Many, many years of shorthand and typing mean my hands aren’t what they once were and I find some gardening jobs more difficult now. Pruning shrubs can be a particular challenge so I was delighted to test some Stihl battery-powered secateurs.
#Ad Sent secateurs to test. Not paid to post.
I was sent the ASA 20 cordless secateurs, part of a range of smaller, battery-powered garden tools that includes a pruner, vacuum and shears.
The secateurs have two settings for the blade opening widths, depending on the thickness of the branch or stem – they can tackle anything up to 25mm thick. A nifty display on the side not only shows you which setting they are on, it also tells you how much battery is left and how many cuts the secateurs have made in total. The latter helps you determine when blades might need replacing. A fully charged battery should make around 2,000 cuts – I have nowhere near enough to do at the moment to test that.
They didn’t take long to charge and the instructions were easy to follow – these are essential as the Stihl battery-powered secateurs are a long way from the more usual manual tools. While heavier than the average pair of secateurs, they were by no means difficult to use for a long time and the shape makes them comfortable to hold.
They arrived at just the right moment as the purple elder and the buddleia were overdue their late winter prune. It’s been so mild both are already producing leaves.
First up was the purple elder, which suffered some dieback during last summer’s drought, followed by the buddleia, a variegated variety that had got too tall and was starting to revert to plain green in places.
Both are jobs I normally dread as I find the branches are often too thick or difficult to cut with normal secateurs and using a pruning saw is tiring and challenging when the branches are above you. They are not planted where a set of steps is easy to use.
The battery-powered secateurs made such short work of the job. Talking to the Stihl team at the recent Garden Press Event, they had demonstrated the tool and said it was “like a hot knife through butter”. Naturally, I took that with a pinch of salt as I do with all sales pitches. However, they were not exaggerating. The speed and ease of cutting both shrubs was verging on the frightening. It was fast and effortless.
The secateurs came with safety gloves and glasses and I wouldn’t want to use them without either. You really need to concentrate, ensuring that your other hand is well out of the way and that you are targetting the right branch.
As part of the safety features, the secateurs turn themselves off after a few minutes of not being used. A guard for the blades helps protect them while it’s stored.
At £214 for the secateurs, battery and charging pack, they are considerably more than a pair of manual secateurs. However, if like me, you find pruning shrubs and trees increasingly difficult, they are worth the investment. It’s also possible to buy just the secateurs for £174 if you already have other tools in the range that use the same battery.
For more details about the Stihl battery-powered secateurs, visit the website.
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