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Felco. No question there. They’re expensive, but they feel great, work great, and all the parts are replaceable.

I have a couple pair floating around, years ago I just used one pair of Felco #2s for all my pruning, and I did a lot by hand. One property we maintained required about a week of hand clipping a Viburnum hedge, and had a few days other work and those pruners were the only ones that held up to that, and didn’t damage my hands.

Their loppers are great too, I always wanted to try the carbon fiber handle version because they’re so light, but I never bought a set. The regular ones worked just fine.

I mostly bought them from a local landscape supply, or ordered them from Gemplers online.
 
My vote is felco. I roll with three pairs, one is for pruning roots, the other is #2 and I have a pair of #13. The 13’s get used the most, as I always seem to over do it straining my hands. Big enough to get a hand and a half for oversized stuff. Still nimble enough to choke up on the handle for the super small twigs.
 
Felco #13.

I also have #2 in the SUV inuse for bid work... can't be without any.

I also have some Corona that I use for roots.

I did buy Ocatsune pruners from a client. They are nice for small stuff, but I still like the Felcos better.
 
I think with loppers it does not matter among the top brands and bypass models. The key is to have a good stone to maintain them and to know when to switch over to a hand saw or hand pruners. Loppers are not exactly finesse tools (they are more distanced from the technician than hand pruners and small hand saws and require a wide footprint to operate), but they can be used with precision on occassion. I use a pair of ARS and appreciate them, but I can grab many loppers and be about as well off if I have a stone to touch them up with.

High end hand pruners are expensive, so I have only tried the ones I bought - Tobisho Type A. My understanding is that they set aside cost for optimal performance and I definitely like working with them. They have a malleable "Japanese blue steel" welded to a more rigid spine, so easier to keep sharper, easier to break if misused on too big or too hard a branch. If you've ever gone at a branch with your friend's or relatives hand pruners and failed, the Tobisho lends the direct opposite feeling to making a cut - the greatest confidence possible that the use of good technique will lead to a good outcome on ornamental trees.

Do you already have a good tool for cuts that are too small for hand pruners?
 
Got my older Felco #2 still and I’ve been using a pair of Samurai hand pruners for maybe 2 years now.
Much too early to suggest they withstand the test of time, but they’re doing nicely so far and I like Japanese steel for most cutting tasks. I got a Samurai pruning saw that’s treated me well too, comparable to Silky but not full tang blade.
 
Jonny said:
Got my older Felco #2 still and I’ve been using a pair of Samurai hand pruners for maybe 2 years now.
Much too early to suggest they withstand the test of time, but they’re doing nicely so far and I like Japanese steel for most cutting tasks. I got a Samurai pruning saw that’s treated me well too, comparable to Silky but not full tang blade.
Click to expand...
I used a Samurai Ibuki? for years, and it was great. It cut smoother than my Silkys, but it was a finer tooth blade. Never used their hand pruners, I didn’t know they even made any!
 
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