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Pruning saw buying guide

Updated: October 2026

You are stood in front of a shrub the secateurs will not take, and amazon.co.uk mixes a £7 folder with a 330 mm curve and a listing that claims 4,500 RPM on a hand saw. A pruning saw buying guide should order the checks before the price: reach, fold or fixed, tooth, lock or sheath, handle, then the review sample. The ten hand saws are in the [pruning saw comparison](/hub/lawn-and-garden-equipment/pruning-saw). Products Compared read those listings on 22 October 2026. There was no lab cut. Prices in that save run from about £7.49 to £32.39. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are stood in front of a shrub the secateurs will not take, and amazon.co.uk mixes a £7 folder with a 330 mm curve and a listing that claims 4,500 RPM on a hand saw.

Our top picks

HAUTMEC HAUTMEC folding 230 mm

Best overall

HAUTMEC HAUTMEC folding 230 mm
7.9/10about £16.99
View offer
GRÜNTEK GRÜNTEK folding 180 mm cork

Rank 2

GRÜNTEK GRÜNTEK folding 180 mm cork
8.3/10about £15.98
View offer
forest Originals Fixed pull saw 240 mm

Alternative

forest Originals Fixed pull saw 240 mm
8.0/10about £32.39
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What you are actually buying
  2. 2.Six checks in order
  3. 3.Fields that are not a spec
  4. 4.When a spare blade matters

What you are actually buying

A pruning saw is the hand saw for a branch too thick or too awkward for secateurs and loppers. It is not a mini chainsaw, and it is not a pole you send up a ladder. You are usually choosing a short folder for a tight shrub, or a longer fixed blade you can still swing with both feet on the ground. The English Garden's trial found folders often useful to about 10–12.5 cm, on test branches up to 4 cm. Tinker and Fix's example is a 21 cm blade taking about 7 cm. Do not average those two figures. If you cannot finish from the ground, use a pole pruner or a tree surgeon.

Six checks in order

Start with reach. Loppers still win on thin stems, and the guides that name a changeover do not agree. The pruning saw vs loppers page keeps those millimetres apart. Second is fold or fixed. A folder is safer to carry only when the lock holds. A fixed blade is only as safe as a sheath that retains it. That fork is on the folding or fixed pruning saw page. Third is the tooth, coarse enough to clear sappy wood. Gardeners' World puts a straight blade between shoulder and waist, and a curve above your head or below your waist. Fourth, open a folder when it arrives and see whether the lock catches. Fifth is the handle in a glove. Sixth is the sample. A 5.0 from four ratings does not beat a 4.6 from 1,921. Two EZUVITA listings share one review block, so do not add those 280s.
HAUTMEC HAUTMEC folding 230 mm

Testsieger

HAUTMEC HAUTMEC folding 230 mm
7.9/10about £16.99
View offer

Fields that are not a spec

Several listings print a power cell on a tool with no motor. The XCDMJ and Jnomove folders say pneumatic. The GRÜNTEK ORCA prints 4,500 RPM, and the GRÜNTEK 180 mm folder prints 4,500 RPM and 8 watts. None of that is a cutting speed. The pull saw at about £32.39 has a title that says Saboten and made in Japan. The brand, manufacturer, and part fields say forest Originals, model 2341. The star rating cannot settle that. The AIRAJ folder claims four lock angles and leaves blade length off the spec. One review describes about 18 cm of tooth, which is a tape, not a basket note. A three-piece EZUVITA set at about £13.99 is the wrong parcel when you only wanted a saw. Do not buy it to borrow a review count.

When a spare blade matters

A spare can cost almost as much as a new cheap saw. Sorbus lists a Silky F180 blade at about £15.79 including VAT, already the price of the GRÜNTEK 180 mm folder in this save. That blade does not fit these folders. The XCDMJ bullets include two spare blades at about £7.69. The Jnomove bullets claim two while the unit count is 1. The HAUTMEC, the GRÜNTEK folder, and the EZARC do not list a spare.

Common questions

What should you check before the price?
Check the diameter you can still cut from the ground, then whether the blade folds and locks or sits in a sheath that holds. Tooth, handle, and the review count come after that. A saw at about £7.49 with 5.0 from four ratings can look cheaper than a saw at about £15.98 with 4.6 from 1,921 reviews. The small sample is the weaker buy.
Curved or straight if you can buy only one?
Gardeners' World puts a straight blade between shoulder and waist, and a curved blade above your head or below your waist. A curve is the more useful single saw for mixed shrubs, because more awkward cuts sit overhead or down by your knee. A straight blade is calmer at chest height. A curve does not replace a lock or a sheath.
What does 7 TPI mean on green wood?
TPI is teeth per inch. Around 6–7 teeth per inch is a coarse pattern that clears sappy fibres instead of packing the kerf with wet wood. The HAUTMEC bullets state 7 TPI with deep gullets. A fine-tooth claim with no TPI, as on the AIRAJ title, cannot be compared with that number. Coarse teeth still bind if you twist the blade.
Can you file impulse-hardened teeth?
Not as a home job. Impulse-hardened and induction-hardened teeth are meant to stay sharp, and a file from a hardware drawer will skate over them. Gardeners' World notes that a replacement blade can cost almost as much as a new saw. If you prune often, budget for a spare that fits, or for another saw, rather than a sharpening session.
Which amazon.co.uk fields are safe to ignore?
Ignore RPM, watts, and a pneumatic power source on a manual pruning saw. Those cells appear on the GRÜNTEK rows and on the XCDMJ and Jnomove folders. Do not add two review counts when the UK texts are the same block. If the title and the brand field name different makers, neither line is settled until you see the box.
When do you stop and hire someone?
Stop when the branch is overhead, over a path, glass, or a cable, or when you have not checked a preservation order or a conservation area. An active bird's nest is protected whenever you find it. The moment the work leaves the ground, it is a tree surgeon's job.

Related pages

Best pruning saw

Pruning saw

Folding or fixed pruning saw: lock or a real sheath

How to use a pruning saw: three cuts and the collar

Pruning saw vs loppers: where the published guides stop

Sources

Buying notes from the sources below, checked for this page on 22 October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the amazon.co.uk captures of that date.

  1. Gardeners' World: best pruning saws (11 February 2026) (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. The English Garden: the best pruning (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. RHS: how to prune a tree (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. RHS: pruning apples and pears (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK: Tree Preservation Orders and trees in conservation areas (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK: wild birds, protection, surveys and licences (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. GOV.UK: hedgerow management, cutting and trimming (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. HSE: chainsaws at work (INDG317) (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  9. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (satisfactory quality) (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  10. amazon.co.uk listings for the ten hand pruning saws, captured 22 October 2026 (retrieved 22 October 2026)