ELECTRIC Felco or Other HAND Pruners ... Experience? Feedback? Hearsay?

mdvaden

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The past few years I've been using mini loppers more to spare my right hand some. Mainly for fruit trees, but sometimes general pruning. I've been using Felco 20s and a small Corona. Lately, the house below has required so many hand cuts, it got me rethinking whether to get an ELECTRIC hand pruner.

I know Felco makes good stuff, and as a high end investment, I could just get Felco's electric pruner near $1900. But I also spotted another brand or two like a ZENPORT for about $750.

Have any of you ever bought and used these, or know from anyone else about certain brands?

This is the place that has me leaning this direction.
 

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https://pellenc.com/us/produits/prunion-tree-pruning-shears/


Pellenc is the name that always pops up in these discussions.


Thanks for a head start. Apparently there's a dealer in Roseburg, Oregon, an hour or so north of us that carries those. I asked for some information and their VINION model runs $1200 and comes with harness and all accessories. That's 30% less than Felco, and I think this Pellenc model is as good ergonomically.

I noticed a review for the ZENPORT on Amazon, where the reviewer previously used an INFACO which run over $2000. It sounded like they liked the ZENPORT better for reasons aside from the price. The ZENPORT are only $700, but if the harness of PELLENC or ergonomics and quality are substantially different, $500 more could be worth paying extra.

The VIDEO link below is the first ZENPORT one I've started watching. One part worthwhile for me, was the man showing the blade is responsive to how much and how fast the finger closes the trigger. I'm curious if that's standard in the other brands too.

LINK >>[/B] https://youtu.be/P5iWedn5JNY <ifra...picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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Orchard pruning season approaches... I'm interested for the same reason.

I just updated my previous post to include one of several videos.

Related ... a tool I'm not looking for ... is this grafting tool !! The same company ZENPORT makes this gadget also ...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ovr2J-DIELA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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This video shows an INFACO ... I think those are over $2000 and even more expensive than FELCO ...

What stood out in this video was how much movement there was to parts of the tool. Maybe excessive for tight to reach spaces.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H5VvRmCwGC0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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Deciphered this video. Largest Kiwi orchard in New Zealand. A comment below the video indicated a "KOHAN" electric pruner. I found it hard to search for at first and found a couple sites, one selling close to $900. Then on Amazon, this page appeared, and it looks like the KOHAN is also made by ZENPORT for less than $600

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CX8PKGM/ref=s9_dcacsd_dcoop_bw_c_x_4_w


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vY39OidQyZs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
grafting tool

I just updated my previous post to include one of several videos.

Related ... a tool I'm not looking for ... is this electric grafting tool !! The same company ZENPORT makes this gadget also ...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ovr2J-DIELA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I don't believe that is an electric grafting tool, I think it is manual. They have been around for many years, and the omega pattern works great. That being said, I wouldn't buy anything from Zenport, they are a knock off company, and have mimicked some of the best tools out there, Felco, Bahco, Corona, ARS etc. Anybody can make a tool a bit cheaper and sell it a bit cheaper, but you end up with a cheaper tool. Just my 2 cents.

I used to have an orchard with apples, peaches, apricots, grapes and bramble fruit, I used a battery operated Pellenc and loved it. It was worth every cent. Felco makes a great unit, and so does Jacto. If you are doing a one time clean up on those apple trees, the Zenport might be OK, but if you are looking for a tool to do alot of pruning year after year, I'd be tempted to bite the bullet and buy a high quality unit.
 
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  • #9
For the Pellenc to be worth the money, it would 100% have to outlast the Zenport by double, including the 5 year battery warranty on the Zenport. So if Pellenc doesn't have a 10 year battery warranty, that's a first dent in it's value. I'm also going to see if replacement part costs are available. Sometimes two brands are similar.

I think whether something works or not is most important. I buy both Silky handsaws and ARS handsaws, but find a slight gap of performance between life expectancy and cut quality. The Silky is just slightly better my a hair. But the ARS blows it away for value.. I can make them near equal with about 10 cents worth of Locktite on the handle hardware threads of the ARS

I noticed the Pellenc is slightly lighter. I'm trying to decide if the handle shapes make any real difference.

If the info I got was right, Pellenc is gear drive whereas Zenport and Felco are worm drive. And I don't know whether that makes any matterful difference.

Felco makes a great unit, and so does Jacto.

Reading about the Jacto, it sounds like much more than I need, but probably super good. If it has a readout diplaying numbers of cuts, there's probably other gizmos in the price beyond my needs. But I do like the look of the holster a lot. In fact, on the Pellenc, the hard case holster is one of the features I don't find as attractive.

I'm surprised how many brands are out there. It wasn't that long ago, I only knew of one.
 
If you don't have to worry about the noise of a compressor on the work site, look into pneumatic pruners instead.
 
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  • #12
If you don't have to worry about the noise of a compressor on the work site, look into pneumatic pruners instead.

The pneumatic would be impractical for most of my pruning.

But one other alternative I'm weighing against electric pruners is re-purchasing the FELCO 20. I had one some years ago and learned it can be very maneuverable within plants and trees. If I can use both arms to provide the energy, it can free my wrist and fingers the stress. The FELCO 20 divides the needed energy to both arms rather than a single hand.

What I can't perform sitting here and choosing, but need to visualize, is what will I be doing with my handsaw with a mini lopper or electric pruner. When I only use a hand pruner and handsaw, I keep the saw in my hand most of the time and pull the hand pruner from scabbard. If I get a FELCO 20, I would need to hang it on a limb, etc., while hand sawing. Whereas an electric pruner or hand pruner can be slipped into a scabbard.

A mini lopper requires both hands, whereas an electric lopper leaves one hand to balance and hold. What I can't tell yet, is how easy or hard an electric pruner enables pruning to the right or left side, which are easily done with handsaws or hand pruners.
 

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In this video, the man shows how cutting can be quicker by resetting the cutting blade from wide to narrow. This brand also cuts variable to mimic the finger pull or release speed. I'm not sure how the other brands implement this.



<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8d79c7yBvX8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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The Video QUALITY is excellent in this FELCO presentation. I can't understand his language but the video is almost self explanatory.

Look at this one FULL SCREEN ...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/exxqeW5Rkgc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Wow, thanks for putting it all here in one place for any of us interested.

I will say that though I have been impressed with those Felco pruners in general for their quality, they still take about as much force to operate as any lopper.

And as an aside, problems/pains in the hand/arm are most often able to be addressed if a person is willing to look at what muscles move the hand and arm - often through connective tissue - and address the condition of those muscles.
 
I fooled about with Campagnola pneumatic loppers n chainsaws back in the 90's, and was very impressed by how fast cuts could be made, one after the other, almost like a semiauto pistol. The lopper will spit stubs out forcefully enough to hurt yu.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=88HGtnAYKdc

That F6 lopper's pretty amazing!

Nice thread Mario.

Jomo
 
For that mess growing on top of the trellis in the first post, why are you not just using gas powered hedge trimmers? Must have taken you hours to do that with pruners and it doesn't look any better than if you had just hedged them.
 
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For that mess growing on top of the trellis in the first post, why are you not just using gas powered hedge trimmers? Must have taken you hours to do that with pruners and it doesn't look any better than if you had just hedged them.

The first photo was after using a hedge shear my first day there, over a month ago, just to start clearing some headroom. I've got 6 more days into it since then, with about 5 more days to go. I'm gutting old deadwood, removing vines binding against electrical conduit and lights and irrigation tubes. It will be a full overhaul of every Wisteria vine. The owner will also be able to treat or paint the top surface of the wood now. The method you described was the guys before me, and the reason I'm there instead to take things a new direction.

But you sure hit the nail on the head about time.

I fooled about with Campagnola pneumatic loppers n chainsaws back in the 90's, and was very impressed by how fast cuts could be made, one after the other, almost like a semiauto pistol. The lopper will spit stubs out forcefully enough to hurt yu.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=88HGtnAYKdc

That F6 lopper's pretty amazing!

Nice thread Mario.

Jomo


Jomo,

I got one. The Zenport. From what I could tell, even if Pellenc or Felco are somewhat better, the Zenport is among the better value for the amount paid. Actually, even Zenport isn't cheap, and I was going to skip a few more weeks, even though my right hand was saying "need some help now buddy !!" So amidst calling a couple companies for more information, it happened that a refurbished unit was available for $585.00

The battery / tool are refurbished, and the vest and charger were brand new. The blade is beautiful. With a wider gape, it took about 15 minutes, but I got the hang of placing it where I needed to cut.

The blade is made of SK5 Japanese steel and the outside body cover plates are magnesium alloy

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d162QinVQRQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
You need to tie the holster down, if you ever get in a fast draw situation.
 
Sweet Mario!

I was hopin you were goin to prune that bush right then n there mate!

I've got footage of me prunin a euc with pneumatic loppers way back when. It kinda spoils yu rotten, like havin an inhouse crane.

I seriously doubt you'll go back to ever prunin without em.

Congrats on stayin on the cutting edge of things.

Jomo
 
Great thread, I think I am approaching a similar decision, plenty of fruit trees to prune around here, but the hands are starting to complain...
Thanks for the video and explanation of your decision to buy that brand, but yeah, lets see it at work on that Photinia :)
 
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  • #23
Sweet Mario!

I was hopin you were goin to prune that bush right then n there mate!

I've got footage of me prunin a euc with pneumatic loppers way back when. It kinda spoils yu rotten, like havin an inhouse crane.

I seriously doubt you'll go back to ever prunin without em.

Congrats on stayin on the cutting edge of things.

Jomo

I ordered one more tool today, additionally. LEFT HANDED Felco 9 hand pruners.

Considering I will still use hand pruners in conjunction, I got the Felco 9 for my extra scabbard to wear on my left side. I have two Felco 2's but it's a nuisance to use the right handed Felco two in the left hand because the blade / handle latch needs handing back to the right hand to close.

Thankfully handsaws fit both right or left hand the same.

There was a Corona version of the Felco 9's but I decided to stick with the Felco like my other ones.
 
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  • #25
Great thread, I think I am approaching a similar decision, plenty of fruit trees to prune around here, but the hands are starting to complain...
Thanks for the video and explanation of your decision to buy that brand, but yeah, lets see it at work on that Photinia :)

FWIW ... the manual on the Zenport unit I got said not to use in rain. I don't know about Felco or other brands. And I generally don't like pruning fruit trees in the rain anyway. The other brands may say similar, but I don't know.

A guy from the local Texas Roadhouse came over tonight and we did a test shoot for my new Canon EOS R camera. We used the Zenport pruner for one of our props.
 

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