Battery Powered Pruner

General Fruit Growing
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I was ripping a piece of bamboo flooring. The piece was almost through the table saw, so I was reaching behind the blade to catch the cut piece. There was kickback - I had a nasty bruise on my chest and it knocked my hand directly into the blade. My index finger took the brunt of the injury but my middle finger was involved as well. Not a typical cut off, but cut in two. The X-Ray showed that the blade went exactly down the center of the finger removing the bone. It took two transplants to replace the bone that the saw removed.

Iā€™ll admit, I had no blade guard on the saw that I got hurt on. It was annoying and in the way. On the saw stop - the blade guard is easy to use and you can change it out for a riving knife in 15 seconds. A blade guard would have prevented the finger-meets-saw event, but even a riving knife would have prevented the kickback.

There is a ā€œwet wood modeā€ on the SawStop. You have to use a key to access it. In ā€œwet wood modeā€ a light flashes when the saw-stop would have kicked in, so you can make a first cut to determine if the wood is too wet for normal mode.

BTW - the SawStop is a darn nice saw. Great construction, very stable. It just also happens to have the best safety system around.

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Thanks for the detailed reply, and the info on saw stop. Itā€™s been a long time since I read reviews, sounds like the problem with wet wood could have been an initial issue they evidently worked out with the wet/dry mode switch.

I donā€™t have a guard on my saw (the guards on all the old saws get in the way). I did mount anti-kickback hold down wheels on the fence, but sometimes the material is too tall and I have to remove the wheels.

Iā€™m just a hobbyist when it comes to wood working and mostly use my saw for home improvement projects. Sounds like your a pro.

Again, thanks for the info.

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Oh. Well thatā€™s reassuring. So relieved . . . . . :upside_down_face: You guys are :peanuts::peanuts::peanuts: (nutz)

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To follow up on this thread, I got some of the Zenport battery-operated pruners. They are a (relatively) cheaper Taiwanese version. I also got the protective gloves I linked to above.

Iā€™m impressed! The pruners are working extremely well. I donā€™t know how much battery life they will have in practice, but I have pruned for many hours and they are still cranking. They cut both large and small branches well. For live wood I have had no problems cutting 1 1/2" branches and maybe even a bit bigger. Softer woods you can go bigger on, harder woods you need to be a bit more conservative on. For a lot of small stuff you can leave the trigger partway in so the blade doesnā€™t have to open all the way ā€“ it makes very quick work on that small stuff. The quality is also good, they are building professional quality gear designed for many many hours of use.

One of the things I discovered is I was going somewhat slow in my pruning just to pace my hand use, I can prune much faster with these - it seems like about twice as fast.

If you are interested in the zenport, go to

http://www.durokon.com/battery-powered-electric-pruning-shears-and-tools?zenid=fnsoag2blor0mck5dogltfl1t1

to order directly from the importer (I think). Larry knows the stuff really well and can answer questions etc. If you are interested in ordering I would call him up, the website is not so clear, some of the listings are for pruners only and some include the battery as well which you definitely need. I ordered the extension pole and it showed the pole and handle in the picture but I got only the pole. He is sending me the handle now but it overall is going to cost more than I thought it would. So, call him up. I just noticed the smaller model pruners (SCA1) is now on sale for $370, wished I had seen that.

@blueberrythrill, while talking to Larry he mentioned that they will cut the extension pole down for you. I already have the pole but I may cut it down myself it its longer than I need.

Anyway besides the confusing listings and the once a week shipping I am impressed.

Re: the protective gloves, I am also impressed with them. Of course I didnā€™t test them yet, but the bag has a picture of pruners on it, they are designed to protect from pruning injuries. They are expensive and the only place I could order them from was Australia, but hey it worked. They are a French product so there may be some place in France to directly order them from. You need to get the size right, I had no idea what the sizing was but I am an average male hand so I picked the middle number (10) and they fit well. Sizing is important, the metal caps are not going to stretch out at all. The only downside I have found on the gloves is on cold days my fingertips get colder due to the metal conducting all that cold. I had thought they would be really annoying to wear while pruning but it didnā€™t take long to get used to them. The gloves come with a normal right hand and the caps on the left hand only. You need ā€œright handedā€ gloves (caps on left hand) to prune with the pruner in your right hand, I almost ordered the wrong kind. Oh here is the factory page: http://www.peauceros.fr/accueil-16/

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25

Scott

Thanks for the update on the Zenport. Sounds like an excellent tool for a great price.

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@scottfsmith , Hi, Scott is your battery-operated pruner s still working well and batteries are in good condition? I am in market for a power pole pruner, donā€™t want to move and get up a ladder anymore. I would like to hear some feedback from you about this pruner after several years of using it. Thanks

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Screenshot 2025-03-12 141520
Screenshot 2025-03-12 1415201235Ɨ666 384 KB

bought this last fall. Got out pruning this last weekend, using a 6ah battery I didnt use even half the battery each day. It will cut through almost anything you put into it, except very hard or dry woods. I made over 2000 cuts in 2 days and am very impressed. It would have been hell with a hand powered pruner. I did apple, pear, maple and hackberry trees with it.

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I know this isnā€™t a pole pruner, but it has been a real life saver for me. Be sure you get one that is at least 40mm.

Electric Pruning Shears 40mm Professional Electric Pruning Shears Lithium Electric Pruning Shears with 2 21V/2000mAh Battery Cordless Pruning Shears for Gardening Vines Fruit Tree - Walmart.com

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Oops I noticed I missed this question from four years ago. The pruners are still working very well and the battery is still lasting far longer than any individual pruning session. The trigger mechanism is a bit flakey on my unit, I need to push the on button to get it to open up again, but I have gotten used to that and now its second nature. Other than that everything still works great. It is invaluable for me especially now that my trees are taller. I can do all of my pruning without a ladder, it can reach up to 14ā€™ or so high.

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Scott,

I have a few questions about the protective pruning gloves please. It looks like the titanium caps only protect the tips of your fingers, up to about the first knuckle? Is that right?

Would you buy the gloves again?

And you bought them from this place?

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Yes they protect the tips only.

Since buying them I decided to switch to only using the pole to do electronic pruning, for the lower stuff I just stand further back from the tree. For the pole these gloves are not needed.

They are just sitting in a drawer now so let me know if you want a really good deal on some barely-used size 10ā€™s right-handed. They did work very well when I was using them.

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Thanks Scott.

I have like 5 battery Kamakaze pruners. 4 of them are about 24" long pole pruners, but one is a short hand held pruner. I was thinking the titanium caps might be somewhat helpful to prevent de-fingering a little bit on the short hand held pruner which I use occasionally to prune new young trees.

Iā€™ll PM you.

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just dont put your figure inside the blades when its turned on!

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If youā€™ve seen my figure, you would know there is no possibility of getting it inside the blades :wink:

On a serious note, how people cut fingers off is by grabbing the cut piece to throw it aside. Itā€™s natural to want to grab it before itā€™s cut, so that it doesnā€™t fall in the canopy.

The guy in this vid kinda does that (start the vid at about 3 mins).

Even with our short pole pruners I donā€™t let my help grab the branches to toss them away before they are cut. I donā€™t let the help use the short hand pruners.

Apparently there is an option for a short hand held pruner which has a sensor to detect fingers. Maybe something Iā€™d consider.

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I have a dewalt cordless pruner and a milwaukee 12v pruner. I prefer the little extra power and size capacity of the dewalt. But both get aa pass from me.

Iā€™ve seen some of the cheap units from ebay/amazon and i just canā€™t bring myself to try them. Iā€™m not sure if itā€™s a mental block on my end or what.

I have a star 30 pneumatic. I donā€™t use it a lot as that one is a more than a bit bulky. Not that the pruner is bulky, that hand held unit is fine. itā€™s the required compressor and air hose.

I read the possible concerns people have about safety. So what do I do? I find out about this thing called a combustion pruner and despite having never heard of it, having gone my whole life not knowing it existsā€¦now my soul desperately yearns to hold it. what are the odds this could end badly?

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Gee . . . Iā€™ve never heard of these. ? I looked at the Campagnola line of tools. I would really like to have that lopper that cuts larger branches. But . . . the one Iā€™d like even more would be one of the ones with the extension pole! I do NOT like getting up on a ladder holding my Milwaukee power clipper . . . safety on or not.
Iā€™m afraid to check out the prices. Bracing myself.
Oh. Forget I ever mentioned it.
I just realized that these tools need compressors. Another machine that can screw up! Iā€™m so tired of having to deal with ā€˜improvementsā€™ to my orchard care process . . . that work for one season or less . . . and then need a rocket scientist to get them going again. Working on engines and such . . . NOT my fortĆ©.

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Ive got a mini chainsaw for my stihl weed wacker that has an extension and can get pretty high off the ground without using a ladder. Its gas operated but maybe you can find something similar thats batter operated, if you need it more for large branches than small.

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