Buying loppers

The ivy on the shed has got beyond a joke, to the point where it is almost structural now. Time to get cracking, err hacking.

Spot the shed!

No better on the other side!

And so we did, I roped in the tykes as lump labour. But secateurs can only get you so far and sawing back the ivy branches was a major pain in the posterior. Time to up the duty level and get something with more grunt, ie bigger secateurs, aka loppers.

Generic loppers

Apparently there are two sorts, anvil and bypass. The latter is for gentler, precision pruning of things you want to keep, ie not the ivy. The former has more grunt but leaves a messier edge and can cause more damage to the green thing you are applying it to, which sounds like just the job.

So time for a bit of tool shopping, what a drag….

There is a wide choice of types of mechanism on the market with a range of prices from dirt-cheap Chinese brands to stupidly expensive (and I assume sharp) Japanese ones. Too much choice really for a novice like me. The first decision to be made is whether to buy cheap or get something that will see out a few seasons.

A pair of cheap Chinese loppers can be had for £12-15 from eBay, and if I thought that clearing the ivy would be a one off job then they would do. However as the ivy is likely to fight back and there are also other woody plants in the garden that will need attention over time, I will make a branded name purchase.

As I am not going to fork out for multiple pairs of loppers I want the pair I do buy to be able to handle as broad a range of tasks as possible. That will mean the capability to handle thick branches and telescopic handles to increase the range of situations that they can be used in. There's no need for them to be lightweight as A) I won't be using them all day and B) I should be able to handle the weight. Finally, I am agnostic on the cutting mechanism apart from the fact that simpler is better (less likely to break).

Getting hold of a decent review proved more of a challenge than I thought it would be. There were a lot of the 'top 5' type, with monetised links off to Amazon and lots of pictures of factory fresh tools that had never been used in anger. The most useful I found were from Gardening Products Review and Fred-in-the-shed. Fred basically sold me on the Wolf-Garten loppers, if they can last 10 years use and still get a recommendation then they will be OK for me.

Wolf-Garten sell 3 different models of anvil loppers. The pair with largest cutting range and telescopic handles looked like the ones for me (model RS900T). They are pricey at £90, but Mr. Amazon will give you them for £50. Decision made.

Wolf-GARTEB RS900T Telescopic Anvil Loppers

Attack!

Post-cutting

Nice sharp, fresh cuts

Have used them for a few sorties on the ivy so far and they have worked no bother, smooth cutting action and, as ivy is not very dense at all, capable of cutting anything that I can get the jaws around. Process is now to fill up the green waste bin with ivy cuttings every two weeks, we are 12 weeks in and not much of a dent made.

Time taken: About half a day to do the research and spec the loppers
Cost: £49.99 (inc p&p)