Farm Power & Machinery

Pruning tools

• Plants differ from other living things in one important respect: one can improve a plant's vigor by removing healthy parts of it. This is known as pruning.
• It is a process of carefully removing the parts of the plant - even healthy parts - to make it healthier still or more attractive, or to improve other qualities, such as its fruit-bearing ability.
• It's important to point out that the emphasis here is on improvement, not removal. While tools like chain saws can be effective pruning devices, they are principally designed for large-scale removal.


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There are two types of pruning tools such as Anvil and Bypass.

• Anvil pruners and loppers have a blade that closes against an anvil on the lower jaw.
  
• The anvil is a softer metal than the blade. Bypass pruners and loppers have a blade that sweeps past the lower jaw.
  
• There's an important difference between the two. Anvil loppers and pruners tend to crush the material that is being cut and are used where cleanliness of cut is not as important as removal. This occurs when cutting dead material or making preparatory cuts - those cuts that occur before the final cut is made. For example, in some cases to shorten a branch before removing it. The preparatory cuts are those that reduce the branch's length before making the final cut. At other times, naturally fallen or pruned branches will need to be cut into small lengths for disposal. The anvil pruners and loppers are used to make all these cuts, as well as for thinning brush.
• A bypass pruner or lopper is reserved for cuts that affect the health of the plant. It should be kept razor sharp - again, save the grunt work for anvil pruners and loppers. Finally, pruning tools that are used in one hand are known as pruners (or hand shears) while large tools that require you to use both hands are known as loppers.