Bermie, you women of the trees constantly amaze me! I use the Hayuchi 21' when needed. I prefer the Silky Longboy, a fraction of the weight with better balance. Even with my testesterone-laden, massive biceps
I find the Hayuchi's weight cummbersome.
Dave
Ha ha! Its not the size of the tool, its how you use it (sorry I couldn't resist
I didn't know the Hayauchi was considered heavy!
Tell me more about the Longboy, I'm all for saving on weight being such a tiddler. More than one person has heard the mumbles from up in de tree in a particularly tight spot...
I'm not familiar with the ARS, but the Fiskars is pretty good, the 'string' (a flat nylon strap) is inside the lower pole, and lies flat against the upper one when extended, very tidy setup.
It is meant for fine work, its not a muscle tool, it will handle up to 1 1/2" at a pinch, depending on the type of wood. I do bang mine about a bit, and so far so good. The lever for changing the position of the cutting head does sometimes get pushed into the unlock position when using the head to push things around.
I have two of them, one is a 5' stick, the other is the 11' extendable. It came
with a saw attachment but the blade was useless compared to the Silky, besides I just want the pruner snips.
I'll take a picture if you'd like?