Had to choose between a manual pruner and a hydraulic one for a big job

I was working on a big sycamore in a tight backyard in Nashville last Thursday and had to decide between my Felco 12 manual pruners or the store's hydraulic pole pruner. I went with the hydraulic one because the limbs were about 4 inches thick up high, and it saved my wrists from getting wrecked after 30 cuts. The thing was heavy though, and the hose kept snagging on branches. Anyone else run into issues with hydraulic gear on residential jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mia1mo ago

Oh man, the hose snagging thing is the absolute worst. Did it at least make the cuts clean or did you have to fight the hydraulic line the whole time?

skyler_kim151mo ago

Did you at least get a nice little oil fountain show when you freed it? I swear hydraulic fluid has this magical ability to spray exactly where you don't want it, like into your coffee cup or down your boot. My last snag left me wrestling a hose that looked like it was trying to tie itself into a pretzel while simultaneously drenching me in what smelled like a burnt cherry slushie. Clean cuts though? Nah, I had to shimmy under the machine with a pair of rusty snips and pray I didn't lose a finger to the grapple's death grip.