Fiskars 16 Foot Power Lever Tree Pruner Review

product image of Fiskars 8-16 Foot Power Lever Extendable Tree Pruner (94616935J)

Our rating: 4 stars Good  

Customer rating: reviews

Price:        Buy from amazon.com

The Fiskars 9461 Power-Lever Pruner is a manual pole saw with solid maximum length of 16 feet. It’s lightweight, features both a saw blade and a lopper, but has also some design problems.

Pros:
  • Solid blade
  • Lightweight
Cons:
  • Bends at full extension
  • Problems with locking mechanism
Key specifications:
Fiskars Power Lever Tree Trimmer / Pruner Review

Note: These videos actually show the 9301 version, we used them just to show you the capabilities of this type of pole saw.

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Handling and reach

solid reach - almost 20 feetThe Fiskars 9461 is very similar to the 9301 model – 2 feet longer but also with worse user rating. It offers the traditional advantages of manual pole saws – low weight, operating without any noise and no limitations either in the form of electric cord, battery running time or fuel. On the other hand, you have to cut everything yourself 🙂 (which also takes more time)

The pole uses fiberglass on the bottom segment and aluminum on the top two and as we have already mentioned, the maximum length is very good – 16 feet when fully extended which means almost 20-feet reach, depending on your height of course.

But unfortunately it’s the pole design what many users complain about – it’s comfortable to use at lengths of 12 feet or less, but flexes significantly at maximum extension.

Others also mentioned the locking system (that the locks are hard to turn or that the collars are only glued to the pole and can become loose easily), the cover of the handle which begins to tear quite soon or even breaking the extension part of the shaft.

Cutting

In contrast with the pole, the cutting devices seems to be of much better quality – you’ll get both a lopper with the traditional pulley system for small branches up to 1" and the WoodZig saw blade for larger limbs.

The saw is sharp and cuts well and fast – just let the tool’s weight and gravity do the work and remember it only cuts when pulled down. And you can even remove it and use it as a hand saw with the supplied handle – but even though removing the blade is very simple (one wing nut), switching the pole for a handle whenever you want to use it gets quite annoying.

The lopper also works very well – pulling the rope gives it quite a lot of cutting power. We may just recommend you to remove the saw blade before using it so it becomes easier to operate in dense branches.

Conclusion:  The 16-feet Power-Lever Tree Pruner from Fiskars offers a nice reach and quality saw blade and lopper – on the other hand, users reported several problems with the pole so if you don’t really need those additional 2 feet of length, we would rather recommend you the Fiskars 14-feet pruner.

Also, both these models are designed mainly for occasional use – for frequent or professional work, the Silky Hayate is our most recommended tool.

>> Read more or buy the Fiskars 9461 Extendable Tree Pruner here

using the WoodZig saw blade separately      lopper for cutting smaller branches

Specifications:

  • Weight: 6 lbs
  • Length: 8-16 ft
  • Saw length: 15"
  • Warranty: lifetime limited
  • Includes: both saw and lopper, small handle for the saw

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Frequently asked questions:

Are there any accessories I should buy?

Mostly none, only if you plan to use it more often, you can get a replacement blade.

Is there any maintenance needed?

None.



 

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