The Bottom Line
Pros
- Excellent for cutting the smaller branches that powered cutters have trouble with.
- With a fiberglass pole, these pole tree pruners are lightweight.
- Ropeless pole tree pruners spare you the aggravation from dangling rope getting snagged on twigs.
Cons
- Fixed length fiberglass pole: 7 feet long.
- Not meant for branches much bigger than 1 inch in diameter.
Description
- No more dangling rope to get in your way: the rope of traditional pole tree pruners is replaced by an internal steel cable.
- Triple-power pulley system combines with a leverage arm to make cutting with these pole tree pruners easy.
- Other key features of the ropeless pole tree pruner are its power blade, built-in tension tightener, and sliding shaft.
- Fiberglass construction makes these pole tree pruners lightweight.
- Intended for use on branches up to about 1 inch in diameter.
- Adjustable knob at end of shaft, in case the steel cable builds some slack in the tension.
- These pole tree pruners don't "telescope": they are a fixed length, at 7 feet long.
Guide Review - Ropeless Pole Tree Pruners
With the "Hook-N-Pull" ropeless pole tree pruner, just place the hook sitting at the end of the fiberglass pole over the branch to be cut, then pull the sliding shaft. Pulling the sliding shaft engages the cutting blade. After the cut, a spring efficiently retracts the blade back to its starting position.
Depending upon your trimming needs, this may be a case where a manual tool can serve you better than a power tool. I've tested cordless electric pole chainsaws and found them wanting in a very important respect: they don't trim small branches very well. For all their power, the bars of pole chainsaws, unfortunately, get clogged with leaves when used to trim numerous small, leafy branches. The cuts also tend to shred such branches, rather than cutting them crisply. Consequently, I would reserve the gas-powered and electric-powered gadgets for the bigger branches.
Personally, my trimming needs are such that I have much more need of a pole tree pruner that cuts small branches well. If your trimming needs are similar, then these ropeless pole tree pruners won't disappoint.
A triple-power pulley system combines with a leverage arm to make cutting with these pole tree pruners a breeze. The Hook-N-Pull Web site explains the principle behind the system thusly: "Each pulley is carefully calculated to reduce the amount of force exerted. By using 3 pulleys, 2 fixed and one moving, it was specifically engineered to assist a lighter and easier cut."
But these pole tree pruners are not only easier on the body, but on the mind, too. With traditional pole tree pruners, a rope controls the cutting mechanism, and this rope hangs outside the unit, enabling it to snag on branches. Frustrated, you then have to halt what you're doing to disentangle it. The internal steel cable that replaces the rope in the Hook-N-Pull eliminates this headache.
