Whenever you are pruning shrubs there’s always one little bit you can’t reach whether its from the ground or indeed perched on a step ladder, reaching those little bits has always been in the realm of the long arm pruners. I have used many forms in the past and they all have the same problem, the blade! I love using razor sharp secateurs and want all my other pruning equipment to be as sharp but all the long arm pruners I have used in the past, well the blade not to put a fine point on it, has been rubbish! That was until I brought these Japanese made ARS ones. Yes they aren’t cheap at £119.00 but the blade is a Felco quality blade, one that holds it edge better than any other long arm pruners on the current market. It is also easily replaced by undoing a few screws. Now don’t get me wrong, these won’t handle the large range of thick branches that the more robust long arm pruners will manage but it will handle most plant materials up to about 12mm thick making it ideal for fine pruning of things like roses, wisterias, fruit trees and other shrubs. The length starts at 6ft and is easily extendable to the maximum 10ft in 1ft using the push button adjustment, just hold it in and pull the pole until it clicks in, the pruning head is also easy to adjust and goes into 3 different angles to get the right angle to get the best cut. With all the other long arm pruners I have used in the past, to cut anything, you need to pull on a rope or a lever, which isn’t ideal when you are up some steps or moving amongst a load of plants with the cord trapped up somewhere. These have squeezable handle that makes the job of cutting very easy as does the sliding grip for you other hand. The ARS long arm pruners are very well built with the added bonus that all parts are serviceable and replaceable if required. They are very little light to use and in the last six months I have had the pleasure to use them, worked very well and have been easy to look after and keep sharp. Try hard as I can, I can’t find a fault in them, they do what they are intended for, very well and indeed I am left with the feeling it was more of my hard earned money well spent
For light pruning I would whole heartily recommend them
You can buy them from a number of suppliers who do supply ARS. I brought mine from the rather excellent Niwaki and their website can be found by clicking here
The cutting head is well made and easy to sharpen as well as replace if needed. The flexible metal strip is what makes it all work!
The squeezable handles are very easy to use and not caused any blisters yet! They stay closed using the black clip. It is very easy to use and in a great position.
The nice sliding handle is prefect to get your hand in the right place
The length adjustment is pretty easy just press in and pull until you hear a click and the popper pops in to the hole pic below
The heads are fully adjustable to 3 angles
Those are pretty sweet. I used the ARS for work, but they are a bit much for my home garden use. My hand shears are still the old Coronas when they were still made in Corona in 1985! They rok!
Oh yes I loved the original Corona ones brilliant bits of kit, held a good edge indeed!
It seems useful! Do you think it’s better than a telescopic long-range pruner but with a rope? …( I’ve one to prune my apple trees but i have to pull hard on the rope when it’s at its maximum length)
For smaller stuff it’s a lot better Fred, say for eating apples prefer would struggle on some of the larger growing cookers but it’s not designed for those to be fair, which apples have you got Fred
I‘ve got 5 apple trees. ( Boscop, Reine des Reinettes, Cox Orange, Gala and another one unknown )
Just checking – have you got the brand right? The model number, and Jake’s listing, is for the Japanese ARS brand (and we all know you can’t beat Japanese steel). That said, I have a similar gizmo, made by Wilkinson Sword, which I find substantially less powerful than the traditional “rope pull” types which I can use with a swing of the full arm (i.e. using the shoulder and upper arm muscles) rather than the more limited wrist/finger movement. Indeed I have difficulty cutting the supposed half-inch capacity of my tool. Granted, of course, that there is no exposed rope to tangle around anything, I still worry that inside the shaft there’s more woven nylon rope than metal linkages and that would be far more difficult to replace when it wears than simply replacing a length of “exposed” rope.
Ummm well I ummm, it is now 😭😔😔 thank you fella not sure how I um mucked up! It’s certainly less powerful more of a tool for finer detail stuff, it does come with a full spares list to it and there is no rope in there, I think I had the Wilkinson sword one and found it good until the rope inside went, The lightness makes a big difference if you are doing a lot of fine work