I've been waiting for about 10 weeks for the trailer park people to trim a couple branches that rub on my trailer. Finally bought a pruner. In 15 minutes I was able to do what the trailer park people haven't done in 10 weeks. I used the saw mostly, and the pull rope a couple times. I have not used a pole saw before, so I don't know if this is better or worse than the next one. But, it did my job for me.