Re: Apple-Crop: Electronic ShearsI appreciate your effort to prepare these
observations Sandy. As I get older, I find the knuckles in my hand less
resilient the day after pruning, so I find your comments very worthwhile. Could
you offer any observations on your shopping experience? Were there serious
disparities in prices from vendors?
Bill Shoemaker, Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
University of Illinois - St Charles Horticulture Research Center
www.nres.uiuc.edu/faculty/directory/shoemaker_wh.html
After nearly 2 years of use, we thought it appropriate to offer a few
observations on the use of an electronic shears. In October of 2006, I
initiated a brief thread; the responses (of which I was most grateful) are
copied below under OCTOBER, 2006 for reference. Possibly others may wish to
share current experiences again.
A Campagniola battery-powered electronic hand shears (Tronic Star) has been
used to prune 12 foot trees for two winters (total 12 months, 30-35 hours/week)
in a Vermont apple orchard. It was originally acquired to mitigate tendonitis
experienced from hand pruning by a long-term employee.
Observations:
a.. About 12 hours of actual use can be expected before battery recharging
required.
b.. Comfortable in hand.
c.. Up to 1 inch cuts can be made in frozen wood; slightly more if limb
leveraged with other hand.
d.. Less use of hand saw.
e.. Generally more trees pruned per day compared to hand shears/saw alone.
f.. Battery pack (on back) not burdensome. Climbing beyond first tier
scaffolds not recommended.
g.. Supplementary elastics around arm help prevent power cord from snagging
wayward branches.
h.. Daily blade sharpening recommended.
i.. Discipline to control potential urge to over prune (it's now so much
fun!)
j.. A well-made unit.
k.. Warranty covered repair of power cord, trigger safety and indicator
light, the only failures for first 7 months use.
l.. A negative: trigger guard can be too small for an insulated glove.
m.. NO tendonitis experienced: purchase more than justified.
We are generally very pleased with the unit and recommend it (or a comparable
quality electronic shears) for increased pruning speed and, especially, for
minimizing repetitive motion injury such as strained muscles and tendonitis
which, besides being painful, can result in increased general fatigue and
poorer employee performance.
Sandy Witherell
Shoreham, Vermont
USA
