Buy it for life - Loppers

My loppers broke a handle after a few years of hard use. I was clearing fallen branches after our strong winds last week and the handle failed by fatigue/stress near the cutting blades. They were an extending handle type like these (not that brand), but I rarely used the handle extensions.


source
I can't remember what brand they are....

Anyway - what should I look for when buying a replacement? Is the extending arms a good idea or not? I'm hoping to mend or replace the handle on the broken set, so I will have a spare pair with longer handles if required. Any recommendations?

Oh, dear.

I guess, looking at ones marketed to tree surgeons is another way to identify more durable design & manufacture?

For example, Leyat Professional Pro Pruning Loppers look like a similar product: they advertise spare parts for self-repair.

https://www.radmoretucker.co.uk/shop/forestry-landscaping-equipment/forestry-tools/shears-loppers/leyat-professional-pro-pruning-loppers-600mm/

I love my fiskars set. They seem to require much less force to trim branches than the other loppers i have when comparing them side by side. Keep them sharp and lubricated. Fiskars makes some really nice and ergonomic cutting tools if you haven't tried them out before.

Mine are Fiskars too - they are quite light and haven't let me down yet.  Probably at least 10 years old.

I have fiskars. I like them better than some cheap loppers i have used, but am not thrilled with them - they feel far less sturdy than the set i grew up with, and have dulled more quickly. I used them almost every day for several months last winter clearing brush from a fenceline. I find the handles are so light weight compared to the blade  that i don't love the balance of them when i have them overhead.

I do use my loppers a TON and have gotten them into some situations i feel like  risk breaking them, and have already broken the tip of the blade, no idea how. I've only owned them a year, and the ones i grew up with are about 60 years old and in perfect shape despite also being used for a lot of fenceline type cutting.  Pros to the fiskars - light weight, and i like the ratcheting  feature although it does occasionally mean i find it difficult to catch a branch overhead, particularly thinner branches.

I want to treat myself to a trip to Lee Valley tools this winter to try and find sturdier loppers for the winter "knock back the grapevines, lilacs, and buckthorn" season. I'd keep the fiskars, but probably mostly use them for larger branches rather than most of what i cut, which is <1".

Buy it for Life-Loppers: Well- It's pruning season, so here's my batch: Pruning Shears: Felco, and esp. roll grip: I'm ambivalent (er, ambi DEXTROUS) for pruning anyway, so I have lefties AND righties, so if someone wants to borrow (!) my shears I can always pass them the wrong handed pair) But NOW... ARS (Japanese made) has entered the fray, with a design that also fits my hands, seems to have tougher steel, (holds an edge longer, unlocks with a squeeze on the grip, and locks with a push of the thumb. I've been using their long reach pruners for 25 years or more; their tools are skookum. I think they will have lefties, but I don't have them yet.  I know Japan doesn't cater much to leftists, but I can just hang on to my Felco lefty rotating handle pruners. (I'll never let them go- just for the fun having a righty ask to borrow my pruners and watch him try to figure out WTF?? ARS makes the best long reach pruners- Aluminum alloy tube, and you can swivel the shaft so the cut can be from right to left or versa vicie, when you're up on a pruning ladder. Loppers: one of the few tools still made in the USA are Hickock loppers, with KILLER Forged Blade and jaw, and NO BS. I can cut a 2 inch apple branch quick and neat. I have literally cut 2-inch + bamboos with them as well. Saws: You can still get US-made Fanno pruning saws, folding or for mounting on fiberglass poles- not light, but non-conductive: they're what the tree guys use around power lines. Unfortunately for those who are seriously up a tree, they no longer make their 2 ft. big pruning blade: check yard sales. Fanno blades can be sharpened by most saw shops: Japanese saw blades generally cannot. If you're doing an orchard of small or young trees, ARS and other Japanese companies make long reach pruners that are light enough to occasionally do a one-handed stretch cut, or do a semi-dwarf apple tree in 15 minutes without leaving the ground, at least if it's been regularly pruned. The pruners are designed so the business end swivels, so you don't need to contort your hold on the tool to make a proper 90' cut. The most recent addition to my armory is a Japanese telescoping pruning saw "Razor Saw" that will put my cut out 13 feet or so. I got one from the first batch to come in to Hida Hardware in Berkely,  and I'm gonna find out how to get the blade sharpened (or get a new blade) pretty quick now.  But it's all aluminum and swivels so you can easily change angle of cut without contortion. I'm very happy with it. Being a bambusero, I occasionally make a pole saw to order with a bit of wood shaped to accept a Fanno pruning saw blade and cut a bamboo pole to length so all I need to do is put the end of the blade holding wood-piece into the opened end of the bamboo pole and put a couple hose clamps on it to secure the mount.