i have had my pair of felcos for over 20 years ... at the annual replacement cost of cheapies .... they paid themselves off.. long ago ...

the one pictured is anvil??? ... and boy does it look like a felco .. lol ... cosco had F look alikes a while back

ken

i have had my pair of felcos for over 20 years .

I don't think I have been able to hold on to anything for 20 years!

boy does it look like a felco

I assume that FELCO and LÖWE are different companies (albeit both German).

if there is a hole at the non cutting end ... tie some pink surveyors tape thru it ... or some such ...

a knock off is a knockoff .... but i might bet.. the german ones are better quality than the chinese ones ... compare here: https://www.google.com/search?q=felco+curved+anvil+hand+pruners&biw=987&bih=745&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjcxavw78fKAhVkkYMKHVN9C2wQ_AUIBygC&dpr=0.9

its not a big deal ... it was just an observation ...

what i really like about them ... is that they can be taken apart.. cleaned and honed ..... not unlike a sharp shovel.. sharpness matters ...

ken

an old conversation:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1823190/what-do-use-for-pruners-secateurs?n=32

and probably way more than you would ever want to know.. lol:

http://www.gardenweb.com/gardenweb/query/pruners

LÖWE pruners

Had my Felcos at least 15 years. I broke the spring a year or so ago & my husband ordered the part & fixed them. Good as new. I was at my parent's & used their pruners & ugh...not the same. Would never buy any other brand.

In the 30 years I have had my #2 Felcos I have only replaced the cutting blade once. Any trip into the garden includes my pruners. A good pruner will last a lifetime.

Yes

rouge21 - just so u know Felco is a Swiss brand...

Changed over to Tobisho as I like the one-piece forging and the simple spring mechanism. Would never use anything other than good carbon steel. And for pruning saws, a Silky...in fact, I am a fan of Japanese steel across the board. If you do a lot of pruning (I do) then the smooth balance of single forged secateurs is brilliant.

I would probably stick with Swedish axes though.

I indulged myself and changed over to the left-handed Felco pruners about 10 years ago, the best pruners I've ever owned. My other Felco pruners which I've had for at least 20 years are still going strong, DH uses them.

Annette

I had a pair of rotating handle Felco secateurs which I absolutely hated...in fact apart from No.6. Felcos are always a bit chunky for my small hands but the Japanese ones are robust yet dainty....although they do need regular sharpening (which I do with a little pocket-sized Bahco handtool).

I do like German grafting knives though (Tina) or even Victorinox (although I think they are Swiss)

Thanks for the info 'nichols'. I did not know this.

So, as long as you do not lose your tools (or mistakenly fling them into an incinerator), I would always buy the best tools I can afford (unlike my cheap attitude towards plants) because they can, and do, last lifetimes.

I understand.

For me I am forgetful as to where I put tools but more often than not they do turn up.

Maybe I can somehow afix a GPS tracker to this most recent pruchase ;).

I've used Bahco "Ergo" pruners for 10 years now and can't bring myself to use anything else at this point. Easy on the hands, well-balanced. You definitely get what you pay for with these kinds of tools.

Oh, I also recently got a 6" Stihl PS10 folding pruning saw, which is Japanese-made. I've never tried this brand, which was somewhat more expensive than the so-cheap-as-to-be-disposable folding saws I've used before, but not exorbitant. I like it a lot, so far -- small enough to be useful in tight rosebush-type places, very sharp.

rouge your plants and your hands will thank you for making the investment. I have used Felco #7 for years as my every day carry with. I have the case that attaches to my tool belt (Lee Valley) which eliminates the chance of losing them. Well worth the cost! Lowe is hopefully an equal to them.

Not just high quality pruners, but it is also worth while to find ones that fit one's hands well. I have 3 sets of pruners acquired over many years: a pair of Fiskars, a pair of Felcos, and a set of ARS. The ARS are so comfortable that I only use the others now if I can't find the ARS pair. I tend to keep one of the older pairs in the car so if I am away from home and want a pair (at the shop gardens or helping out my inlaws' garden) I have a set on hand, but I can use the ARS pair for hours without my hands getting sore. My BIL borrowed them one day when we were gardening at the inlaws' and he even commented on their comfort.

Like Ken, I tie fluorescent flagging tape on tools so I can find them more easily when I set them down in the garden.

I find that I pay more attention to my expensive tools. While I try to take all my tools inside at the end of the day/night the one I make sure I find is my most expensive Felco. For me the weight and fit are just right. I still have several cheaper pruners that are only used if I need to share tools with a visitor.

Rouge, I was going to say the same thing as Mnwsgal. While I might misplace all of my other tools, my expensive felco pruners (2sizes) and felco saw and Jakoti shears always make it into the house. I don't even leave them out in the shed, .....this way I always keep tabs on them. Cheap trowels, three-prong cultivators, etc. have all been left laying around, lost for a couple years outside, etc. I think you'll find that now that you've invested in a good tool, you will tend to keep track of it. And you'll be so glad you made the investment!

Rouge, at time of posting, you apparently did not notice a difference. I am sure that by now you have decided whether any performance improvement was worth the price. Longevity is a separate consideration.

I am posting just to recommend to everyone this Dollar Tree pruner that works very well.

I have been using it for several weeks. Sharp. Much stronger than it appears.

(Spring is susceptible to being knocked off during work; to prevent its loss, I looped a wire through one end and around grip.)

my Felcos are now at least 18 years old..I used them for several hours today..they're still fabulous!..

My Felco 8's are also 18 years old. When I first got them, I was disappointed that they didn't cut through everything like butter. Now, 18 years later, I find that I can't stand using anything else. With care through the years by sharpening, cleaning and oiling they are as sharp or sharper than when I bought them. When I fly across the country to help my mother with her garden, I bring my Felcos. I, too, have a leather holder that loops on my belt, but I usually just stick them in my pocket. Probably not the safest thing to do.

I cant tell you the # of times I have misplaced the above pictured LOWE pruners. But I still have them and as far as I can tell they are still working just fine even though I dont clean them as I should and often leave them outside exposed to the rain and such :(.

"I dont clean them as I should and often leave them outside exposed to the rain and such :(."

I think we are guilty of that.......I know I am.

While turning the compost mountain, I found a pair of Felco 6, last seen at least 2 years ago. Bargain! A going over with a wire brush (on the drill), oiling and final primping with a little Bahco sharpener and they are good to go.

I was especially pleased to see them because my children bought them for my first year in horticultural college. I trundled through most of the RHS certificates (apart from the final course). It took 5 years...and was, amazingly, free! Miserably, this is not the case today...in fact, 2/3rds of the college no longer exist having sold campus lands in order to survive, while nearly all of the courses (which ranged from grounds-keeping, nursery management to forestry) have been discontinued. This, heartbreakingly, is happening right across the vocational sector...

Pruners are like reading glasses--I lose them so often, it doesn't pay to buy the expensive kind.

In undiscoved remote places there are large colonies of escaped pruners, glasses, fingernail cippers, and unmated socks..

Yes, they are worth it. I have a pair of Felcos that have seen better days but can be brought back to life with some TLC (a la Camp's post). Last year I bought a pair of Okatsune pruners per a rec from this board, and hoo-ya they are sharp. DH bought me a pair of pruners when he was in Japan over the holidays, I have yet to use them but imagine they are on par with the Okatsune -- the Japanese are known for their blades.

I have a pair of Felcos that a dear friend gave me as a gift when we moved into this house (23 years ago). I still have them....somewhere in the yard. Sheesh. I plan to replace them this spring in the hopes that the others will then turn up. Ha.

I was using them this past weekend cutting back some pretty thick lilac branches at a relative's home (this lilac is at least 50 years old according to the owner). And I realized that I have had these "loppers" for several years now; used frequently and I admit that I dont take the best care of them and still they work just as intended.

LOPPERS at Lee Valley:

Heavy-Duty Bypass & Anvil Loppers

Thanks for the hint, Rouge. I need a new pair, I killed the old ones. Off to Lee Valley soon. The most dangerous store I know: I always come away with more than I planned.

Has anyone tried those ratcheting hand pruners?

Ratcheting Clippers

I just saw them advertised on TV and they were doing a demonstration and easily cutting through branches making clean cuts every time. Being a skeptic, I wondered if they were careful of what kind of branch they chose, maybe one that is known to make clean cuts easily. I was impressed that at least they are made of stainless steel, and I thought maybe that was a company trying to make a good product.

I pull out the lopers when the hand pruners aren't able to do the job, but, I find unless I use leverage across my body, I don't really have the strength to do the job either. Someone who helped me for awhile used a chopping motion and I didn't think that was a good technique.

We do a fair amount of pruning on this small property and I wish I did a better job of sharpening, but I'm always disappointed with my results, even after watching YouTube demonstrations. It's frustrating. I love a nice sharp pruning saw, but aren't those harder to sharpen even than pruners?

The loppers pictured above and linked are "ratcheters" and they have worked flawlessly for now well over 5 years....probably closer to 10. (Ratcheting allows pruners to cut off larger diameters than would other be the case.)

I am embarrassed to say that I have never sharpened them :).

Interesting Rouge, thanks for sharing that.

I just took a look at the link and there are a couple of things I like about them. One is that the handles are aluminum, that don't rust and weigh less. And the blade has a non stick finish that might keep them from rusting so fast. And they cut up to 2 inch branches, while the hand pruners only go to 3/4 inch branches.

Since you haven't tried to sharpen them, I wonder how the non stick finish affects the sharpening process.

In your photo above - was the cut that is already there, done with your tool?

In your photo above - was the cut that is already there, done with your tool?

Yup, what you see is the cut end of a lilac branch done by these pruners.