Author Jack Hemingway

Jack is a licensed Arborist and owned a tree care company for many years. When he's not up in a tree you'll find him hiking and clearing trails in the Coronado National Forest.


Corona Rolling Handle Bypass Pruner (BP4840): Product Review


This pruner has excellent fit and finish, fit comfortably in my hand, and made clean, precise cuts in wood up to 3/4 inch in diameter. However, it wouldn’t cut through stems and branches over that, despite Corona’s claimed cutting capacity of up to 1 inch. It’s built with high quality materials, the cutting blade holds a sharp edge and the overall performance is very good. Plus, the ergonomic rotating handle definitely reduces hand, wrist Continue Reading


Melnor Talon Telescoping Bypass Lopper: Product Review


Melnor’s Talon lopper has some nice features, like strong, curved aluminum handles, a very sharp cutting blade, and extendable handles for extra leverage. And it cuts cleanly through 2-inch branches. But the extendable handles slipped constantly, the bumpers fell out, a handle grip fell off and the blade developed burrs. If Melnor can clean up the quality control problems, this would be a very nice lopper. Continue Reading


Fiskars Ratchet Drive Lopper: Product Review


The Fiskars Ratchet Drive lopper does an exemplary job at pruning branches and cutting up brush and deadwood that’s 1 ½“ in diameter or less. In the 2” diameter range cutting is more difficult and takes a lot of strength, especially through deadwood (which is what an anvil lopper is ideally suited to cut). The curved handles are a nice feature; you don’t have to open your arms as far to get the blades Continue Reading


Greenworks G-MAX 40V Lithium-Ion Cordless 8” Pole Saw (20672): Product Review


The Greenworks G-MAX 40V Lithium-Ion Cordless 8” Pole Saw (model 20672) is a generally well made product that makes clean cuts through smaller material (under 4” in diameter) but has battery overheating problems when cutting larger branches. There’s no shoulder strap included in the saw package (a definite miss) and the owner’s manual really needs some revisions. Overall, it’s a respectable mid-grade 40V saw but wouldn’t be a good replacement for a gas-powered pole chainsaw. Continue Reading


Black & Decker Snake Wand™ Watering Nozzle: Product Review


The Snake Wand™ is a 36-inch watering wand with a flexible head and 9 spray patterns. It definitely makes watering jobs easier in hard to reach places. However, we had a quality issue with it (the pin holding the trigger in place fell out so the nozzle couldn’t be used – the company quickly replaced it under the 5-year warranty) and it’s difficult to control water flow (water comes out under high pressure). Continue Reading


Sun Joe 40V Lithium Ion 8-Inch Cordless Pole Chainsaw (iON8PS2): Product Review


Overall, this saw operates very much like its commercial grade, higher end, gasoline driven counterparts. The power to weight ratio is great, making the saw powerful but not too heavy (particularly if wearing the shoulder strap). It makes very clean cuts and the fit and finish suggest quality throughout. In my tests, the motor never lacked the power to cut through the thickest woods (up to the saw’s maximum cutting diameter), including incredibly Continue Reading


Greenworks 40V Lithium-Ion Axial Blower (2400802): Product Review


This is one of the best blowers we’ve tested to date. It has power, versatility, and quality. Be aware that if the cruise control lever is in the “on” position, the blower will automatically start when the battery is installed (that’s a potential safety issue). That aside, the Greenworks 40V Lithium-Ion Axial Blower (model 2400802) is definitely a recommended buy. Continue Reading


Redback 40V Cordless Blower (106062): Product Review


Redback has produced a very good blower, with excellent quality and safety features, a helpful shoulder belt, 60+ minutes run time, and four blower speeds. It has an electronic control panel instead of a variable-speed trigger-style throttle, and will only run in turbo-speed mode for 30 seconds before dropping down to high speed – two features that some users may not like. Overall though, it’s a good choice for use in the typical suburban property. Continue Reading


Greenworks 12” 24V Cordless String Trimmer (21342): Product Review


This lightweight combo string trimmer / edger has good balance, handling and maneuverability, and it’s an excellent edger. But there is a major problem with the line and spool assembly that makes it practically unusable as a string trimmer. If Greenworks can fix the problem, this would be an excellent all-round trimmer/edger but, as it is, we cannot recommend it. Continue Reading