Bought a $340 silky pole saw on a whim and it paid for itself in one job
I had a small dead oak limb hanging over a customer's shed in Naperville and my old hand saw just wasn't cutting it from the ladder. So I said forget it and grabbed a Silky Hayauchi pole saw for about $340, which felt stupid at the time for one limb. Got up there, made 6 clean cuts in maybe 10 minutes, dropped the whole limb right where I wanted it, and the homeowner paid me on the spot for a second dead limb in the front yard. My ground guy watched the whole thing and said "you're never going back to the ladder for that stuff, are you." Now I want to know if anyone runs the long extendable ones and how they hold up after a season of real use.
My buddy runs a 21 foot fiberglass one on his crew and swears the fiberglass flex makes the whole thing feel like a noodle on the big cuts. He said the first month was great, then the locking collar started slipping and he had to tape it. Bent the tip section once when it came down on a fence, but the blade itself is still sharp after a full season. He did say the reach saves him so much ladder time that he'd buy another one tomorrow.