I thought Felco was the Cadillac of pruners? Least wise they're priced
like a Cadillac.

http://www.felcostore.com/index.jsp

The hook and shear on the felco air pruner are about 1/2 the size of the
ones on the Limb Lopper. Won't go around as big a branch. The felco air
cylinder is about 2" diameter vs. 3" for the limb lopper. Which one has more
power? The felco air cylinder is up at the cutting head making it heavy on
the end (wears you out pruning 40 hours a week), the limb lopper has the
cylinder down at your hands.

In short, if you put the Limb Lopper shear on any branch under 1 1/2" and
pull the trigger, its gone. And they don't break down, everything is well
engineered.

Of course the Felco lists at $500. When you could still get a Limb Lopper,
they were $1500.

To all the great suggestions. I'll make my prototypes out of 4140, D2, and
H13. If none of these meet my needs, I'll start looking for a place to
analyze the metal.

Karl