Ryobi 18V One+ Pole Pruner OPP1820

The pole, when all 3 sections are connected, is not rigid, the pruner wobbles around. I've had to dispense with using one of the sections. It cuts through branches quite well, but where there's additional foliage it continually gets blocked. The user manual, as with all of the Ryobi tools I've bought, is woefully inadequate and would benefit from fewer drawings and more text instructions. Show details

Poor design, critical part breaks! – Bought this a year ago if not less than a year. It’s now a paper weight. The design is poor, everything runs off a critical part, this small tiny part is the tensioner. Small little bit of steel. This broke, cannot find another kit locally. $60 to buy a kit from China. Baffles me that the main tension of the saw runs off this small critical part? Where as other pole saws have a solid metal plate to tension the chain. Show details

So Far So Good – I've only had this pole pruner for a couple of weeks and so far I have no concerns as mentioned in other reviews. I have a tall mulberry tree which I used to prune either by climbing up the middle of the tree and reaching out, or by standing on a ladder. Neither option is available to me now after an unrelated accident so I suddenly found myself… Read more

in the market for a chainsaw on a pole.

This is certainly a lightweight chainsaw (by that I mean that you won't be toppling some huge ironbark any time soon with it) because it is not a lightweight in relation to the actual weight of the equipment - and it certainly doesn't feel too light at full extension wobbling around trying to cut accurately. It's a workout on the arms for sure. It will cut through decent sized limbs and in fact it's probably better on the bigger branches because it will tend to bounce off the little ones without cutting them.

I haven't had any issues with excess oil leaking down the pole, nor was there excessive oil usage after giving it hours of use turning a very over-grown tree into a manageable sized tree. It wasn't too power hungry too - flattened a 5Ah battery and started on another one before the end of the day.

Overall, it's a decent compromise between weight / power / convenience. It's either this or a Elevated Working Platform with a more manageable chainsaw, so I can see the direction that Ryobi have taken.

P.S. - Dear Ryobi, could you please include in the future enough chain oil just to get it up and working on the day when it is purchased? That would seriously improve your customers satisfaction after the purchase, rather than muttering your brand name (in a non flattering manner) all the way back to Bunnings to purchase chain oil.

Had This Unit for 6 Years and Still Going Strong – I first purchased this unit to trim tree branches overhanging my back fence. After charging, the unit has performed faultlessly, easily cutting branches up to 3 inches (150mm) thick. The pole makes cutting high up or horizontally at a distance achievable, although a little heavy when held almost at arm's length. However, once the blade is… Read more

positioned on the branch to be cut, the weight of the unit is sufficient to keep the blade cutting through. I have found that I need to re-tension the chain before each use, and top up the oil occasionally, with none of the oil leak problems others have experienced. I have also found the pruner excellent to cut off shrubs and small trees right at ground level, while standing well back and achieving a neat result. My positive experience with this unit has resulted in me purchasing 5 other Ryobi One+ battery powered tools, and three more batteries. All these units have proven reliable, convenient and very useful.

For what it is, surprisingly good. Some design weaknesses – I purchased this and a pole hedge-trimmer about 18months ago. They got a heavy workout on days 1 & 2, then not much for a while. Note: I haven't had the problem with oil getting on the pole, not the chain, as seems to be a common fault from other reviews. I am also an experienced/trained chainsaw operator/owner. I also own a range of Ryobi… Read more

One+ tools, mostly drills. And the drills were purchased because it was the cheapest way to buy batteries! (Last one I bought, I got a drill, two batteries and a charger for the price of two batteries). The plus: Correctly tensioned, oiled, and set up, this tool will operate off-on for about an hour on a larger battery. We recently cleared away a fairly substantial tree-fall (700mm at widest, 5 metres of tree) using just this tool. I was impressed. Correct technique such as 1/3up, 2/3 down on branches under tension helped. The best: Being naughty, I patched together the extension on the hedge-trimmer and the saw and made a very long pole-saw. I cut the top out of an overgrowing tree; soft-green wood. That single job for getting an extra two hours of sun on the solar panels paid for both tools in money not spent on a tree surgeon. The negative: The design is "too-clever"; if one has never used a chainsaw it's easy to make mistakes with tensioning the chain, missing the chain-tensioner altogether and having the thing shake itself into components (almost happened). The very-long Allen key is a very clever tool - if Allen bolts were the right bolts, which they're not! (Designed by someone who doesn't actually use one?) And one-only bolt to hold the chain-cover in place - inadequate. It should have conventional hex-head nuts on inbuilt bolts and a flat-screw chain-tensioner (for ease of cleaning). The Allen-bolt tensioner in particular fills up with oily sawdust. A side benefit from it being a pole-saw; it makes accidents from kick-back less likely. A side hazard from it being a pole-saw; it makes accidents with your assistant very easy. Tip: I use a heavier than recommended oil for the chain, it seems to work. I would not use this (heavier) oil on my petrol chainsaw.

This might be all the 'chainsaw' many households need. The chain is good quality, but sharpening saw-chains is a bit of an art. From the other reviews, apparently one has to make sure 'one gets a good one'. Recommended with that codicil.

Great tool very user friendly – Used the pole trimmer to reduce height of 6 to 8m to around 3m lilly pilli in front yard. Worked really well once I got used to handling the unit. Only issue was the range of extension seemed to be much smaller than published so had to use the unit without the shoulder strap in a number of areas which was a bit awkward but not impossible. My only… Read more

concern with no strap was one of safety and manouverability. If you were careful it wasnt an issue but a gung ho user might easily come to grief. The chain saw was amazing in that it cut almost all the branches with ease. I used a smal electric 240v chain saw I had to doc the large branches to trailer size as the pole unit was too long to do this safely. A feature that Ryobi might consider is making a handle for the pole CS which is shorter and can be used for the doc work as the 5amp battery did one whole lilli pilli with ease and not having to get my corded chain saw out to finish off would be a blessing and feature I would appreciate

Great purchase, heavier than expected – Great tool! Works well with a standard ryobi 18v battery. It’s a little hard to manoeuvre if you’re short, but you get used to it. Also heavier than expected. Easy to put together as well. Show details

Handy Long Reach Pruner – I originally purchased one of these and after three uses it stopped working. Couldn't work out why. I contacted Ryobi who were very good about it and I took it back to Bunnings and exchanged it for another. I have had this now for two years and it's had a reasonable amount of use without any issues. This tool has been very good for pruning… Read more

branches that would normally be out of reach even with a standard step ladder. So in this sense it has been very practicable and has served me well. I have also used it on a few occasions as a substitute chainsaw and cut thick pieces with a diameter of around 150mm and had no problems. In fact I used it instead of a Stihl petrol driven chainsaw only because the latter's saw chain was blunt.

The fact that it is cordless is a bonus - instant start is fantastic ...compared with having to mix fuel and then going through the trials and tribulations of pull starting and choke adjustment... big difference!

So aside from the initial disappointment, I'm quite happy with this this tool and surprised that it has been going well without any hiccups for two years now.

Pole pruner use - without the pole? – I have a Ryobi Pole Pruner ... but for some areas I need to be able to use the pruner without the pole. Does anyone know how to connect the pruner directly to the battery section without the pole in between? I don't wish to go an purchase another product eg chainsaw. Show details

Terrible service from Ryobi – Lost white cap off oil tank & it can't be replaced because they released a new modal & changed the size of the cap so it doesn't fit the OPP 1820 model. Show details

Great pruner – Great pruner so far. Have used it about 10 hrs cutting lemon gum and black wattle including dry dead branches and had no problems. It does use a lot if chain oil, but doesnt leak for me unlike others, so you do need to keep a eye on that and the chain need tighten every 15 or 20 mins of use. Very quiet and not that heavy. Great battery life. Show details

Fantastic – I've got a lot of the One+ products so figured I'd give this a go. This is a great product, much easier and safer than using a step ladder. Being battery powered it's not the fastest at cutting, but since I only need to cut through relatively thin branches it does the job well. Show details

Oil leaks – The saw has only been used for several minutes and it leaking the bar and chain oil down the pole. Very annoying. Back to Bunnings. We are in the country with our closest store an hour away. Show details

Dear Ryobi, useful piece of equipment and works. However, user manual is a joke, a cartoon with no words? Disappointed – Dear Ryobi, useful piece of equipment and works. However, user manual is a joke. l would be embarrassed to produce something like this, a cartoon with no words? Very Disappointed Show details

Saw OK, Ryobi Fail – Saw has been good,Available up until recently. Critical parts no longer available for a relatively new item. I now have the Ryobi $200 paperweight. Not very pleased and will think twice before buying Ryobi again. Show details

Great idea but build quality seems average – I purchased this a few months ago because the price was good, i've had good success with other Ryobi ONe+ tools, and already had the batteries. This Pole saw is a great idea and so far has worked fine for me, however the chain oil seems to leak out all over the place and runs down the pole, handle, motor, etc. It also doesn't seem to be oiling… Read more

the chain from what i can see which will lead to premature chain failure down the track too. I think this has some serious design flaws that need to be rectified. As this has the 6yr Ryobi warranty i have a bad feeling i may be needed it sooner than later. But time will tell!

No problems despite what I'd read here – After reading a few very negative reviews, I was prepared to take my new purchase back (unopened) for a refund. I decided to persevere. I found the manual required some interpretation, and after staring at the manual and the saw for a day or two, I found out how one can adjust the chain tension via the smaller of the two hex keys. This step is… Read more ·  1

very poorly noted and explained in the IKEA-like manual. (I wonder in hindsight whether some problems associated with its use are to do with poor chain adjustment?) I then adjusted the chain tension to the recommended values before I started. I filled the oil tank with trepidation and waited for it all to spontaneously empty itself, which it did not. I then cut down two dead small trees/shrubs up to 4 metres high, working mostly without the lengthening third section of the pole. It worked very well and chewed through branches up to its recommended diameters. I looked at the chain tension halfway through the job and adjusted the tension once. At the end of the task, I'd used about 20% of the oil in the tank without any obvious leaks down the length of the saw. Did a basic cleanout of sawdust on the whole chain at the end of the job as well. Very happy with my purchase. I just wonder which generic chain I can use to replace the first chain when it finally gives up.

Poor quality – Oil leaked from seemingly everywhere upon first filling it. This was brand new. What a mess. I still soldiered on and tried getting the pruner to even spin and it was dead with the battery fully charged. Unfortunately my wife threw out the receipt, so I will see if I can fix this myself, but the lack of any life doesn't give me hope. … Read more

Thanks for other comments about how to fix the hose. Hopefully the oil leaking everywhere hasn't ruined it.

Top Heavy – Bought one today, but it's very top heavy, the trigger is at one end and the weight at the other, no matter how you adjust the harness it's just impossible to use at it's full length...returned. Staff member at Bunnings told me they are hard to use. If they had the trigger half way down it would have made a difference. The shorter one which I have is great.  Show details

Disappointed in Ryobi cordless product range - failing just after warranty expiration – I've bought around 10 or more Ryobi cordless products - cordless drills, reciprocating saw, impact driver etc. Plus the pole saw which I bought in the past 2.5/3 years. However, today I was lopping some branches back and the saw stopped. I believed the 5amp battery needed recharging and came back later to continue lopping some branches. … Read more

Nothing! Nadda! The saw was totally dead! I reattached the poles, removed and tried a different battery but still nothing! This saw is totally useless now. It hasn't had that much work either and the hours on it are minimal. But now it's out of warranty, there is nothing I can do but only to warn other would be buyers.

Very disappointed, but what is more disappointing is the fact I loved the Ryobi codress range. I use to boast to friends and family, not now though. I will be warning them in earnest.

Additionally, I also had a the other 5 amp battery die on me a couple of weeks ago as well but this is also outside the warranty claim (these are not cheap $199 for twin pack). I'm beginning to see a trend here. Product failures after 3 - 4 years then the expectations of more purchases.

Pole saw seems seized – For some reason my Ryobi battery operated saw just stopped and seems to be seized. It has operated perfectly since I bought it and I am very happy with it. When I push the levers to operate it nothing happens and the chain cog won’t turn. Anyone else had this or overcome it some how?  Show details

This Faulty Product Remains on Sale – Purchased this product a few days ago. On first use it had oil running down the pole. A quick search has revealed this is a common occurrence. I spoke to Ryobi's technical support today and drew their attention to these reviews. They claimed they had no knowledge of the problem. I was advised to pull it apart and see if I could locate the… Read more

problem.

My request to have them look into the matter and call me back was rejected. I was told if I wasn't prepared to pull it apart I should return it.

Oil leaks the second time around – Purchased this a month ago and within half an hour of usage had the chain oil running down the pole onto my hands. Took it back to Bunnings and they said that have never had an issue with this unit and replaced it. The second unit has the exact same problem, back to Bunnings we go...  Show details

OK for the money if you can fix it! – Having been frustrated with a "cheap" petrol Chinese pole cutter which was heavy, often difficult to start and constantly shedding its chain due to bad design, I noticed The Ryobi 18V Pole Saw in the entrance of the local Bunnings. Well this should solve some problems I thought. Electric, so no starting problems, no excessive noise and hot parts… Read more

and no fumes. The perfect Greenie, neighbour friendly tool!

Well out of the box....simple to assemble, charge the battery, put the oil in and outside to conquer the undergrowth....well prune a few trees really.

Hmm whats this slippery oily stuff running down the handle? Look in the oil tank....empty! Well where is it made.....(did I need to ask?)!

The long and short of it all....take it back? What a hassle, probably get the next one with the same problem.

OK can't be too much wrong with it....maybe an oil tube come loose. With some help from good old You Tube I dismantled it (remove Ryobi lable to find the last screw), to find a 90 degree rubber tube from the oil tank twisted like a stick of liquorice with a tear at the inner 90 degree angle. Not having any suitable replacement tubing I degreased and untwisted the tube put some super glue on the tear, reassembled..... and presto now as good as gold for the last few weeks. 15/40 motor oil works a treat.

The design could be better, it's too top heavy and puts a lot of strain on your shoulders. The harness strap is useless because if you let it take the weight on your shoulders then you can't reach the on/off trigger!

But for the $200 I paid for it with a 2 amp/h battery & charger, I'm not complaining (my shoulder is!)

Recommended, with reservations, at this price point.

Potential is great – I found the oil ran out of it all down the handle it did not appear to get on the chain. There was a piece of sponge in the oil compartment should that have stayed or be removed. It did work ok . I was concerned about the oil on the battery contacts.  Show details

Great. However it’s got a little flaw – Brought this little beauty a while back. It worked well initially. But the guide bar is held in place by one screw. And noted this would come loose about twice during use. We had multiple crepe myrtles that needed their yearly prune and I would spend lots of time putting the chain back on. In the end I had tightened that screw more than it could… Read more

handle and it began to burr. It’s a simple thing to replace. But it’s going to fail so be ready for that.

All in all if you have the Ryobi batteries already and enjoy the product like I do this won’t be a deal breaker. Ryobi has parts to replace these items. I just need to have time to get one myself. After I have moved to a new home my poor pruner has just sat no more crepe myrtles to cut yearly.

Breakdown

Has pole sections that screw apart to make the reach longer or shorter. Depending on the branch you need to get to.

Operates well (while chains tension is ok)

Regular stops for checking chain is advisable.

Nice feel.

Would easily buy this again even if I knew about the screw.

a returner – Purchased at bunnings. Tried it out and couldnt tighten,the ,ost important part of it, it kept slipping, so couldnt do the job it was meant to do. Too dangerouse to much about with a product thats being used on a ladder up a tree! Returned it,staff who thought he was a very important person, didnt like the fact we returned it. Bought a much better quality one elsewhere, works like a dream.  Show details

Where have you been all my life – Awesome. Purchased this little beauty a couple of weeks ago and gave it a flogging on the weekend. Mum has a large Jacaranda tree in her back yard. This saw gave me access from the ground and ripped the thing to pieces easy as. Green branches up to 150mm were a breeze and as I had a hedge trimmer with the same extension poles, I added another that… Read more

gave me access to around 4m in height. 3 ute loads in minutes. The thing is still brand new so the longevity of the product is unknown at this point.

Does the job but not as easily as I’d hoped – The pruner has a central extension that you can remove, I can only use it in the shorter version as it’s pretty top heavy, the male in the house has less difficulty but agrees that it’s not well balanced. I can see so many ways to better design this tool, it’s a shame Ryobi missed the opportunity. Regardless, it does the job well and runs fairly quietly.  Show details

Surprisingly Capable – I purchased the Ryobi Pole Pruner to tame all that was difficult to reach in a Queensland yard. The product is a surprisingly capable little pruner. As others have mentioned, it does have a drinking problem. Do keep bar oil by side. And like all chainsaw the chain does require regular sharpening to perform well. Very happy with the purchase, ideal for domestic pruning purposes.  Show details

Oil leak problem solved – The issue with oil leaking out of the saw and running down the handle is caused by a poorly designed oil tube from the tank to the oil pump. It happened to me within an hour of buying this pruner. I pulled it apart (brand spanking new), washed all the oil of all the parts and replaced the split molded tubing with a piece of plastic tube and all is… Read more

well. There`s no point taking this product back to the shop other than for a refund. I suspect there`s either faulty batch, or they will all do it at some point. The tube I`m talking about has been molded into a 90 degree elbow shape and splits along the seams. It needs to be a proper seamless tube to be 100% reliable. having said that, this sort of nonsense goes on with the big brands as well and sometimes a simple tube can`t be used due to the design of the product - just they way the manufacturer intended....you pay $100 for a 50 cent part.

Easy to use and manage , some disappointments – Uses a lot of chain bar oil, this runs down the handle and dips out the front of the chain,,,, The chain requires tighten/adjusting often... only had the pruner 3 weeks appears to need a new chain I will check with my local Bunnings store next week,.. Easy to use and manage handles the pruning I need to do well, battery has good life .Lady gardener..  Show details

Bloomin’ Marvelous – Used to top prune Pepper tree. I couldn’t use chain saw due to weight and inability to manoeuvre . Climbed up tree and used shortest length. This pole saw was perfect for the job and chewed through 6 inches diam branches with ease. On ground added additional poles and finished the job. Very pleased with the result. Light weight, sharp chain, good ergonomics. Just keep the chain sharp and connections tight.  Show details

Works perfectly! – I've used this many times, on my farm and at my parents cutting branches with ~diameter of 120mm and it's never let me down. Even the 2.5Ah lasts long enough to do a decent amount of pruning.. (Just drain the chain oil when done) Beats taking the petrol one out. IMHO it's fantastic.  Show details

Works great – Has not let me down yet. But pretty top heavy.