Serious gardeners have an arsenal of different tools designed for different gardening tasks.

For pruning, we've so far tackled hedge shears and hand pruners. Today, we'll be talking about loppers.

The Best Loppers You Can Buy - A Guide and Reviews

If you're relatively new to gardening, here's a quick guide to the above tools:

• Hand pruners - are small scissor-like garden tools that are designed for delicate cutting and trimming of flowers, leaves, and fleshy branches

• Hedge shears - are pruning shears that are immediately recognizable because of their long straight handles and similarly straight blades; used for shaping hedges and bushes

• Loppers - are as big as hedge shears but function more like hand pruners; have long handles and typically concave blades used on growing saplings or dry branches

When you're buying loppers, don't forget to check the quality and make of the blades, the ratcheting and cutting mechanism, handle length, bumpers, and even the availability of replacement parts. 

Because of the different features and abilities of each, this list is arranged in no particular order. Choose your loppers based on your specific needs and if any of the cons listed for each are deal breakers for you.

Best Lightweight: Kseibi Lopper

There are many excellent loppers, like Corona's, but they tend to be heavy. If you're a senior with waning strength or are petite in build, these would be the perfect brand and model for you.

Apart from their light weight, another useful feature of the Kseibi loppers is their extendable arms. 

The handles extend from 27 inches up to 40 inches. This added height allows you to reach branches higher up without needing to climb on a ladder. You get five different extension lengths with a click lock that is easy to set and release.

When you purchase this item, you'll get a maintenance brochure emailed to you. 

Pros

• Lightweight

• Telescopic handles with up to 40 inch range

• Cuts branches up to 2-3 inches think

• Steel blades have a non-stick coating

• Responsive customer support

Cons

• Can be difficult to cut when it's fully extended

• Lock mechanism can be finicky

Best for Larger Branches: Spear & Jackson Anvil Loppers

You can buy a single lopper or up to five loppers in a single order with this brand. The ratcheting action on these is excellent and makes cutting larger branches easy. The sturdy design and cutting performance is comparable to more expensive brands.

The handles on the Spear & Jackson are also telescopic. When unextended, they are 18 inches long but when extended, they go as far as 31.5 inches. They are adjusted using twisting end-caps.

Pros

• Impressive cutting ability

• Uses ratchet action to cut larger branches

• Has a locking mechanism for safety

• Very durable

Cons

• Handles need to be extended fully to engage the ratchet; not ideal if you are working within small confines

• Handles are prone to bending

• Ratchet tends to catch on smaller branches

• A bit heavier than the Kseibi (although still lighter than other brands)

Most Affordable: Gnome Hand Loppers

These Gnome loppers are neither super lightweight nor telescopic but what stands out about them is how the blades are extremely sharp.  

These loppers use gear driven action to cut. The gearing is so great that you don't need to strain or apply a lot of pressure when doing work with these tools. These make them ideal for those with weaker hand strength.

Quite surprisingly, for their strength, they actually have a smaller form than other brands.

These are Amazon's Choice for bypass loppers.

Pros

• Cheaper than other loppers; good value for money

• Well-designed and constructed despite their smaller size

• Very sharp

• Gearing action is excellent

• Rubber grips are more ergonomic than other brands

Cons

• Slightly heavier feel and design

• Colors make them more difficult to see

• Handles do not extend

Best for Small Branches: Tabor Tools Mini Lopper

If you are looking for a sturdy powerhouse of a lopper and you don't need to reach too high, then these are for you. These loppers are able to cut through smaller branches very quickly and easily.

Despite the short handles (15"), you can feel the power behind each cut. 

The blurb for this product emphasizes that 1 inch is the limit for its cutting ability but it CAN cut through thicker branches. This may lead to faster dulling though so only get these if the gardening that you do has you working with trees and plants with thinner branches. 

Apart from the quick cutting ability, one other noteworthy thing we like about the Tabor loppers are the handles. The handle grips are satisfyingly ergonomic.

Pros

• Powers easily through 1 inch thick branches

• Because of its design and construction, you can make fast and precise cuts

• Ergonomic handle grips

• The blades have a hole so you can hang the loppers on a hook or a nail for easy storage

Cons

• If you are cutting larger branches, this is not for you

• Shock absorbing bumper tends to break

• Handles do not extend

Best Heavy Duty: THANOS Extendable Anvil Loppers

Just like its Marvel namesake, THANOS is a good quality powerful pair of loppers.

The blades knives are sharp and durable even after prolonged heavy use. They can cut through a two-inch branch easily. The rods are telescopic and can extend up to 40 inches.

Very useful are the 3 gears that you can adjust for the size of the cutting mouth. This makes for a very flexible lopping tool. You can use it for something light like potted pruning and landscaping to heavier jobs like fruit tree pruning.

While a lot of buyers insist they are lightweight, I'd call them medium-weight especially if you have weaker hands.

Pros

• Powerful and durable

• Good quality

• Telescopic up to 40”

• Can cut thick branches

• Flexible use

Cons

• None at the moment