Special Note – It is the time of year to get your pruning done before buds start breaking, these are currently marked down 22%.  As hand pruners go they are expensive but they are also if maintained properly damn near a once in a life time purchase.  I also give some lower cost options if you are so inclined.

Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Item of the day is the Felco F-2 Hand Pruners.  To me pruners are a tool that you absolutely go with the “buy once cry once”, model.  I have owned many different ones over the years, from cheap ass stuff, to mid priced stuff like Fiskars and say Corona.

Some were complete crap, some like Fiskars and Corona are damn decent but nothing compares to Felco.  I found Felco by asking a few different nurserymen what they used, including Bob Wells and most said Felco.  So I bit the bullet and ponied up 60 bucks for a pair.  This was hard to do as you can get a decent pruner for 20-30 bucks.  In the end though, there is the best and there is the rest.

My mantra is buy the best you can afford.  So when we are talking cars, I fall back to 2nd fiddle but when you are talking 60 bucks for an item you will use often and use for years I say step up to the best.  Oh they normally sell for about 74 bucks but right now they are on sale today for 60.

These cut like a razor and are easy to sharpen, see video below on sharpening options.  Personally I use a simple carbide sharpener like this.

And after many seasons if you really wear out that blade, what then?  You just pick up a replacement blade and install it and rock on.  Winter is on the way out fast as spring approaches and the next few months are ideal for pruning.  And many of us are doing back yard orchard culture and prune several times a season.  So if you want the best hand pruners you can get check out the Felco F-2 Hand Pruners today.

Remember you can always find all of our reviews at TspAz.com

P.S. – Some folks with smaller hands find the F-2 to be a bit large, another option is the F-6 which is the scaled down version, it also has the ability to have the blade replaced and women and smaller handed people may find it more comfortable.  You do give up some leverage though, so it won’t cut larger limbs quite as well.

Also if you just can’t bring yourself to spend 60 bucks on this tool, my number two pick would be the Corona 6250 at 38 bucks and my number 3 pick would be the Corona 7100D at about 28.  If you want to go under that, just by generics from a box store, expect to be unhappy and expect replace them in one season or less.

P.S.S. –  This video shows how to sharpen and clean pruners.  I jumped ahead to 1 minute and 9 seconds in because I figure you can work out how to clean dirt off yourself.  What I like about this video is he shows how to use several different tools so you can find the one you think works best for you.

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