Fiskars PowerGear Lopper: Video Review In Which The Buddleja Gets It


Ever since a Buddleja gave me a six-month long sinus infection a couple years back, I’ve taken every possible opportunity to convince people to kill the darn things. After all, they’re invasive in my county as well as in parts of Oregon and Washington, and yeah – if you’ve ever stood beneath one and tried to cut it down to size, you’ll know that it spits out masses of hairy dust that you do NOT want to inhale.

So when Fiskars was kind enough to send Amy and I a pair of these PowerGear Loppers to test out, I was excited to have an excuse to have at Amy’s poor, defenseless Buddleja:

Fiskars Lopper ComparisonYou can see that the PowerGear Lopper gets in there and cuts even thick stems with very little effort, due to the gearing mechanism. You do need to change the way you approach a shrub to prune, just because the handles open up so wide, but I’ve found that simply threading the handles inside the shrub allows me to make nearly any pruning cut, even in tight corners.

I also love how lightweight and small they are. They cut branches that even my larger loppers have trouble with.

If you’d like to try them out for yourself, Fiskars has generously provided a giveaway for two lucky readers – one here and one over at Garden Rant. Just leave a comment to win!

EDIT: Erin from The Impatient Gardener has won! Erin, Fiskars will be sending out your loppers shortly! Congrats…

And if you want to get to know the nice people at Fiskars, check out their Facebook page and Twitter stream.

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28 responses to “Fiskars PowerGear Lopper: Video Review In Which The Buddleja Gets It”

  1. You guys are like the Dexters of Buddleia pruning. Love the precision with which you two hacked that sucker into bits!

    And you know me Gen … if you like a product I pretty much always buy it.

  2. With bushes all around my property – all of which need pruning – I could so use these lopers. They look much easier to use than the regular ones.

  3. I just finished chopping back a twenty foot long by 10 foot tall Escalonia hedge. I sure could have used those loppers. I had to work so hard with mine, my elbows hurt! Next project, ivy and blackberries, surely a worthy cause for new loppers!

  4. my 15 foot cotinus (that didn’t read the tag attached to it that quite clearly dictated that it should only reach 10 feet) is in dire need of these loppers. and a step ladder, but that’s another contest.

  5. I actually love pruning and would be interested in trying these new pruners on my many roses and other shrubs. But the Buddleja is gone! Shovel -pruned! But it has apparently spread its demon seed everywhere. There are better plants for attracting butterflies.

  6. If I get those nifty pruners, I promise that the first thing they will do is whack the Buddleya. It is so ugly in the winter and not much better in the summer. Will miss the cut flowers and butterflies though. Well maybe just a trim. Sigh

  7. I would love to try these pruners on all the shrubbs in my property. These pruners look like they are so easy to use and get the job done.

  8. Just moving to a lovely cottage on the beach and have some transplanting as well as pruning to do, would love new sheers!! Nice site thanks!

  9. I love those loppers. I used a traditional pair the other day and wanted a pair of geared ones quite badly. I just don’t have any upper body strength, I kept having my husband get things for me.

  10. Oh, man. I just whacked down three buddleias, a bamboo, a lot of grape vine, some blackberry, and an out-of-control rose. Enter me in the drawing, please! 😉

  11. Oh pick me! Pick me! We actually just put these on our wedding registry. I can’t wait for that wonderful day when I’ll at long last be united with the love of my life… and my fiance too.

  12. Just goes to show how important location is. Buddleja is invasive there, and I can’t get one to make it through the winter. But I do have a serious infestation of Tartarian honeysuckle on my property, and I would love to to have a pair of these loppers to show it who’s boss.

  13. Thank you so much random.org, Gen and Fiskars! I’m so excited to have won. I can’t wait to try them out!

  14. Yes, I would love to have a pair of these Fiskars pruners…lots of lopping to do around here !

  15. These sound awesome. Love to have a pair to help tame my garden. Didn’t realize Friskars made gardening tools. So good to know. Enjoying your posts, so helpful!

  16. Recently misplaced (probably long term friendly loan) my Felco lopping shear and I guess I need to replace it. I really like a clean cut and was looking around for suggestions. Saw the mention of Fiskars which Im not familiar with. I don’t cut many really large limbs (have a hand saw for that) but I guess up to 1.5 inches will do 2 is better.

    Comments are appreciated.