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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best all-around medium-sized lopper, May 28, 2004
This is Fiskars model # 96276935. I bought model # 96276949, which, through close examination of photos, appears to be identical (difference might be the retailers it's sold to, or perhaps country of origin -- which, BTW, on mine, was unfortunately [illegally?] not listed anywhere). I bought this lopper because of the "gearing" or as I call it, "mechanical advantage", or as some others call it, "bypass" feature. Basically "gears down" your movement to make every stroke much more powerful, like a truck shifting into a special low gear to tow. And it really works great. Not only that, the nyglass handles make the whole unit extremely lightweight. This model is cheaper than the bigger version because it's smaller, which is an advantage for most home users -- easier to store, lighter weight and smaller size make it easier to get into the brush and awkward positions. This lopper will take surprisingly wide sticks for its size -- anything within reason, and maybe a little more. But the best part is that if you can fit it into its mouth, you will be able to cut what's inside, even if you are elderly. This is not true on many other loppers, even for strong people, especially on those "old school" loppers (you know what I'm talking about), and, even worse, "clippers" with that dreaded "lopping notch" which never worked right. My friend who is a gunsmith and knows more about metals than anyone I know, doesn't like the fact that the blades are made out of stainless steel. He says stainless dulls quickly on greenery, which surprised me, because stainless is the hardest common metal. He does think fiskars garden/flower snips are the best made, though. I am personally glad the blades are stainless though, because I left it out for a few days with moisture, and there was no rust. Plus, the cutting blade is coated with a 'non-stick' coating, and just about everybody who buys this medium-sized model is not using them for professional purposes, just around the house. I keep the blades oiled up and upon doing 2 medium-sized jobs so far the blades seem just as sharp and I expect that to continue. The blades are replaceable anyway with two simple nuts, and the blades were very sharp from the factory, which again is not always the case with other mfrs. The whole unit, though lightweight, feels very solid and has very tight tolerances -- shake it and twist it, and there is little to no rattle or play -- very impressive. The light weight is something most people overlook when shopping for loppers -- again, good for everybody, but especially seniors. I also like the look. I find the actual shape of the handles works well, too. I don't miss the foam handgrip found on some huge loppers. The blades are very curved, and there must be a reason for this, but it can make getting larger pieces a bit trickier to get in, especially in an awkward, overgrown bush. No biggie. I do think the biggest room for improvement would be the placement of a rubber or plastic shock absorber where the metal pieces meet when fully closed, to make it easier on the user in terms of vibration. I took a piece of folded-up duct tape and duct-taped the small wad to that connection point to decrease vibration. It's a little messy and needs redoing every job or so but can help make the job painless, especially for those with arthritis or joint or bone pain. Even without that "mod", the loppers perform very well, and I think most people wouldn't see a problem there, though I do. Fiskars' high-end (big) loppers do have the rubber or plastic bumpers. I bought mine from Lowe's because I needed them immediately, but these at Amazon are a little cheaper, with the free super saver shipping, and Amazon's return policy is actually almost certainly more liberal. The previous Amazon review helped me come to my conclusion, and I think Amazon is the world's best online retailer and ecommerce website. Though completely email-based, I have had very good customer service which has gone above to exceed my expectations when returns were needed. I wouldn't hesitate to buy these from Amazon, especially if your job can wait a few days. For most jobs, I think this medium size will better-suit most people, as it's lighter, easier to use, and cheaper, and still has a wide mouth. Bottom line: this is the only medium-sized bypass/mechanical advantage/geared lopper I could find, and that's okay, because of its exceptional quality of design & solid manufacture, bringing good value in quality, price, and uniqueness. I just don't see why anyone would buy a non-mechanical-advantage lopper, so if you're in the market for one, this is it, and this is the lowest price you will see (I checked around). I just wish I knew where they were made (if any subsequent reviewers know this, please say it).
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