Thanks David, I went to the Website. It looks to me like you are talking about the 1.2m fixed carbon pole for the extension.
I like the idea of an extension, not only for further reach, but I think it would be harder to amputate one's fingers. I see they have some sort of protective gloves to prevent amputation, but I like the idea of a pole extension better. Like you, a 4' extension would be too long for me. Can I ask how were you able to remove the top end piece on the pole in order to shorten the pole? Mark Angermayer Tubby Fruits Bucyrus KS On 2/11/14, David Kollas <kol...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > > Mark: > > The electronic pruner I have is the Electrocoup F3010, made in France by > Infaco. The pole option that I chose is non-telescopic, about 4 feet long. > The importer, Infaco, USA, in Livermore, California, has a pretty good > website: > http://www.infaco-usa.com > > For cold-weather conditions, I expect to get more pruning done with this > tool than with pneumatic or hand tools. > It has taken some time to learn how best to use it for my conditions. > Suitable clothing, and the order of layering the > clothing are a factor. A couple of minor design changes would improve the > tool, but I see no better choices currently > available. I would suggest a more prominent button to control the opening > and closing, for pole use, and an > alternative to the trigger on the secateur unit, one that could be > conveniently used with mittens. Using the "free" hand > to operate the button switch, as I have done, interferes somewhat with > efficient use of that hand for other activities. > Assuming that wireless technology is impractical, perhaps for safety reasons > where multiple workers might be in close > proximity, I wonder if triggering might be possible with a mouth-operated > switch, leaving both hands for other tasks. > I don't yet see any particular advantage to the current placement of the > button switch on the pole slider. I like it near the bottom end of the > pole. > > David > > > > > On Feb 11, 2014, at 9:25 AM, hangermayer <hangerma...@isp.com> wrote: > >> David, >> >> Could you tell me the model/manufacturer of your pole pruner. It may >> help me to follow some of the finer points of your explanation if I >> could see a picture of the pruner. Thank you for posting your >> detailed analysis. It sounds like you are reasonably happy with the >> result in the end. To do it over, would you purchase this pole pruner >> again, or look for something different? >> >> Mark >> >> On 2/10/14, David Kollas <kol...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: >>> >>> The cold and snowy conditions in Connecticut this winter have made me >>> look >>> for better ways to do my necessary >>> orchard pruning. I will go into some detail here with my experience, >>> because I have not seen reports from others with electric pole pruners. >>> Pneumatic pruners, run off a small gasoline-fueled air compressor, did >>> an >>> acceptable job when there was no >>> snow on the ground, and temperatures were mostly above freezing. I move >>> the >>> compressor rig around in a garden >>> cart. Last year I moved it on a plastic sledding toy, while I wore >>> snowshoes. This winter, before snow became a >>> nuisance, ice-formation in the triggering mechanism was wasting a lot of >>> my >>> time, so I looked into electric pruners. >>> My trees' fruiting zone is between about 6 and 8 feet above ground, so >>> a >>> significant amount of the work is just >>> a bit of a stretch for hand-held electric pruners, and I am not immune >>> to >>> the effects of this repetitious weight-lifting. >>> A pole pruner, I thought would make the job easier. Also, it would not >>> involve an air-hose that tangles in the dropped prunings. And it would >>> not >>> require my patient persistence with starting a stubborn engine on cold >>> mornings. >>> I found a pole pruner, bought it, and went eagerly back to the orchard >>> on a >>> cold day. I could not keep my hands >>> warm in gloves, so I wore thick mittens. With the pole in place, the >>> blade >>> is opened and closed by pressing a small button on an attachment that >>> can >>> slide up and down the pole. The gun-like trigger on the pruning unit >>> itself >>> is not used when the pruning unit is attached at the end of the pole. >>> Locating the button when wearing thick leather mittens was unreliable, so >>> I >>> fabricated a button extension, which, when glued onto the small, >>> provided >>> button, was easy to >>> find through the thick mitten. Back in the orchard, the new pole pruner >>> was >>> now everything I had expected. But after several hours, I was noticing >>> pain >>> in my left arm and shoulder. When I thought about it, that made sense; >>> the >>> left arm was carrying most of the weight, while the right arm was mostly >>> only steering. >>> The next day I gave my sore left shoulder a rest. I could have just >>> switched to supporting the pole's weight with >>> my right arm, and steering with the left. But that might leave me with >>> two >>> complaining arms on the following day. The >>> pruner is not terribly heavy...2.8 pounds, and the pole, mostly of >>> carbon >>> fibers, adds only 2 pounds to the combined weight. The apparent heaviness >>> of >>> the pruner is a result of a principle of physics. That principle is >>> called >>> the Moment of Inertia. (Brief you- tube explanation here: >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyU25DdONjo The effective weight of the >>> pruner increases as the SQUARE of the distance between the handle-end of >>> the >>> pole, and the pruner at the far end. My pole puts the pruner 4 feet from >>> the >>> handle end. If my supporting hand is at 3 feet from the end, a 2.2 >>> pound >>> pruner would feel like 19.8 pounds when the pole is horizontal (less as >>> the >>> angle approaches vertical.) >>> I figure I could reach most of my pruning cuts with a pole shorter than >>> the >>> four feet this one is. Four feet is the >>> shortest length offered by the manufacturer. To shorten my pole requires >>> removing parts at one end or the other, then replacing them after a >>> section >>> of the carbon fibre pole is cut out. I could find no company rep who >>> could >>> describe how either end section could be removed. They appeared to be >>> either glued, or extremely tight-fitting. >>> Instead, I removed the pole from the pruning unit, and removed the >>> on-off >>> button and its attached slider from the pole, >>> tied to it a string loop, and hung it around my neck so that it could be >>> operated with a mitten-covered left hand, as I >>> used the pruner, w/o pole, in my right hand. As it turned out, a day's >>> use >>> of the under three pound pruner, held overhead, directly with my right >>> hand, >>> while operating the switch with the left hand, was more weight-lifting >>> than >>> I wanted to repeat. I should note that I would not have needed to >>> operate >>> the switch, if it had been warm enough to wear gloves, rather than >>> mittens. >>> Mittens do not allow use of a single finger through the trigger guard. >>> Today, after some trial and failure, I found a way to remove the top >>> end >>> pieces from the pole, sawed off 15 inches >>> of pole, and replaced the end pieces. The slider switch was also >>> returned >>> to the pole. I have now tested the adjusted >>> tool and found it to be significantly more friendly. >>> There is one more observation that I think explains why my shoulders >>> complain after some hours of pruning. >>> The batteries and most of the other electronics associated with the >>> pruner >>> are carried in a backpack whose weight >>> is a bit under 7 pounds. The pack has two straps that run over the >>> shoulders, and a wide "velcroed" belt run around >>> the belly. If the pack is worn outside a sleeved coat, raising of the >>> arms >>> tries to lift the pack, but meets resistance >>> from the belt wrapped around the coat. It is as though the pack is held >>> down >>> by friction and folds in the coat. My >>> conclusion is that the battery pack should be strapped on loosely over >>> the >>> shoulders, and tightly around the waist >>> BEFORE getting into any un-stretchy clothing that will be lifted when >>> reaching overhead. Finally, an extended arm,with >>> a hand-held 2 pound pruner will feel like 12.5 pounds, assuming a 2.5 >>> foot >>> arm. >>> >>> David Kollas >>> Kollas Orchard, CT >>> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> apple-crop mailing list >> apple-crop@virtualorchard.net >> http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop > > _______________________________________________ apple-crop mailing list apple-crop@virtualorchard.net http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
