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Secateurs Updated: 15 Feb 2010

About our test

A laboratory assessed the performance of the secateurs and how easy they were to dismantle and adjust. A user panel rated their ease of use.

The quality of cut was tested on 8mm pine dowelling (to represent hard, dry or dead wood) and willow branches of 10mm and 16mm diameter. The lab looked for a clean cut with no splitting and no damage to the wood or bark.

The lab mounted each pair of secateurs in a jig and measured the force needed to cut the dowelling and a 10mm willow branch. The less force needed, the higher the rating.

Ease of use was assessed by a user panel of four experienced gardeners, two men and two women. They rated the secateurs for balance, comfort, and for ease of use in hard and light work and those hard-to-get-at places. As well, they rated the safety catch and the instructions.

What we found

The Wolf Garten RS22 Classic came out tops. It is one of the heavier secateurs; it's an anvil type and was good for woody stems.
The two anvil secateurs in our test (Wolf Garten RS22 and Fiskars Powerlever) got better results on pine dowelling than their bypass equivalents (Wolf Garten RR22 and Fiskars Powergear).
The Gardena 608 came with a very handy device that adjusted the grip for different hand sizes.
The lower handle of the Fiskars Powergear rotates when you use it, to reduce cutting effort. People with a weak grip could find this feature useful, but only if they're right-handed. A left-handed version is not available.