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Ok- I am NOT joking, in my 20 years of hunting (I'm now 32) me and my bros have been through over 50 tree trimmers, I am not exaggerating. We are hard on them BUT there' sure some that break FAR faster than others- in most cases, we'd usually EXCHANGE for new ones (probably 3-6 per year - we've also probably hung a few hundred stands over the years which is excessive - new land, moving them, moving to new state, etc). OK- for the 50-90 category (CONSUMER GRADE), we returned DOZENS of the Fiskers, we used several types of the Fiskers- all with about equal results. THEN I spent a little more and got Corona, I think this one:
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=3755&title=Corona+12%B4+Compound+Action+Tree+Pruner , I'd say we returned these 75% less often, like we'd go through 4 fiskers before we went through 1 Corona. BUT, I still got sick of returning anything.....
If you are hard-core to the least degree, get PROFESSIONAL or COMMERCIAL GRADE stuff!!!!!!!...
Leads us to 4 years ago. I spent $300 roughly + I bought replacement BLADES, SPRINGS, ROPE, ETC I wanted something hard core. It is heavier in weight SO we also bring our $80 Corona for lighter stuff. Here's what I got. Instead of returning several trimmers PER YEAR - I've gone 4 years on ONE trimmer & it cuts stuff twice as big and with my REACH I can get about 25-28 feet in the air (3 extension levels)....
The 1st part is just the head (which is nice because if you break the head OR the pole, you can buy them all seperate) - this head is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!.......
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p...22&title=Corona+Professional+Tree+Pruner+Head
OK, the POLE, you can get any brand as long as that standard head above fits- we bought one that was about 8' BUT it tripled in size AND was super amazing strong even when tripled. OK- I could NOT find the one we bought, here's one that LOOKS somewhat similar- can get a pole that's 20.5 in 4 sections, I really think this looks good, expensive but good. Whole deal with head will be about 350-ish, well worth it....
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p...asp?mi=6695&title=Hayauchi+Pole+Saws+by+Silky
Maybe this option is good?
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p...=3787&title=Jameson+Pruner+and+Saw+Head+Kits#