This time of year for me is tweaking a few stands and trimming up some shooting lanes. What kind of extended saw are you fellows using? I have a cheaper one but it is not long enough and wants to collapse all the time.
Is that Hooyman (sp?)one any good? Any other choices.
I have both the long and short hooyman saws. They are fine. I hunt out of a jeep wrangler thats why I went with them. My dad has the long trimming saw that is extendable, has a red handle. On the end is a saw with pruning sheers connected to a rope handle. The pruning sheers are better on the small branches than the hooyman. The small branches with the hooyman want to bend more than cut.
I had the 5' Hooyman and it worked for a couple of years but I thought it was not very well made. Even though I was careful it broke where the saw attaches to the handle, never did lock right. The Hooyman was also a poor cutter compared to my cheapie Gerber. The one nice thing about the Hooyman is the portability, not enough for me to buy another though.
Take a look at Silky saws. Won't fit in your pack but pretty nice.
I got a Corona brand pole saw from Ace Hardware and it has the lopper type cutter on it also. Works great.It extends to 20ft.
I bought one of Paul Brunner's limbsaws way back when he ran his screaming eagle stores. Its made with a plastic socket in the back so that you can cut down a sapling as long as you want and screw it in the end of the saw. works great. i leave the poles that i cut near my treestand set-ups so i can use the same pole for years
Any hardware store worth its salt with have an extendable pruner/saw limb trimmer. The pruner works best on the floppy limbs and the saw works best on bigger limbs close to the trunk of the tree. I handled the one you asked about and thought it was cheaply made. But the one I have is certainly no engineering marvel either.
I absolutely love the Hooeyman, have both 5 and 10 foot models and consider them indespensable.
Keep the 5 footer with me while hunting and carry the 10 foot model when scouting.
That being said, a commercial grade Stihl, Husquvarna, or equivalent extendable pole saw with pruner is the ticket when setting stands in advance.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=corona+pole+pruner&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=0l0l1l1026l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1600&bih=754&wrapid=tlif132857781 487310&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=8254945970709696219&sa=X&ei=KX0wT8HGLNCItwflrYSFBw&ved=0CH0Q8wIwAA# (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=corona+pole+pruner&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=0l0l1l1026l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1600&bih=754&wrapid=tlif132857781487310&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=8254945970709696219&sa=X&ei=KX0wT8HGLNCItwflrYSFBw&ved=0CH0Q8wIwAA#)
My wife gave me a long Hooeyman for Christmas and a friend also has one. I haven't used it a lot yet, but so far I really like it. It seems pretty durable, cuts nicely and I can carry it while hunting. For general use when first hanging stands, I use an extendable limb saw/pruner like the others.
I have had a Fiskars 14' for about 10 yrs. Finally broke the pruner blade and they sent a new one for free. Lifetime guarantee. This yr I remounted the entire rig on a 20' extend-a-pole for painting ceilings. Same diam. pole. Works great.
I love the Silky saws! They are made for folks who do that stuff for a living and they hold up over time. Their best feature, in my opinion, is that they have a metal hinge instead of a plastic one. That is a folding saw's weakest point and all the cheaper saws I ever bought cracked around that hinge.