Good set of loppers? Bypass, anvil or something else.

S

Squashfan

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Jun 6, 2012
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This may be off topic for this forum but I need a real good set of loppers for heavy trimming. I need something that can handle up to one inch woody branch. Around 28 inch handle and a blade that I can sharpen. Power gears or other fancy features are not needed. Just a well built, quality tool. I have a set of bypass loppers that I bought from a flea market for $5. They are great but for some reason the sharpened blade does not contact the bypass like it should. I can see light between them.
 
I like Fiskars. The longer the handles and the lower the gear ratio (higher multiplier) the easier it is to chop.
 
I looked at fiskars at the local big box store. I liked the one I handled in store but the reviews online did not inspire confidence.
 
A good bypass lopper will easily cut up to 1" green limbs. You may have to cut halfway from each side when you get up to that size. At the Washington Trails Assoc. we have a rule of thumb for cutting with loppers - never cut anything bigger than your thumb. But you can go a bit larger if you're careful. Rotating the whole unit around the cut will increase the size which can be successfully cut.
 
As taught by my grandma and never questioned, bypass are for green and anvil are for dry/woody. I have a pair of 18-20" lowe (with the little marks above the 'o') bypass loppers that I inherited (as well as some felco hand pruners). I'd swear by either brand. I also have a number of fiskars and canadian-tire house brand, purchased and used before I inherited from my grandma. I'd say felco-lowe-fiskars in that order, but they all perform the jobs they were made for pretty well. The cheaper house brand (yardworks) were a bad purchase. The fiskars were all good purchases, but if I was an avid or professional gardener, I think felco or lowe is the way to go.
 
For non-professional garden use, Fiskars worked well for me. IIRC the long-handled ones seemed to have the same size jaws and pivot as the short-handled ones, which means you can be inspired to go after things that might be too big for them: You're fooled by the long handles into thinking they have more bite than they actually have. +1 on the rotating around the thicker branches as you go. If you're looking for something that can bite like a pair of bolt cutters, then you'll need to go really heavy and more expensive and possibly online or at a specialty outlet, not your local Blue or Orange stores. Ratcheted cutters work well for me now, but I have no trees anymore since I left the city.

Zieg
 
Theres a lot of recommendations for fiskars and other such, but if you want to spend a couple more dollars go buy Craftsman Loppers. They will come in bypass or anvil. The neat thing about them is Craftsman/Sears still gives a lifetime warranty on Craftsman Hand Tools. This includes most gardening implements (loppers). SO if you break them, they wear out, or whatever you can take them back and have them exchanged for nothing. Not a bad deal...
 
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