10 Best Pole Saws in 2022
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Pole saws act as a convenient halfway point between a chainsaw and a stepladder, creating a tool that can chop down plants and leaves from a fair distance away. Although many models are designed for trimming tree leaves, they can also double as an excellent tool for cutting down unwanted flora in hard-to-reach spaces, or for getting rid of thin trees from a distance.
However, when it comes time to buy one for yourself, it can take some time to figure out which model will help you the most. The weight, length, cutting strength, and power source of each particular design will all have an impact on what you should be using it for, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.
We’ve created a list of the ten best pole saw models we could find, which you’ll find just below, along with some of the reasons they could be perfect for your garden.
View the Best Pole Saw, Below.
- Greenworks 20672 Cordless Pole Saw
- Oregon Cordless PS250-A6 Pole Saw Kit
- Sun Joe SWJ800E Telescoping Electric Pole Chain Saw
- Remington RM1035P Ranger II Pole Saw
- WORX WG309 Electric Pole Saw & Chainsaw
- BLACK+DECKER LPP120 Cordless Pole Saw
- Sun Joe SWJ803E-PRP Multi-Angle Pole Chain Saw
- Ryobi One+ 20672 Cordless Pole Saw
- Remington RM2599 Maverick Saw
- Poulan Pro PR25PS Pole Saw
1. Greenworks 20672 Cordless Pole Saw
This cordless pole saw boasts an extendable shaft and adjustable tension system, both of which give you more control over the cutting range and power you’re working at. Extending up to eight feet at its maximum length, the durable body supports a simple yet strong chainsaw blade, complete with its own automatic oil system that will keep its internal mechanism lubricated and protected. At the other end is its cushioned grip section, which smooths out the experience and dampens the vibrations of the blade.
Relying entirely on battery power rather than a built-in engine, this Greenworks pole saw can perform up to 65 cuts (under ideal circumstances) without needing to recharge, with its on-board battery indicator keeping you aware of how much power it has left.
This pole saw is simple but effective, offering a reliable battery life and an adjustable body without losing any cutting power or endangering the user.
Check Price on Amazon ➞2. Oregon Cordless PS250-A6 Pole Saw Kit
The balanced weight distribution in this pole saw’s body makes it much easier to use at almost any angle, avoiding the common problem of one side being too heavy to aim consistently. The smaller blade may seem like a downside at first, but it allows for far more precision when you’re trying to chop down specific branches or bushes, and it also helps reduce the weight of the entire unit.
Compared to standard gas saws, the PS250-A6 is four times quieter on average, delivering the same cutting power and potential without forcing you to wear ear protection and reducing how much it vibrates during use. Since it’s entirely battery-powered, it also has no emissions and creates no bad smells or excess heat.
This pole saw is quick, efficient, and avoids most of the drawbacks of a gas-powered saw, making it much more comfortable to use.
Check Price on Amazon ➞3. Sun Joe SWJ800E Telescoping Electric Pole Chain Saw
The Sun Joe SWJ800E Telescoping Electric Pole Chain Saw has an internal automatic lubrication system that keeps the blade turning smoothly, even when powering through rough materials. The reliable 6.5-amp electric motor is able to take on objects as thick and 7.5 inches, allowing the tool to cut through smaller trees and logs with ease.
The main body can extend to 8.7 feet without losing any of its cutting strength, making it much easier to reach tree branches or far-away plants that need to be trimmed down. Not only that, but thanks to its adjustable chain tension screw, you can easily adjust the cutting chain’s performance without needing to take apart the whole unit, and the easy-to-hold foam grip absorbs the shocks and vibrations you’ll feel while using it.
The long body of this pole saw makes it ideal for cutting overhead branches, and the chain adjustment screw makes it easy to keep the blade at an optimal level of sawing strength.
Check Price on Amazon ➞4. Remington RM1035P Ranger II Pole Saw
This Remington pole saw has a hidden two-in-one system for dealing with close-up objects: you can keep the regular pole-based design for trimming branches and hedges or detach the cutting head and grip to create a smaller, conventionally-styled chainsaw. At maximum length, the pole shaft can be extended to a whopping ten feet, giving you a massive amount of overhead reach without needing a stepladder.
The shaft itself uses anti-rotation and non-slip materials that keep the entire unit together, ensuring that you won’t accidentally lose control of it and put the people around you in danger. The branch hook built into the blade section makes it much easier to clear out large patches of branches in a single swipe.
Being able to switch between a long pole saw and a small chainsaw can save a lot of store space, combining two large, bulky tools into one body.
Check Price on Amazon ➞5. WORX WG309 Electric Pole Saw & Chainsaw
The auto-tension system used in this pole saw increases the operational lifespan of its 40-link blade by a significant amount. This, combined with its strong and reliable 8-amp electric engine, ensures that you’ll be able to use it for a long, long time before running into performance problems, far longer than most other pole saw designs. Despite its size – extending up to eight feet if needed – the unit as a whole is reasonably lightweight and isn't just large for the sake of being large.
With up to ten feet of reach under ideal conditions, you'll be able to trim most trees without overshooting the branches or missing your target. Thanks to the comfortable and ergonomic grip, it's also difficult to lose your hold on the tool's shaft, even in wet weather.
This pole saw focuses on reliability first and foremost, giving it an excellent lifespan without limiting its cutting power or usability in the process.
Check Price on Amazon ➞6. BLACK+DECKER LPP120 Cordless Pole Saw
This electric pole saw uses a high-capacity 20-volt battery that can provide up to 100 cuts per charge, letting you trim down entire trees without needing to stop and recharge halfway through. Boasting an extendable shaft that can range anywhere from 6.5 to 10 feet in length, you can easily reach branches as high as 14 feet in the air, and its low weight of only 6.3 pounds for the entire unit means that you’ll have plenty of control of its movements.
When you’re not using the saw, you can easily disassemble it into three separate parts for easy storage. This also makes it far easier to clean or check for damage if something goes wrong, and you won’t have to awkwardly carry a six-foot-long pole everywhere if you’re transporting it from one place to another.
This pole saw is powerful and boasts a long battery life, and the fact that you can break it down into three smaller parts makes it far easier to store or carry around when you’re not using it.
Check Price on Amazon ➞7. Sun Joe SWJ803E-PRP Multi-Angle Pole Chain Saw
This surprisingly lightweight pole saw is much more compact than most other models, trading in some length for added power, lower weight and a much easier-to-use design in general. The adjustable head can be moved up to 30 degrees to deal with awkward cutting angles, and the body can stretch out to 7.2 feet in length. Thanks to its low weight, you can hold the entire unit above your head to make up for the smaller size, and don’t need to worry about it weighing you down when you’re trying to lift it higher.
The blade is automatically lubricated while in use, preventing it from dulling or drying out mid-cut and ensuring that it’ll always provide a consistent level of cutting power in any conditions. This, along with the 8-amp motor, gives you a lot of strength in a small unit.
Not every situation calls for an extremely long pole saw, and this unit is perfect for situations where power and performance matter more than range.
Check Price on Amazon ➞8. Ryobi One+ 20672 Cordless Pole Saw
As another lightweight pole saw, this compact model strikes a balance between size and power. The body can extend up to 9.5 feet in length without affecting its performance or weight distribution, and the automatic oiler built into the frame keeps its components running smoothly in any situation. Thanks to its extremely low overall weight, especially while not extended, you don’t need to hold the unit with both hands – this makes it easy to use while on a ladder or holding it above your head, increasing its range by a significant amount.
The durable blade and chain can take on almost any kind of medium-sized branch with ease. Like all other Ryobi One+ tools, it’s compatible with items and batteries from the same range, allowing for much easier replacing of blades and other components if they break.
If you need a really small and lightweight tool for trimming branches and leaves, this pole saw can keep you covered without feeling like a chore to use.
Check Price on Amazon ➞9. Remington RM2599 Maverick Saw
This gas-powered pole saw has a very user-friendly design and is intended to be a replacement for other, less convenient methods of trimming down branches and plant limbs. The 25cc 2-cycle engine gives it enough power to slide through thick branches with ease, and the auto-oiler system makes sure that the blade chain is constantly lubricated enough to work at peak efficiency. The body of the unit can be extended to a while 7 feet, allowing you to reach trees without the need of any other equipment.
Due to its semi-modular design, the saw can accent a range of other attachments, including parts that turn it into a leaf blower or hedge trimmer. This means that it can become a versatile piece of equipment for homes with very limited storage space since it combines a vast range of tools into a single item.
This pole saw is ideal for people who want to cut down on the number of individual tools they own, especially since it can be converted into a range of other garden equipment with special attachments.
Check Price on Amazon ➞10. Poulan Pro PR25PS Pole Saw
This strong gas-engine-based pole saw uses a very quick and simple starting system, letting you start the cutting process almost immediately. The built-in stop switch enables you to quickly turn off the blade and chain in emergencies, while the air purge system makes sure that you won’t have your fuel system and engine full of air when you’re trying to turn it on.
The default size of the pole can be extended by three feet, allowing you to reach branches that are further away without needing to stand on another object, such as a stepladder. Despite being a gas-powered tool, the PR25PS is still lighter than some other models, meaning that it won’t feel uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time.
This gas-powered pole saw is simple, yet effective, offering some useful features without being too complicated or over-the-top to use correctly.
Check Price on Amazon ➞Pole Saw Buyer’s Guide
Buying a pole saw is just like buying any other piece of cutting equipment: you need to make sure that you’re purchasing the right thing, and not just for performance reasons. Safety, fuel efficiency, and ease of use can all have a massive impact on the tool itself, especially when you’re not that experienced with this kind of tool and don’t know what you should be looking for.
Safety Features
Perhaps the most important part of any heavy-duty-tool purchase is the level of safety and protection it can guarantee. Even well-trained professionals will sometimes have accidents, and pole saws use the same blades as chainsaws – which are well-known for being some of the most lethal non-industrial tools available to the general public. In some cases, something as small as an emergency stop button or a way to disconnect the power will be the difference between life and death or a severe injury at the very least.
If you’ve never bought/used a pole saw before, try to go for one with a lot more safety features. This can be big things, like emergency stops and automated safety systems, or even just minor details like better grips and more reliable connections between different components: losing your hold on a saw’s grip can be just as dangerous as the engine failing, especially when you’ve not had much experience with using a tool like that in the first place.
This can be especially important for pole saws that offer a long, extendable body. Not all extension methods are the same, with some being based on a twistable system and others including a completely separate section of the body that you have to install between the other two. Depending on the manufacturer’s choices, these could have some serious hidden downsides – for example, if the main body of an adjustable pole is slippery, it could collapse mid-cut or trap your fingers in part of the mechanism.
Fuel Type
While the obvious rules about environmental impact still apply, there can also be some other significant differences between electric- and gas-powered pole saws. For one, gas-powered models are almost always noisier and smellier, making them a less pleasant experience to be around. On the other hand, they can often provide the best cutting power and are usually resistant to weather conditions that might affect an electric model’s performance.
Choosing between the two is a case of thinking about where you’ll use it – if you’re in a big urban or suburban area where noise pollution is frowned upon, it’s often a better idea to go the quieter route if possible. On the other hand, if you’re worried about constant rain or humid weather damaging the electric components of your tools, it might be best to go for a gas-powered model so that you don’t electrocute yourself mid-cut.
There’s also the problem of resupplying them. Not all electric pole saws are fuelled with rechargeable batteries, so you’ll be limited to the length of the extension cord or the life of the standard batteries you’re using to fill them. This can be a problem in homes with a vast garden, especially if you’re in a semi-rural area where large batteries aren’t easy to find, and gas-powered models don’t usually have these same limitations: however, they can be much more expensive, and damage the environment.
Weight
Weight is another important factor in buying a pole saw, and for a good reason: you’ll often have to lift the tool far above the ground, and dropping it can cause a lot of damage to anything underneath you. For example, if you’re trying to cut down a tree with a tool that’s too heavy to hold above your head, you’ll have to try and angle it up – if you’re not strong enough, you might end up waving it about more than you intend to.
Your own strength will also be a factor since it can take a lot of upper body strength to lift a fully-fuelled gas-powered pole saw into an angle where it can cut properly. However, there’s almost always a trade-off in terms of weight. Some of the lighter models don’t extend very far, so you’ll still need a stepladder or conventional ladder to reach the proper heights – you can also hold them above your head for extra reach, but this isn’t recommended for first-time users.
However, some lighter saws can be used one-handed with relative ease, allowing you to hold onto a ladder or steady yourself on another surface while cutting. Electrically-powered pole saws are lighter than gas-powered models in almost every case, especially when you consider that gas-powered tools need to hold their fuel inside the tank, which adds to their overall weight and makes them harder to move around.
This doesn’t mean that the body is actually lighter, though, so you might find that a gas-powered tool is easier to store or carry when it’s empty. It’s up to you whether or not this is a good thing since it depends on the circumstance you’ll be using it under.
Expert Tip
Many electric-powered pole saws can be dangerous to use in wet conditions, especially during heavy rain. Try to avoid using them in these situations unless it’s absolutely necessary, or invest in one that’s meant to be mostly waterproof. If you’re really worried about being shocked, rubber gloves can keep your hands protected in a worst-case scenario.
Did you know?
Charged batteries are slightly heavier than fully-discharged batteries, although the difference is almost impossible to notice. This means that corded pole saws are the only type that doesn’t get heavier since they don’t store any fuel or power.