Top 5 compared
The best loppers
Branches too thick for hand pruners cut cleanly, with long handles that give the extra leverage.
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The top 5 at a glance
Loppers are pruners on long handles: the length gives the leverage for branches from finger-thick up to about 2 inches. Bypass blades slide past each other like scissors and leave a clean cut on living wood; anvil blades press down onto a flat edge and suit dry, dead branches. A gear, compound lever or ratchet in the head multiplies each squeeze for thick limbs.
Most yards need one good bypass lopper, with an anvil added if there’s a lot of deadwood. Length is a trade-off: longer handles reach higher, while shorter ones are lighter and easier to handle in tight spots. Past a lopper’s rated size, a pruning saw takes over.
What matters
- A cutting capacity that matches your thickest branches.
- Replaceable blades, so the tool outlasts its first edge.
- Bumpers between the handles, to soften the jolt of each cut.
- Weight, if you’ll be holding it above your head.
#1Fiskars 28-Inch Bypass Loppers
$10–$20
Hardened steel bypass blades slice cleanly through live branches up to 1.5 inches thick, and shock-absorbing bumpers stop the orange handles from jarring together at the end of each cut. At 28 inches it reaches into the middle of a shrub or up to the lower limbs of a tree.
What owners say: Owners say the blades go through branches like butter and keep their edge season after season, and they call it light, solidly made and close to unbreakable.
A closer look: Bypass blades leave a clean cut that heals well, so these are the ones for living branches on trees, roses and shrubs; cut just outside the collar where a branch meets the trunk. Wipe the sap off after use, and when the edge finally goes, the blades can be replaced rather than the whole tool.
- Shock-absorbing handle bumpers
- Replaceable blades
- Low-friction blade coating
- Lifetime warranty
Best for: Shaping roses, shrubs and trees
- Blade
- Bypass
- Action
- Single pivot
- Cuts up to
- 1.5 in
- Length
- 28 in
#2Fiskars 32-Inch PowerGear Bypass Loppers
$30–$50
Fiskars’ PowerGear mechanism multiplies the force of each squeeze, so this 32-inch bypass lopper takes live branches up to 2 inches thick without straining wrists, and it stays light for its size at 2.6 lb.
What owners say: Owners find the gearing gives real extra bite, taking thick limbs with little effort, and they like that it stays sharp and doesn’t weigh much.
A closer look: The extra length and gearing are for bigger jobs: thinning a crowded tree, cutting back overgrown shrubs or clearing a fence line. Open the handles fully before each cut so the gear can do its work, and switch to a pruning saw for anything over 2 inches rather than forcing it.
- Weighs 2.6 lb
- Gentle on the wrists
- Low-friction blade coating
- Lifetime warranty
Best for: Thick live branches
- Blade
- Bypass
- Action
- PowerGear (geared)
- Cuts up to
- 2 in
- Length
- 32 in
#3TABOR TOOLS GG12A Compound Action Anvil Lopper (30 in)
$50–$75
A 30-inch anvil lopper with compound action that multiplies each squeeze, built for the dry, dead and woody branches that bypass blades struggle with, up to 2 inches thick. The hardened carbon steel blade has a non-stick coating, and replacement blades are sold, so it can be kept going for years.
What owners say: Big limbs are no trouble for it, owners report, and it holds its edge after hard use, with plenty of leverage from the long handles. Weight is the split, as some find it heavier than they expected.
A closer look: Pair it with a bypass lopper: this one for deadwood and storm-damaged limbs, the bypass for green growth. TABOR says it suits gardeners with arthritic wrists, since the compound action does much of the work; keep the blade square to the branch rather than twisting it through the cut.
- Suits gardeners with arthritic wrists
- Replacement blades sold
- Non-stick carbon steel blade
- Rubberized grips
Best for: Dead and dry wood
- Blade
- Anvil
- Action
- Compound action
- Cuts up to
- 2 in
- Length
- 30 in
#4Fiskars 15-Inch PowerGear Anvil Lopper
$20–$30
A short, light lopper with a gear that multiplies your grip, so it cuts like something much bigger. Fiskars has been making tools since 1649, when it started as an ironworks in Finland.
What owners say: On small and medium jobs it keeps up with much bigger loppers, owners find, and they like how little it weighs. A few had a plastic part break.
A closer look: Its anvil blade suits dry, dead growth, so use it to clear deadwood out of shrubs and hedges where long handles get tangled. It’s light enough to hold in one hand for a moment while the other steadies a branch, and short enough to keep in a garden tote with the hand pruners.
- Weighs 14.4 oz
- Fits in a garden tote
- Low-friction blade coating
- Lifetime warranty
Best for: Deadwood in tight spots
- Blade
- Anvil
- Action
- PowerGear (geared)
- Cuts up to
- 1.25 in
- Length
- 15 in
#5Spear & Jackson 8290RS Razorsharp Telescopic Ratchet Anvil Loppers
$50–$75
For limbs high in a tree or deep in a hedge: the aluminum handles telescope from 28 to 40.5 inches, and the ratchet closes the blade in short steps, so a 2-inch branch of hard, dry wood takes a few easy squeezes instead of one big heave. Spear & Jackson backs it with a 10-year guarantee.
What owners say: The heavy-duty head is what owners rate most: it takes 2-inch branches and keeps going for years, and the long handles reach limbs that used to need a ladder. The ratchet splits them, as some find it slow, and so does the weight.
Heads up: At 4.2 lb it’s a heavy lopper, so keep the handles short for low work and extend them only for high branches.
A closer look: The ratchet works in stages: squeeze, ease the handles open a little so the mechanism clicks on, then squeeze again until the cut is through. That’s slower than a plain lopper on thin stems but far easier on thick, hard ones, which suits old trees, overgrown hedges and anyone short on grip strength.
- Telescopic aluminum handles
- Nonstick-coated carbon steel blade
- Locking catch
- 10-year guarantee
Best for: Limbs out of reach
- Blade
- Anvil
- Action
- Ratchet
- Cuts up to
- 2 in
- Length
- 28–40.5 in
How they compare
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| Feature | #1Fiskars 28 in bypass | #2Fiskars PowerGear 32 in | #3TABOR GG12A | #4Fiskars PowerGear 15 in | #5Spear & Jackson 8290RS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall | Best for thick branches | Best for dead wood | Best compact | Best extendable | |
| Picked Rating | 9.7 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 9.3 | 9.0 |
| Price | $10–$20 | $30–$50 | $50–$75 | $20–$30 | $50–$75 |
| Blade | Bypass | Bypass | Anvil | Anvil | Anvil |
| Action | Single pivot | PowerGear (geared) | Compound action | PowerGear (geared) | Ratchet |
| Cuts up to | 1.5 in | 2 in | 2 in | 1.25 in | 2 in |
| Length | 28 in | 32 in | 30 in | 15 in | 28–40.5 in |
| Best for | Shaping roses, shrubs and trees | Thick live branches | Dead and dry wood | Deadwood in tight spots | Limbs out of reach |
| Buy now | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon |
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