we have a few HT101's, but the crew seems to be pretty rough on them. They end up travelling in the back of the truck. I think through some combination of slight bends in the main shaft housing, a bit of dirt getting inside, and the springs rusting a little, the springs and spacers in between each spring stop sliding properly. This causes the drive shaft to not engage the head, then they dont work.
I'm going to be having a look at them this week, trying to salvage hopefully at least one out of the 3. They are good, but pricey compared to the life. You have to run the mega ultra safety chain on them for safety reasons too, so they dont cut as well as they could. Plus they are heavy. I think I'm going to end up locking the shafts somehow, maybe with a bearing.
The paint pole I got for a big painting job, 3 stories with no access. I cant remember exactly how much it was, but it was $$$. I do remember having ticker shock, I'm sure it was over $200, maybe over $300. Definitely not a competitor price wise with other stuff, probably similar. I just used it because I only bought it for that job and it hadn't seen any use in a couple of years. Annoyingly, the hayauchi head has an oval section on it. I managed to get it on, and used a couple of bolts to secure it. It comes with a scabbard which is handy. Besides the extra reach, I find that I just prefer the pole saw to the ht101. Its lighter, faster on most work (big branches faster on 101 though), silent, uses no fuel, doesnt need starting or servicing, less messy, more precise, and less fatiguing. I'll be interested to see how the hayauchi stacks up against the 101 in the life of the blade vs the cost, but at $130 for the hayauchi head it doesnt really need to last that long to be comparable price wise.
Shaun