Top Rated Hand Pruners – Felco Pruners

Trimming hedges and shrubbery or small trees require a hand pruners to provide a beautiful finished job. I want to share with you my thoughts, experience, and reviews on my top rated hand pruners. Felco pruners are a small, yet essential tool we use in our business, as do other arborist businesses. They are also recommended for landscapers and home use. Almost anybody can use them around the home if your home has any type of shrubbery, trees, or even a garden. This tool will be vital in maintaining the health of your garden, flowerbeds, and trees.

The Felco brand has focused on making their tools as ergonomic as possible while achieving interchangeability of parts and using the best available materials to ensure and guarantee the cutting quality and durability. In their 70 years of existence they have grown from a small business to being available in over 120 countries worldwide and are acknowledged as a brand of excellence for their cutting and pruning products. The iconic red handles on their tools make them easy to recognize and identify.

Therefore, they represent an excellent choice for your next hand pruners or pruning shears. They are small, efficient, lightweight, and strong, and designed to be operated with one hand, leaving your other hand free to remove the branches as you cut them, keeping the work area clear. All new Felco pruning shears are guaranteed against manufacturer defects, so if something happens to break, the manufacturer will replace it for you.

 

Felco 2 – High Performance / Classic Model

Test results from the Felco 2 hand pruners are outstanding, in a test it was voted the winner out of 39 models! Felco 2 pruners are the original model and have been made for 65+ years! They are well-known and widely loved by arborists, landscapers, and gardeners among many others for their reliability, quality, and durability as a universal cutting and pruning tool.

A micro-metric setting mechanism provides easy adjustment to the cutting head for a clean and precise cut that will promote better and faster healing. The proprietary heat treated and hardened blades ensure a long-lasting, razor sharp edge to make clean straight cuts on almost all type and sizes of trees, shrubbery, and flowers.

The blades also open and close smoothly for a smooth and consistent cutting action and the handles provide sufficient leverage to cut thick branches, meaning less pressure is needed and your hand muscles will not tire as quickly.

The hardened-steel blades are extremely strong and durable. They are directly riveted onto the one-piece aluminum handle preventing unnecessary or weak wear points and allowing heavy-duty pruning. The blades will withstand dozens if not hundreds of sharpenings, depending on how aggressively you sharpen them. If your blade does wear out, it is fast and simple to replace it with a new one.

They can cut a branch up to 0.98 inch in diameter, yet will still cleanly cut the smallest twigs or shrubbery. A sap groove is featured to channel away sap and prevent sticking while improving overall cutting efficiency.

Rubber shock absorbers help prevent wrist strain while the easy to grasp, non-slip, plastic-coated, forged aluminum alloy handles are extremely strong and almost unbreakable. Replacement parts are readily and widely available for all worn out or broken pieces.

Featured in the blade is a wire cutting notch for use when wire needs to be cut. This will prevent dulling or nicking the cutting blade and help keep it sharp for its primary use of cutting wood.

An adjustable lock will keep the blade closed when not in use, preventing accidentally injury and making it safe to holster between cutting and cleaning up the cut branches.

Little maintenance is required for this tool, general cleaning and a little oil on the blades and hinge points for lubrication to keep it working smoothly.

The tool is 8.5 inches long and its weight is 8.8 ounces. It has 4,312 customer ratings and a 4.8 out of 5 stars rating.

Advantages of and why you should buy the Felco 2 for your next pruning shears.

• By far the most popular pruners.
• It has been the original model for over 60 years.
• Well loved by professionals as well as amateurs.
• It is an excellent all around hand pruner that can be used for nearly anything you need to cut.
• The blades open wider than the specified 0.98 inches, allowing for larger cuts of stems or softwoods.
• A precision setting mechanism allows for precise adjustment and fine-tuning of the cutter head.
• It will hold up very well throughout heavy use and last for decades.

 

Felco 5 – Good Performance / Basic Model

The Felco 5 hand pruners offers great performance for a basic budget model while still providing the high qualities associated with the Felco name! A bolt and nut adjusting cutter head helps to optimize clean efficient cuts that promote faster healing.

Easy to grasp heavy-duty steel handles featuring ergonomic cushioned and non-slip handle grips, deliver rugged and powerful cutting of thick branches with precision.

A tapered cutting head effectively allows you to reach between branches to prune at hard to reach places safely and effectively. It is rated to cut branches up to 0.98 inch in diameter.

The blade and anvil are made of high quality steel construction, proprietary heat treated and hardened steel provides a razor sharp blade designed to stay sharp through extended use.

A closing lock keeps the blade locked closed for safety and transport. While a sap groove is featured to funnel away excess sap and prevent the blade from sticking while improving the overall pruning efficiency.

The wire cutting notch is extremely helpful when you need to cut wire, it will keep you from dulling or nicking the blade resulting in uneven or ragged cuts.

All parts are replaceable, from the blade and spring to the smallest screw. If something breaks or wears out it can easily and quickly be replaced.

Minimal maintenance is needed besides general cleaning and a little oil on the blade and hinge points for lubrication and to keep it cutting smoothly.

The tool is 8.9 inches long and it weighs 10.9 ounces. It has 340 customer ratings and a 4.6 out of 5 star rating.

Advantages of and why you should buy the Felco 5 for your next pruning shears.

• It is the budget pruner made by Felco.
• The handles are made from steel.
• Great for home and garden use.
• It is slightly longer than other models, possibly creating more leverage for easier cutting.

 

Felco 6 – Compact / Designed For Smaller Hands

The Felco 6 hand pruners is an excellent all around choice, including a high performance and compact design! They are especially beneficial if the full sized pruners are to large or quickly tire your hand and strain your muscles. They will not cut a branch as big as other models, but still cut a branch up to 0.79 inch in diameter which will be enough for most uses around the home and garden.

Lightweight yet strong construction provides efficient handling and includes a one piece forged aluminum handle for heavy-duty use.
The fine tapered cutting head benefits in precise pruning and detail, enabling efficient and clean cuts.

The proprietary heat treated and hardened steel provides strength and unquestioned sharpness, maintaining a razor sharp blade through many cuts.

Even with the advantageous compact design there is sufficient power transferred through the shorter handles to cut up to the maximum opening of the blades.

Pruning is easy and enjoyable with the ergonomic cushioned and non-slip handle grips, providing comfort and less stress to your hands, while rubber shock absorbers help prevent wrist strain and fatigue

A sap groove transports away excess sap, keeping the blade clean and helping with efficiency while speeding up production.

The wire cutting notch, located in the back of the blade is a convenient addition for cutting small wires without damaging the pruners, keeping the blade sharp and cutting cleanly.

If needed, a blade change is safely and quickly done and your back to work. If any other part needs to be replaced they can be, as all parts are replaceable including the smallest screws.

Minimal maintenance is needed besides general cleaning and a small amount of oil on the blade and hinges will provide lubrication and keep it cutting smoothly.

This pruner is 7.7 inches long and weighs 7.36 ounces and has 4,312 customer ratings and a 4.8 out of 5 star rating.

Advantages of and why you should buy the Felco 6 for your next pruning shears.

• It is the compact and lightweight model.
• The overall size is smaller than others.
• Great for cutting flowers and trimming shrubs
• It weighs less than other models.
• Great choice for people with smaller hands

 

Felco 8 / Felco 9 – Right Or Left Hand / Ergonomic

The Felco 8 hand pruners and Felco 9 hand pruners are built the same with one exception, the Felco 8 is designed for right-hand use and the Felco 9 is designed for left-hand use.

This one-handed pruning shears has a brilliant handle design optimizing the force applied to the handles into the cutting blade! Making it a rugged and robust cutting tool ideal for heavy and hard cutting tasks, including cutting branches 0.98 inch in diameter.

An angled cutting head ensures ease of use and comfort to lessen the likelihood of muscle fatigue, while shock absorbers reduce the strain of cutting.

Lightweight and sturdy aluminum handles covered with an ergonomic cushioned, non-slip handle grip to provide comfortable and safe operation.

The proprietary heat treated and hardened steel is designed to stay sharp and provide a razor sharp cutting edge to last through many cuts.

A sap groove helps prevent the blade from sticking and improves overall cutting efficiency. Less down time wiping the sap from the blade.

All parts are replaceable from the blades to the screws, and if unfortunately the blade breaks, it will easily be replaced by a new blade.

The wire cutting notch is a great feature as it can be used to cut wire without nicking or dulling the blade, A nicked blade would result in ragged cuts.

Very little maintenance is needed besides general cleaning. A little oil on the blade and hinge points for lubrication will keep it cutting smoothly.

The tool is 8.3 inches long and weighs 8.7 ounces with 996 customer ratings with a 4.7 out of 5 star rating.

Advantages of and why you should buy the Felco 8 or Felco 9 pruning shears.

• Felco 8 designed for right-hand use.
• Felco 9 designed for left-hand use.
• The handles shape specifically optimizes the force from your hand to the cutting blade.
• Precision setting mechanism makes it possible to adjust the cutter head as needed.
• Great for heavy-duty professional use by arborists and landscapers, as well as home use.

 

My Experience With The Felco 2 – I Love It

I am a co-owner of a family owned Tree Pruning and Removal business and we use the Felco 2 in our arborist business and benefits of owning a Felco are enormous, including the 1-year manufacturers warranty against a defective product. We have owned the Felco 2 for many years and it is my personal favorite hand pruner. It has been very durable and is still doing its job.

I am impressed by its toughness, we do not take special care of it, in fact at times we abuse it by trying to cut huge limbs or dropping it onto the ground or letting it lay on the ground, and simply throwing it in the toolbox when the job is finished with absolutely no cleaning or maintenance.

As you can see in the photo there is little to no rust despite the negligent care and the multiple times it has gotten wet. The few smudges on the cutting anvil or blade is sap or residue of branches cut.

We use the Felco 2 for many different tasks, which include pruning or trimming any size shrubbery, removing dead branches from shrubs, trimming shrubs along the ground where the power trimmer does not trim, precision pruning shrubs and trees, removing small branches from large trees, and even for other things such as cutting a rope or string.

The next time you are shopping for a hand pruning shears may you consider the benefits and advantages of pruners made from quality materials, the name brand value and recognition, along with near worldwide recognition and availability of tools from the manufacturer, Felco.

Your arborist friend:

Justin