Telescopic gear loppers
Updated: 22 October 2026
The branch is above your shoulder, and a 470 mm lopper will not reach it without a step. Telescopic gear loppers in this set add about 70–95 cm of two-handed handle and a lock you set before you lift them. They are not a ladder and not a pole pruner. Scores for all five tools are on the [gear loppers comparison](/hub/garden-tree-and-hedge-shears/gear-loppers). Peter F. used the amazon.co.uk listings on 20 October 2026 and did not run a cutting test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The branch is above your shoulder, and a 470 mm lopper will not reach it without a step. Telescopic gear loppers in this set add about 70–95 cm of two-handed handle and a lock you set before you lift them.
The branch is above your shoulder, and a 470 mm lopper will not reach it without a step. Telescopic gear loppers in this set add about 70–95 cm of two-handed handle and a lock you set before you lift them. They are not a ladder and not a pole pruner. Scores for all five tools are on the gear loppers comparison. Peter F. used the amazon.co.uk listings on 20 October 2026 and did not run a cutting test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Length | Weight | Head | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Grüntek Grüntek Grizzly 470 mm | 470 mm | 687 g | Anvil | 8.6 | about £24.98 | View offer |
| Alternative |  HAUTMEC HAUTMEC telescopic anvil | Title 70–95 cm | 1.53 kg | Anvil | 6.4 | about £39.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  AIRAJ AIRAJ telescopic 70–90 cm | 70–90 cm | 2.05 kg | Title says anvil; blade-type field says bypass | 5.1 | about £30.99 | View offer |
On this page
What telescopic means in this set
Here, telescopic means both handles slide and lock, and the tool stays a two-handed lopper a little under a metre long. The HAUTMEC HT0461, ASIN B08H1SMRZ3, was £39.99. The title says 70 cm to 95 cm. The size field prints 68–94 cm. Item weight is 1.53 kg, with 4.4 from 248 reviews. It states an anvil and compound action. Bullets say fresh branches within 5 cm and dried branches within 3.5 cm. The cutting-width field says 2 inches. Do not average 95 cm with 2 inches into one specification. The telescopic AIRAJ, B0DJ6J1Q4S, was £30.99, with four points from 70 cm to 90 cm, a point-style field of 68–88 cm, 2.05 kg and 4.4 from 137 reviews. The mechanism words say a four-point lever, not the word gear, and a 3 times line is not a test. The English Garden’s extra reach towards a metre matches these two tools. Gardens Illustrated’s pruners from about 2 m to about 4 m do not.
Set the lock, then judge the weight
Set the lock with both handles even before the blades are near your face. Gardeners' World’s Wolf Garten telescopic review, which is not this ASIN, praises matching holes so the handles stay level. The transfer is the lock check, not that tool’s score or its £124.99 RRP. On the HAUTMEC the bullets call the control a safety release lock. UK reviews praise it on a high laburnum canopy, and they also describe a slide lock that fails after a drop, and a plastic piece that fell out within seven weeks so the arm would not lock. A blade snapped on a branch under 2 inches. Check the lock on the ground. If it slides, do not lift the tool. HAUTMEC’s field is 1.53 kg. The telescopic AIRAJ is 2.05 kg, and reviewers say that weight is hard to hold fully extended, with returns for that reason. The English Garden notes that geared heads are relatively top-heavy and better in short bursts. The cheaper long tool is not the lighter one. Skip the telescopic AIRAJ when the title says anvil and the blade-type field says bypass. Do not buy it as both. Spare blades are not in either included list. Which job each listing is for is on best gear loppers.
Feet on the ground, nobody underneath
A telescopic handle is not a ladder. Extend it, plant both feet, and cut. Do not climb and then extend it. The Health and Safety Executive prefers pruning low limbs from the ground with long-handled tools, and it still tells you to account for over-reaching and for standing under the branch. If someone, a road, glass or a cable is under the limb, put the loppers down. The same stop covers a protected tree and, where an employer supplies the tool, PUWER 1998. PUWER does not apply to every householder by default. The one-close method and cleaning the blade are on how to use gear loppers. A pole pruner is the next tool when the wood is beyond a sub-metre lopper with your feet flat. Do not quote a 2 m easy-reach or a 5.5 m cable set as a HAUTMEC or AIRAJ specification. Burgon & Ball’s compound telescopic bypass, at £44.99 and up to 2.5 cm, is a bypass, which these long tools do not cleanly offer.
The short loppers are a different job
The Grüntek at 470 mm and 687 g, the compact AIRAJ at 43 cm and 660 g, and the Jardineer at 42 cm are fixed tools for waist-height work. They are not failed telescopics. UK reviews of the Grüntek say 470 mm is too short above arm’s length, which is a reason to change job, not a reason to mark the tool down for lacking a lock. The Jardineer’s size field is a single 42 cm. Some UK reviews still describe extendable handles. The listing does not give a telescopic range, and 220 g is unreconciled with a 1.36 lb bullet and a 615 g review. Do not promote it on the strength of those reviews. Head choice, living slice versus dead block, stays on bypass or anvil loppers. HAUTMEC states an anvil. The telescopic AIRAJ does not state one head consistently. Reach does not repair that.
Common questions
How far do the two telescopic loppers in this set extend?
HAUTMEC’s title and bullet say 70 cm to 95 cm, and the size field says 68–94 cm. The telescopic AIRAJ’s bullet says 70 cm to 90 cm on four points, and the point-style field says 68–88 cm. Both are about a metre of two-handed handle. Neither is a 2–4 m pole pruner. Quote the range printed on the page you buy.
Which is lighter to hold up, 1.53 kg or 2.05 kg?
The HAUTMEC, at 1.53 kg on the item-weight field. The telescopic AIRAJ is 2.05 kg, and UK reviews say that weight is hard to hold fully extended, with returns for that reason. One HAUTMEC review weighed the tool at 1.5 kg. The £30.99 AIRAJ is cheaper than the £39.99 HAUTMEC and still the heavier tool.
What should you check on the lock before you reach overhead?
That it holds, and that both handles are even, before you lift the head. HAUTMEC’s bullets name a safety release lock. UK reviews include a lock that failed after a drop and a plastic piece that fell out within seven weeks. If the arm will not lock on the ground, do not use it overhead. The Wolf Garten matching-hole praise is about a different tool.
Is a 70–95 cm lopper the same as a pole pruner?
No. A pole pruner is a head on a shaft of about 2 m or more, sometimes with a saw or a cord. These two listings are loppers whose handles grow to around 90–95 cm. The English Garden’s almost-a-metre line fits them. Gardens Illustrated’s 2–4 m pruners do not.
Can you stand on a ladder with the handles extended?
No. Keep both feet on the ground. HSE prefers long-handled tools from the ground so you avoid work at height, and still warns against over-reaching and standing under the cut. A ladder plus an extended lopper is the combination this page tells you to refuse. Call someone when the limb is over a person, a road, glass or a cable.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are from amazon.co.uk on 20 October 2026.
- Burgon & Ball — anvil, bypass or scissor (retrieved 20.10.2026)
- BBC Gardeners' World — best loppers 2026 (retrieved 20.10.2026)
- The English Garden — best garden loppers (retrieved 20.10.2026)
- Burgon & Ball — RHS telescopic bypass lopper (retrieved 20.10.2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 20.10.2026)
- nidirect — buying goods and services (retrieved 20.10.2026)
- HSE — PUWER (retrieved 20.10.2026)
- HSE — INDG318, manual handling (retrieved 20.10.2026)
- Fiskars UK — PowerGear X (retrieved 20.10.2026)