Time to buy Power Pruner, but which one?

[Davidsinatree]

I been using a fiberglass poles with marvin saw head...hook tip blades for some time now. I'm starting to think a power pruner will make life alittle easier. Not sure if I'll use it alot but when I do it should be a time saver.
Here are the specs on the new power pruners.

Echo PPT-260 25.4cc motor Length 9' extended out 12'8'' 16.9lbs $600

Stihl HT-101 31.4cc 4-MIX motor Length 7'5 extended out 11'6'' 16.1lbs $575


Husky 326 24.5cc motor Length 8' comes with 3' extension that has to be bolted on. 11' total. 11.9lbs without extension. $500

A friend has a 4-MiX motor on a weed eater. He likes it says it has more low-end torque.

I dont know what to buy, never even used a power pruner. They sure are proud of these things. There is good dealer support for all three brands near by. These are prices from local dealers. I was surprised to see the echo as the most expensive.

What would you buy and why? How often do you extend out your pruner for more reach.....alot or rarely?

The Husky seams to be a good buy at $500. And I am a husky fan, but that will not affect my decision on buying.


Lets hear your thoughts..

Thanks :angel:

 

[clearance]

David-my ex-boss has a few of them, all stihl. I have never used any other pruner. They sure work good but you realy have to baby them. Once we left one in the box and chipped onto to it by accident, buddy grabbed it by the motor, yarded on it and the thing basically unravelled. We stuffed it back together the best we could but it was fubar. Also if they are extended and get hit or dropped the shaft gets tweeked and it is toast. If you get one dont let anyone else use it.

 

[tnttreeman]

I have the one by stihl, but i think the number on it is HT 75. I've had it several years and it was worth it's weight in gold. To do over, though, I would strongly consider the Echo because it has an additional 5 foot extension available, giving it close to 18' in length. I know there were days when I could have used that.

 

[begleytree]

Have run the echo, it came with 8" B&C, needed it. I own a HT-75 came with 12"B&C, I use the 14 off my 020T and 3/8lopro.
I like the stihl better, if for nothing more than the oil cap Stihl has a real screw on cap, the echo had a push-in and 1/4 turn that always came loose on me, and rained oil down the shaft.
Yes, any dealer will tell you don't pull on them, they will come apart that way.
Neat feature is I also have a kombi hedge trimmer attachment, and it fits on my polesaw, for those 12-15 ft pine shearings a few customers are fond of(looks like big x-mas trees outside)
-Ralph

 

[Ny finest]

They get snatched very easily too.Don't let it go out of your sight.Iused stihl a lot but noyn very happy with them-they are fragile and have problem with the extension and oil system.THe echo cost more but if you use it a lot you will probably like it more.they got about 7-8 yrs on everyone else in the market and build a better product in my opinion. have no idea about husky though.I'm looking to buy one myself

 

[Stumper]

David, Based upon all the stories I hear about bent/damaged Stihl Pruners I think that the Echo is more rugged. My first one lasted for several years-until I backed the truck over the engine. (Wasn't quite rugged enough!). The extra 5' extension is sometimes useful. I like the hook blades you are using-and HATE them-they pretzel up too quickly. The ARS blades last longer and don't kink easily.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

I have an echo power pruner and have used the stihl models, I would go for an echo again, parts are alot more reasonable.

 

[JonnyHart]

Another advantage of the echo, is the circular saw head option. If you do fine pruning of ornamenals, this will save some time. If stihl has this option, I have not seen it yet. A well invested 100 $, if you fine prune.

 

[Stumper]

Hmmm, I almost forgot-I have a hedger attachment for my Echo-comes in really handy for shearing 20 foot junipers.

 

[preach it]

I own two echos. The earlier model had more power and the carb was adjustable. The new model works ok, the carb. is not adjustable. They made the new model with the oil fill cap as screw on, which was a complaint I had about with the old model also, as it would pop out and dump the oil.
The one thing which you have to be careful about is to not let the bar get pinched or you will have a real problem getting it out. You cannot pull on it as it will pull out the the extension. And yes, they are worth their weight in gold, they will save you a lot of time and make money for you. I have the 5ft. extra extension that can be added on. When it is fully extended with the extension added on it is real heavy, you better be real strong. Anyone want to buy a 5ft. extension, only used a couple times, fits the echo models.

 

[Davidsinatree]

Looks like echo is running ahead of the pack.
I did a search on this topic, there are not a ton of threads to read about power pruners.

 

[okietreedude1]

David,

We too have an echo pruner. Not sure the model #. Got it after our ice storm and it was Awesome. Im sure we made our money back just in non-broken polesaw blades and time saved.

Im not sure the reach but with it fully extended at arms length, it reached about as far as youd get w/ 2 6' poles.

You will need to be careful too as it tends to lead you to make bad cuts every now and then.

 

[SteveBullman]

Have run the echo, it came with 8" B&C, needed it. I own a HT-75 came with 12"B&C, I use the 14 off my 020T and 3/8lopro.
I like the stihl better, if for nothing more than the oil cap Stihl has a real screw on cap, the echo had a push-in and 1/4 turn that always came loose on me, and rained oil down the shaft.
Yes, any dealer will tell you don't pull on them, they will come apart that way.
Neat feature is I also have a kombi hedge trimmer attachment, and it fits on my polesaw, for those 12-15 ft pine shearings a few customers are fond of(looks like big x-mas trees outside)
-Ralph

you shouldn't really use the hedge cutter attahment on the stihl extendable pole pruner, i know a lot of people do, but apparently its not designed for it and will ruin the clutch.

david, i've used both the echo and the stihl and they're both pretty good.....shop around though, you should get the echo cheaper than the stihl.

 

[greg carr]

I dont know,I might use them for line clearing but I just dont think the cuts that the power pole pruners make are good enough for residential work.Forget about ornamentals.And why is anyone shearing anymore?

 

[SteveBullman]

thats a good point, power pruners do encourage lazyness also

 

[a_lopa]

my ht75 got slamed a few weeks back,it was american express for 3 years,i cant say ive missed it,although i love the laziness,although the most important part is to throw the chain early,as soon as the drive runners wear the oiling is crap.much like a hydr saw

 

[PTS]

We run Shindaiwa equipment. Local dealer. Runs about the same price as Stihl. We are happy with it. I do like the fact that Stihl has a telescoping handle. Shindaiwa is always extended.

 

[Big A]

I found that it seems easier to sight your cuts with the echo over the stihl as the oil tank has a slightly different shape so you can see where the bar is in relation to the branch collar, also there seems less flex in the pole. Although the echo bar seems to flex slightly when you blip the throttle,and you get that handy 5' extension pole, but apparently that shouldn't be used with the hedger attachment, didnt know that and stripped the drive first day out, ooops!

 

[Ny finest]

One thing about those power pruners the chain spins so slow the cuts don't come out the best...that's when the echo with the circular shines

 

[Davidsinatree]

Picked up my new power pruner today. After considering the reviews from all who posted I bought the echo PPT-260. Local dealer had sthil power pruners and I compared the two side by side. The sthil looked very nice, but I liked the ergonomic throttle on the echo. Echo also had more of a commercial look to it also....looked abit more heavy duty.
Tried it out at home...I have woods surrounding my home. I was imprest with the reach and power. I need to put some hooks on the wall to store it when not in use. I can tell if someone stepped on it ....it would be toast. Also will tell the groundmen to be extra carefull loading & unloading and keep it well out of harms way.
Now I wont be wrestling around with limbs bouncing around trying to cut them with my hook tip saw blade.