I hate accumulating specialty tools. But I hate paying specialty contractors for essentially simple jobs even more. So, I’ve owned a pole saw / pruner for about 10 years now. I have a couple of tall evergreen trees around my pool area. And a row of white pines between my house and my neighbors. And woods at the back of my property that have huge oaks and maples overhanging my lawn and garden shed.If I called in a tree company to trim and remove the stuff that needs routine maintenance, they’d probably charge me $1,000 annually. And I’d have to wait for them to show up on their schedule.Or….. for less than $100 I can take care of it myself on my schedule with a pole saw. I chose the pole saw.But be aware. While it’s extremely simple in principle, it takes some muscle even if you have it set up for 20 feet. At 27 feet it becomes really hard to control. That’s just the physics of a long pole with a little weight at the end. You will get a full body workout with this thing, LOL.For example. I’m 6’0″ tall and about 205 lbs. I lift weights about 3-4 days a week so I have a fair amount of muscle and little body fat. 44″ chest. 34″ waist. 17″ biceps. 28″ thighs. Not body builder size, just reasonably fit. This thing wears me out. I can only go maybe 5-10 minutes before I have to take a break.And a lot of that time is just trying to position the blade or the pruner for a cut. But, it will take care of almost anything that would otherwise require a ladder (bad idea) or specialized tree climbing equipment (not gonna go there).So do I want to own this? Well, no. But is it a great option to save myself thousands of dollars. Yes it is. So I bought this when I destroyed my old one this year. This is a much better design all around.27 feet vs 16 feet.Sectional poles vs weaker telescoping pole.Packs down to an easy to store size with a carry bag.Ability to choose either the saw or the pruner. Old one was only a fixed saw pruner.Bright orange color provides high visibility for safety and makes it hard to lose parts.3 saw blades provided rather than one.Ability to use the saw detached from the pole as a hand saw.Highly recommended.