I have a POS manual extendable pole saw too, can cut small limbs by pulling on a rope
& shearing them off, doesn't work very good on large limbs, a pro model might be
better.
Just samantics, but the ones with a pull rope are Pole Clips, unless it's one of the ones with a blade and clip. We used to have a big Pole Clip we called a Bull Clip and it would snip limbs about as big as my wrist. The pull rope ran through a couple pullies like a small block and tackle, and it would snip off green branches that size like a scalpel, dead ones were harder, but it did it. Being the youngest person on the job I usually got the job of clearing rooves and gutters, sometimes with 3 or 4 6ft sections on the pole. Neck and shoulder would hurt for days.
I needed a power pruner for 1 limb on a tree in my moms yard, so I bought one of the cheap fixed length Poulans. The second time I used it, to cut about a 2" top out of a Holly tree, I bent the cheap little 6" bar. Went down to Ace Hardware, bought a 14" Poulan B/C, and that son of a gun works great for what it is. Definately under powered, but if you let the weight of the saw do the cutting it will pull right through a 12" limb. I've wound up using it to clear fence lines and driveways around the house and farm. I'm waiting for the extra stress to break the drive cable or something else, but till it does, it's probably the only new Poulan product I've been happy with, Joe.