Which Pruning Loppers Should You Choose?
The Electrical Option
When pruning your garden, its a good idea to equip yourself with the best pruning loppers you can buy. But there are a few questions you need to consider first.
Such as:
– Do you go electrical…..or manual ? If you prefer an electrical lopper, then corded or battery driven?
– Can a tree lopper designed for tree branches also be a good hedge lopper?
– What diameter branch do you need to tackle when you are pruning?
These are important considerations because, as we know, pruning a garden successfully is always a challenge. It’s a bit like cutting hair – part art, part science.
Your tree and pruning loppers can’t really help you with deciding what you prune and how much you prune (the art). However,they can certainly influence the efficiency and neatness of your pruning (the science).
Pruning loppers can be either manually or electrically operated. You can decide on one or the other, or both, depending on your requirements.
Manual Pruning Loppers
Manual pruning loppers are the most common type of loppers used by gardeners and landscapers. They are hand operated and come in various sizes and shapes.
Some brands also offer long handle pruning loppers which are perhaps more versatile.
The lopper blades are most commonly made out of steel or titanium and they have either a bypass or anvil style cutting mechanism.
Bypass pruning loppers give a cleaner cut and thus are best suited for pruning growing plants and shrubs.
Anvil pruning loppers on the other hand have a more crushing like action and are better suited for cutting dry or dead wood. These often have a compound action system which increases the force that can be applied to cut through dead or very dry wood.
Most quality pruning loppers can comfortably prune branches up to a diameter of 2 inches.
Manual loppers obviously require a good deal of physical effort to be used consistently and effectively. They are therefore best suited to smaller jobs but are not ideal for anyone with physical impairments e.g. anyone with arthritic hands.
Finally, manual loppers are also generally cheaper than their electrically driven counterparts.However, they may not be ideal for anyone who might battle with the physical demands of using them.
Electrical Pruning Loppers
Corded pruning loppers are powered by a mains electricity supply. However their own electrical cord is rarely longer than 18 inches. You will thus need an electric extension cord as well.
The length of that cord will depend on how far away from an electricity supply you want to work..
So while these electrical loppers are ideal for larger pruning jobs and can cut through thicker branches(up to 4 inches in diameter) than manual pruning loppers, they are restricted by having to be connected to a regular electricity supply.
On the other hand, their working time is not restricted by battery life as is the case with battery powered loppers.
Battery Powered Loppers
Cordless pruning loppers have the advantage of being powered by a rechargeable battery.
They are thus far more flexible in that you can use them anywhere as long as the battery is charged,
On the downside, they have a limited working time before you either have to change or recharge the battery. They are also usually not as powerful as their corded counterparts which might be a limiting factor depending on your pruning requirements.
So to summarize:
Manual pruning loppers are great for small to medium-sized pruning jobs, while electric corded and battery powered loppers are more powerful and thus better for larger pruning jobs..
Tree loppers
Do you have several trees to prune with relatively thick branches? If so then electrically powered tree loppers designed with branches in mind are what you need. They will be more efficient than manual tree loppers – and easier on your muscles as well.
But what if you only have some small bushes to deal with and you are in good physical shape? In that case a pair of hand held manual tree loppers will probably be quite adequate.
The Best Hedge Loppers?
Hedges present a unique challenge when pruning a garden. For this job you might consider investing in manually operated hedge loppers aka hedge shears or an electrical hedge trimmer.
Either of the above are great for small hedges with thin stems. However they don’t work so well when the stems become thicker and more woody. At that point a battery operated branch lopper is probably required.
Most suburban gardens feature a cross section of plants, bushes and trees and so realistically, up to now, you would probably need to have more than one pruning tool in order to prune the garden properly.
However, this scenario might be avoidable with the corded Alligator lopper OR its battery operated equivalent
Our Recommendation -The Alligator Lopper
The king of garden pruning loppers has to be the unique Black & Decker LP1000 Alligator lopper which can cut through everything that is likely to need pruning in an average suburban garden.
It is not only an awesome tree trimmer tool which can deal with branches up to 4 inches in diameter (some have done bigger) but it chews through the smaller stuff with alacrity 🙂
Read our full review of the Alligator here!
You might also consider The Best Garden Pruning Chainsaws
People Also Ask (F.A.Q.)
1. How much are tree loppers?
The price of pruning loppers varies between $30 and $150+ depending on a number of factors. The main price determinant is whether they are manual (cheaper) or electrically driven (more expensive) loppers. However, within those 2 broad categories, price might also be influences by brand, length of handle (manual loppers), corded or cordless for electrical loppers and so on.
2. Which are the most powerful pruning loppers?
Electrical corded loppers are the most powerful type of loppers available on the market at the moment.
3.Which are the best battery operated loppers
There is little to choose between the Craftsman and Black & Decker battery powered branch loppers. Their design, capabilities and even pricing are very similar. The choice might come down to your brand preference, warranty offered, or if you already have a tool from one of those brands that uses the same battery as the lopper.