How To Clean Felco Hand Pruners

How to Clean and Sharpen Your Pruners A UNH publication from January, 2018. Includes a step-by-step video.

How-To Maintenance Videos For Your Felco Hand Pruner from The Pruner Warehouse .

Sterilizing Pruning Tools. Advice and discussion by MTCA members.

Jack Kertesz
I've been tinkering with some pruners and trying to put together a review of these and other hand pruners for the website. What is your favorite and why? Some people still prefer an older model like the one in the lower left corner. This one, despite looking rough, still cuts well.

Jacks-pruner-collection

Jacks-pruner-collection. More detail on each below.

Mary Yurlina
The one with the pink ribbon

Sharon Sperl Turner
Felco!

Aaron Parker
Felco 4. Not cheap, but they last long enough to justify the price.

Jacob Holzberg-Pill
Felco for me. I use Coronas with my students and they work fine.

Hank Ainley
The lower left ones look exactly like a pair we have kicking around… they are super gnarly, but still cut… I do like my felco nippers though!

Tom Eickenberg
Being left handed I love my Felco #9

Tom Roberts
I've had my Felco No.8's over 30 years. Left handed Lois uses a No. 9.

Pruning Tools: revamps and reviews

A good tool shouldn't set one back that much; an annoying one will keep you questioning your frugality.

(Skip these reviews and cut to the chase by just going to Orchard Equipment Supply Co., https://www.oescoinc.com/ They have most everything for orchard maintenance and lots that you hopefully won't need.)

With these longer nights, I have taken the time to do some maintenance on some of my orchard tools. Not that I will be pruning anytime soon, it's more of a motivation from a couple of recently acquired items and one particular pruner falling apart. This post will detail some of my machinations and will also serve as a tool review of sorts. At the least, it will give you some perspective on what to do, or avoid, and maybe what to look for if you are considering getting a new pruner. I won't pretend to be an expert here and would welcome other people's comments. I hope to give these a workout this season, let others give them a try, and get their feedback.

Old Sandvik hand pruner.

I picked up this orange Sandvik pruner at a ReStore recently, and took the opportunity to restore it. This is a model for smaller hands, it's larger sister can be seen in the Johnny's catalog, where it's been since I recommended it to them many years ago. (If you are confused, Sandvik is now Bahco and Bahco has some pretty ergonomic newer entries on the market that are likely a better choice). Some de-gunking with a wire brush, a little steel wool and some sharpening and oiling, has transformed this 99 cent purchase into a welcome backup pruner or loaner. There is nothing fancy about this one, but to me, it's a shade better than what's on the shelves of most stores, and I helped to repurpose it.

gunked up Corona

Corona BP6250 gunked up from lubricating with olive oil.

For a while now, I have been using environmentally friendly vegetable oil to lubricate my pruners, resorting to olive all at times. You can see an extreme case of a funky oil residue on this silver Corona BP 6250 (This model will accept Felco No. 2 blades, but sells for about $20 less). It came off easily enough with a wire brush and is now completely free and serviceable. (Olive oil solidifies pretty quickly in cooler temperatures. Canola oil is a little better. I no longer use olive oil blends as a chainsaw bar lube for the same gunk up reason.)

My particular pruner has held up well until recently. At the moment, the closure mechanism won't latch. Part of my seizing this opportunity now to clean my tools came with a recent purchase of WOOL WAX (hold the commercials and vapid endorsements) Wool Wax USA Made by the same company that produces FLUID FILM, (reportedly another lanolin-based product), and like its sister product, Wool Wax can also be used for undercoating vehicles but it has a much less obnoxious odor. It is advertised as a penetrant, lubricant, and a rust preventative. I think it may serve to keep my tools in working order and allow me to avoid using more toxic compounds. The waxy coating may not be appropriate for some applications—I will report back.

My Felco No.8's disassembled for cleaning.

My Felco No. 8's have been my main pruner for years, but more recently have been treated poorly, only pulled out occasionally, and then thrown back in my car in their holster. It should have been no surprise then to discover the internal corrosion. Some wire brush action, a shot of wax, and a quick sharpening of the blade, and they now seem like new, with that familiar wisk-wisk sound as I open and close them. They really deserve a proper sharpening, and I will delay that until I get a few pointers from Seth Yentes. I watched Seth gather bud wood this Summer and his Felco's went more like wiss-wiss and cut leaf edges like scissors cutting paper.

I hope to get Seth to present a pruner tuner/sharpen-'em-up workshop this Spring at our Scionwood Exchange.

Pistol type pruner pouch from OESCO.

While here, I will mention that I do like this holster for this model pruner. It snaps on easily over a belt. I lost a previous pair of these expensive pruners when they fell out of my back pocket. This sheath has prevented a repeat of that loss. https://www.oescoinc.com/hand-tools/sheaths-scabbards/weaver-pistol-type-pruner-pouches-2-sizes.html

Stihl PP10 had pruner.

Stihl PP10 hand pruner.

These rubber coated, orange handle pruners are sold at some Stihl dealerships. (I have tried to figure out the manufacturer, but to no avail. Other Stihl pruning tools appear to be made by ARS.) They are made in Japan, have a replaceable blade and sell for about $20 . I have promoted these for several years now, as a very affordable option, for people who don't need a Felco. I also believed them to be quite durable, until last winter, when I was cutting into some frozen? wood, and the end of the blade snapped, off. Then, sometime this Spring, the bolt assembly fell out (twice!), and the second time, I lost several crucial parts. I have read some reviews since, indicating that this latter problem can surface after extended use. I am going to replace the "guts" and give it another go, and if it holds up, I may invest in a new blade. I still consider this to be a good value, and remain partial to it, as it performed well. For now, I will issue this story as a warning to potential buyers and add a little Loctite to the new retaining screw. https://www.stihlusa.com/products/hand-tools/hand-pruners/pp10/

After a rather nauseating experience looking at a slug of hand pruner options being sold online, I opted to purchase a couple of the models below to stock MOFGA's tool larder. Here's one and it's source: https://www.theprunerwarehouse.com/corona-ergonomic-bypass-pruner-3-4-in-bp4180.html

. . . and open.

Corona BP4180 pruners,

Corona BP4180 pruners, closed . . .

My first impressions: They are lightweight and although they appear to be configured for right hand use, the grip seems to be comfortable in either hand. Being light, they are better suited for smaller diameter wood or maybe raspberry canes. It took some effort for me to cut off a few robust water sprouts. There are no markings whatsoever on this tool, and it arrived without any packaging to determine where it was made, but at the price point of $14, one can conclude it's from China. The locking button holds firmly, but it is not easy to open with gloves on. The website indicates that parts are available. As a go to pruner for light duty work, both Laura Seiger and I thought that these might be considered a reasonable choice.

I harvested some smaller willow cuttings with this and they worked fine. Extended wear and use may point to other shortcomings. https://www.treestuff.com/phoenix-red-white-hand-pruner/

Red and White pruner

Phoenix Red and White pruner

This one presents a bit of a conundrum because it is a Taiwan made knockoff of a very highly regarded Japanese brand, Oktasune. The latter get rave reviews for the quality of their blade steel and ease of opening and closing, (you slide the clip along your thigh to open or reverse direction to close, and listen for a loud click, none of that thumb action that annoys some Felco users). What I find rather strange is that there are no rubber bumpers between the handles (on either of these models) so that each cut makes an annoyingly harsh clank, that overtime, would give my hands an extra beating. Considered a "crew" tool, which in some cases means junk. I'd like to think there's some quality here. The blade, stamped Japanese Steel, is noticeably thinner than the Oktasune. For $11, it might serve well for the occasional user who doesn't make lots of repetitive cuts.

Zenport Japanese Q64-64 pruner.

Zenport Japanese Q64 pruner.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Zenport-0-75-in-Cut-7-in-L-Q64-Heavy-Duty-Professional-Pruner-SK5-Japanese-Steel-Cutting-Blade-Q64/306344359

Perhaps another Bahco knockoff, I didn't order one of these. The Zenport company intrigues me as they also make $1400 electronic pruners. A quick search of reviews has a mix of people saying thumbs up and down. They do make a line of Felco knockoffs that interest me, but I have held back on purchasing any. I did buy a Zenport package of replacement parts for a Felco pruner and they are compatible, considerably cheaper and hopefully will last a while.