ARS HP-VS8Z Signature Heavy Duty Pruner

I’ve been a landscaper and nurseryman for over 15 year, I’ve always used felco’s becuase that is what my company provided. I read many reviews on these pruners describing the quality of the blade and cut. I cannot dissagree, these pruners are hands down, better then any pair of felco’s I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried many). Blade is super sharp, does an amazing job and keeping sharp, even after cutting lots of hardwood. It’s equally as modular and replaceable as felco’s. Squeeze to unlock is the best feature I’ve ever experience on pruners. At first they were hard to squeeze tight enough to unlock, but after several unlocks it becomes easier. After months the locking mechanism is still holding strong. The only time squeeze to unlock doesn’t work is if I’ve been cleaning a bunch of pines and my pruners get covered in sap, easy to fix, but the sticky sap will allow you to squeeze to unlock, but the sticky sap will prevent the pruners from opening, so you have to do it manually. I was unsure about these pruners using a big spring in the middle instead of the kind found on felco’s but it has worked flawlessly. I think the spring will age better then felco’s spring mechanism. With the felco’s spring, it can rust easily and it give lots of resistance, making pruning much more difficult, whereas the spring in these ARS pruners will age much better and won’t give me that issue. The price is amazing!! Super high quality materials, Japanese carbon blade, all for almost $20 cheaper then felco #2. I’m never looking back, and i cannot stop telling my landscaper friends about how awesome these pruners are. Felcos have a larger market share in North America, but its purely based on marketing, ARS pruners are hands down better.

Three years of regular use here. I've owned/used Corona, Bahco, various Fiskars, and tons of random off-brand pruners/secateurs. These are probably the best value pruners I've come across. Excellent out of the package, sharp AF, easy to clean, well-made, Japanese quality. Compared to the Felco F2, they are slightly more petite and great for medium/smaller hands, though I have large hands and they're fine. The more narrow jaw opening and shorter blade means you won't be cutting really large material as you could with the Felco F2. These are more comparable to the Felco F6, which have a shorter blade and more narrow grip span. I have not, however, really had any issues due to this, and I appreciate the more agile feeling of these for more precision work. If you're doing a lot of big branch pruning and heavy cutting, Felco F2 might be the way to go. There are no corrosion issues as you can get with Felco blades, as the ARS are stainless steel. An occasional cleaning with a light abrasive pad or steel wool with some alcohol gets these shiny again, no problem. That said, stainless steel is generally considered to be a little harder to sharpen than carbon steel, though I've sharpened these maybe three times with a hardened steel edge sharpener (Corona sharpener) and a couple light passes was sufficient to get them plenty sharp. Downsides: Blade adjustment can be a pain. The pivot screw and Nylock nut have to be tightened *just right* to have the blade snug as it bypasses the hook/anvil, but not so tight that it binds. I use a socket wrench on the Nylock nut, and a crescent wrench on the screw head, and monkey with it until it feels right. The design decision for this type of adjustment seems inexplicable to me. Felco wins in this area. The only other nit to pick is the tolerances (tightness) compared to Felco are slightly more loose. The bypass cut has a little more gap and just a bit of wobble between the blade and hook. In practice, it's never been an issue that I can recall. It cuts like a champ and unless you're super dialed in to this detail, you likely won't notice. My advice: If you want ze best, with super tight tolerances and precision engineering, and don't mind more regular maintenance, go Felco. Otherwise, get these for 30-some damn dollars. And if the ARS feel good out of the box, don't mess with it, clean it occasionally, oil it every now and then and these will serve you quite well for a nice price.

EXACTLY AS ADVERTISED. VERY SHARP.

These pruners are soo sharp , they can cut a piece of paper!

Having used pruners for...decades...this is obviously a high quality tool. It's designed for large hands. Very large hands. My hands are very large, extra large in most product ratings, and these are usable, but a bit large even for me. One adjusts to it; the tool cuts very well. There is a parts breakdown inside the packaging and a pictographic of disassembling/assembling the tool. but the assembly details are a bit fuzzy to me. There are lubricating instructions. As for price, I bought it rather on impulse, being dissatisfied with my current pruner. $72.00 is too expensive. All that said, this is a good tool, I'm glad to have it and anticipate many years of use.

Still sharp a year later. Easy to clean. Grip has not slipped or broken. Lock mechanism works splendidly for one handed use. Truly right or left handed.

For over 35 years I’ve been pruning, from fruit trees to roses to ornamental trees, to hydrangeas, etc, etc. Over that time I’ve bought, lost, or replaced more pruners than I care to admit. This spring I decided to replace the two pairs I bought last year - this time I wanted the best I could buy. Did a ton of research and happened upon ARS. Bought a pair of these and got to work on my 15 fruit trees. BEST PRUNERS I’VE EVER USED. The next day I ordered another pair. The description lists aluminum blade - which I’m certain is incorrect. I put a magnet on it the day I got it and verified it isn’t aluminum. The non cutting parts are aluminum (based on my magnet test). I think this is without doubt the best deal for an excellent pruner. Yes, the locking feature takes a bit to figure out (I recommend closing the pruner completely and then putting the safety latch on). But for pruning I’m only buying ARS products going forward.

I've worked with pruners for around 5 years, the only time they need replacing is when I lose them. Which happens a lot haha That being said this is the first time a blade has ever broken on me. This was less than 3 months old too! I'm certain the branch was within its capacity, & more importantly, I've bought that $13 orange Walmart pruner in a rush before, had it perform the same work & they've never broken like this. It's a letdown honestly. Because the same-brand replacement blade costs just as much as a new pruner altogether. Some outlets charge even more! Definitely not consumer friendly. I WILL ADMIT the branch that broke it was no little tyke, it was like an inch in diameter. But this is a HEAVY DUTY pruner right? Its cost reflects that, but I'm sorry to say my experience didn't. Up until it broke it was fantastic, but for those of you who use pruners for heavy duty work, I'd pass on this. It's a bit too delicate.