Better than Felco #2?

[Tom Dunlap]

When I was in college I was introduced to Felco #2/F2

Over the years I’ve tried others but none work as well as F2s for general use. There have been a couple of non Felco hand pruners for very specific needs

Has there been any pruner invented that challenges F2 for supremacy

 

[flushcut]

No!!

 

[Boomslang]

I prefer my Corona secateurs to my F2.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I prefer my Corona secateurs to my F2.

Corona makes a fine hand pruner. It’s a solid second place and economical IMHO

 

[GregManning]

In ~1978, my brother gave me a Felco #2 to help me prune & bring back a small abandoned fruit orchard.
Great tool.
I still have them & use regularly.

 

[Matias]

I have a pair from Chikamasa that are amazing, and very ergonimic. They are at least as good as the Felco's, of which I have had several models. Chikamasa makes great blades in general, and I had developed a good collection of their products when I worked at the garden center and got that sweet employee discount.

 

[evo]

The only thing better than #2’s is also owning #8 and #13’s

#13’s get the most use

 

[ATH]

The only thing better than #2’s is also owning #8 and #13’s

#13’s get the most use

You beat me to it...I saw the thread title and thought "somebody just discovered Felco #13!".

 

[Tom Dunlap]

The only thing better than #2’s is also owning #8 and #13’s

#13’s get the most use

I envision a wooden box or Pelican case like I’d expect to see dueling pistols

 

[treebing]

I've preffered ARS

 

[oldoakman]

I just bought replacement blades for my 35 year old #2's. Good tools are not cheap and cheap tools are not good.

 

[evo]

I've preffered ARS

ARS is an under appreciated brand imo. This remind me that one of their little straight blade pole saws would be the ticket for fine pruning

 

[Serf Life]

I used to like the ARS polesaw blades but they added more holes to fit more brands. Extra prone to snap at the bolt vs the older ones. I want one of the long reach ars snips though

 

[bobs yeruncle]

we were given felco 2 pruners as part of our kit at my horticulture program in college, and i kept them in good order for five or six years. at that point at work id been moved into the new rose garden and most of the anti-rust coating had worn off the parts of my felcos, id replaced the blade once, and they were rusting a lot of the time and i was getting frustrated at how often i had to baby the carbon steel blades and rust-prone hardware. so after doing some research i switched to a set of ars vs-8 pruners for the stainless blade and hardware. i loved them, drilled a hole through the handle to install a paracord loop i could wrap around my wrist to let it hang if i needed to grab something else briefly or if at height and worried about dropping it. the one-handed opening was great and the blade stayed sharp a hell of a lot longer than the felcos and never rusted. one downside was the action would work itself loose after a spell, which started to drive me crazy. so finally in 2022 i switched again to these:

vs-8r, rotating handle which for the longest time i avoided thinking it looked gimmicky, and crucially an anti-rotation washer so once i set the action it stays set and doesnt loosen on me. now i can leave it be for months without needing to adjust or sharpen it, and considering i have 4000 rose bushes to take care of it takes the abuse like a champ. a coworker made fun of me for the rotating handle but i cant go back, its so much nicer to use when you have to make a lot of cuts for hours at a time. the only downside now is the little catch for the opening doesnt hold as well as the previous pair, so sometimes the handle pops open in the sheath on my belt. but i can live with that. this thing is a workhorse and i love it

another point for ars vs felco: for people with smaller hands, the ars vs-7 is great. i gave one to my sister to replace her felcos and she uses them exclusively now. had another student a few years ago with very petite hands so i lent her a pair to use over her term and she bought them off me at the end. ive never met anybody with large enough hands to need to try the vs-9 model, so ive never handled those. but the vs-8, vs-7, and vs-8r all get top marks from me. hard recommend

 

[bobs yeruncle]

I used to like the ARS polesaw blades but they added more holes to fit more brands. Extra prone to snap at the bolt vs the older ones. I want one of the long reach ars snips though

i got the 6-foot pruners three years ago and theyre fantastic. naturally i got them for reaching into nigh-impenetrable rose thickets for pruning. when reading reviews i decided to skip over the adjustable-length pruners because they didnt seem as bombproof, glad i did. have barely had to hone the blade since i bought them, no corrosion, and no students or coworkers have dropped or run over it (yet) so it still works great, smooth action. i want to get one of the 4-footers now too

 

[Matias]

ARS and Chikamasa are very comparable, and I loooooove my 6' ARS pruners

 

[Brando CalPankian]

I used to like the ARS polesaw blades but they added more holes to fit more brands. Extra prone to snap at the bolt vs the older ones. I want one of the long reach ars snips though

I have them and they're worth it. Mint canopy lines make folks drool

 

[data farm 26]

What kind of diameter can you cut with the 6' ars?

 

[Matias]

What kind of diameter can you cut with the 6' ars?

only 3/4", but I have cut blue oak that thick. it wasn't as easy as any other hardwood, but that's why I use it to illustrate its capacity. It really shines in things like mulberry, which can shoot out unclimbable 20' suckers that you wanna control. Also just great for maximizing positions that were difficult to get to, when you're trying to give it the 'presidential'.

 

[ATH]

I have a set of Okatsune pruners (and a cheap knockoff I got at TreeStuff for like $10 at some point - honestly the difference between the 2 isn't much).

They make a great pruning cut. I don't like how they feel in the hand and I really don't like the locking mechanism.

I'm also not convinced that either of these would still be in great shape after 10 years of regular use as my Felcos are

My Felcos have not rusted. I have (2)
#13 in the truck that get frequent use...one is about 12-15 years old (lost a pair before those otherwise I'd be coming up on 20) and the others are 4-5 years old. I can't tell the difference except the red covering on the grip is slightly worn on the older. I think I've only replaced the blade once on the old ones and the spring once on one - don't recall which. I had them both apart a month ago to clean and sharpen. I'll probably touch them up 3-4 times in next 12 months but otherwise they'll just keep going.