anvil shears. You then have several choices for heavier duty pruning jobs. A chainsaw can be useful for large pruning jobs, but there are several heavy duty hand tools that will help you with intermediate jobs and allow you to avoid the cost and hassle of a chainsaw.

Bow Saw: A very much underrated hand tool is the bow saw. Bow saws are available in two styles and sizes, and are generally inexpensive. Unlike carpenter saws that you might have in your workshop, bow saws have very large, very aggressive teeth. They cut very rapidly through live, green wood. For limbs and branches up to about 3 inches in diameter, a bow saw is nearly as fast as a chain saw and much less trouble to use. Replaceable blades are available at very low cost. Bow saws are one of the few tool categories where the cheap models seem to work as well as the more costly models.

Curved Tree Saws: Hand saws with curved blades are available for pruning trees. They will fit into tighter places (such as tree crotches) than a bow saw, but do not cut as rapidly.

Lopping Shears: Lopping shears are heavy-duty pruning shears with long handles to increase your leverage and allow you to cut heavier branches - typically up to about an inch in diameter. Most lopping shears have a bypass-type cutting head, but some are the anvil type. Traditionally, handles are made of wood, but models are now available with fiberglass and metal handles. Quality level varies considerably among brands and models.

Extended Handle Pruning Tool: If you need to prune limbs that are beyond your reach, an extended handle pruning tool is the answer. These tools have a head containing a pruning shear that you operate by pulling on a rope. They also have a curved tree saw blade on the head. In some cases, the saw blade can be removed when using the shear. The head is mounted on a long handle. Usually, the handle can be extended, typically by sliding out an inner section, to double your reach. A typical tool is 6 feet long, extendable to about 11 feet. When added to your height, you can thus reach limbs as high as 15-18 feet. These pruners can be awkward to use, but do jobs that are almost impossible with other tools. Long-handled power pruners (with chainsaw heads) are available, but are generally considered to be professional tools.

Your next pruning tool after a good pair of pruning shears should be a bow saw. The other tools listed above can be added if you need them.