It’s Christmas all year round with Pellenc

The battery-powered Pellenc Prunion pruning shears have proved to be instrumental in helping one of the UK’s largest Christmas tree growers.

Tayside Forestry has been producing Christmas trees in the heart of the Angus countryside in Scotland for nearly 60 years. The company produces approximately 80,000 Christmas trees each year on 500 acres of prime land and its clients include large retail businesses, wholesalers and garden centres. It also sells directly to the public from the farm throughout December, turning its farm shed into a Christmas tree forest and light show.

Adam Robinson is the Farm Manager for Tayside Forestry and oversees the growing and the selling of the Christmas trees. He explained how the centrepiece of every home during the festive period takes a lot of hard work and dedication.

“Nordmann Fir and Fraser Fir are the main crops that we grow, and we have about 1.1 million trees in the ground,” he said. “We will normally take the trees out of the field in their seventh year, but we have to carefully nurture them along the way.

“During the process we let them grow and develop their root system and once they have got to a certain height (approximately thigh level) we will continue shaping the tree to make sure they have that beautiful Christmas tree shape.

“In particular, we carry out bottom handling on the trees,” continued Adam. “The purpose of this is to keep the bottom ten inches of the tree clear of branches so that people can get the Christmas trees into the stands. This is where the Pellenc Prunion comes in.”

The Prunion pruning shears are ideal for growers looking for the most powerful, lightest and most innovative tool on the market. Its grip fits any hand, and its large cutting diameter makes it incredibly comfortable to use. The numerous innovations of this pruning shear make it indispensable for professionals seeking either freedom of movement with the 150P pocket or the possibility to alternate tools with the 250 battery, which allows users to connect two Pellenc tools simultaneously.

Tayside Forestry purchased five Prunions with the 250 batteries from Pellenc distributor Agrovista Amenity and Adam revealed that they have made a huge difference to operations.

“Previously we used to have an air compressor and a lot of hose to do this job, but it was costly and took a very long time – we needed a solution,” he said. “Now, with the Pellenc Prunions we are so much more agile – you don’t have to have an air hose cable following you round or an air compressor.
“The team moves more freely and simply walk around the trees – the job is now completed in a much quicker time. One of the main reasons for purchasing the Prunion is because many of our fields are located on steep hills and it can get to where all the other equipment just cannot.

“There are quite a few settings and operating modes which is really handy. For example, if you are in a field with big branches at the bottom of the tree, you can adjust the settings to open the shears wider; and you can be sensitive on the trigger or aggressive depending on the task. It is a very precise tool.”

Adam estimates that last year the five Pellenc pruning shears were used for somewhere between 167 and 189 hours, and never once did the battery power fail the Tayside Forestry team.

“The team can be out in the field cutting with them constantly from 7am-5pm,” continued Adam. “Not one set has ever run out of battery on us – you could easily get two days’ work out of them.

“Originally, they were just purchased for bottom handling, but we have found a lot of other uses for them like clearing old fields, bottom handling very old trees, they can be used alongside marking trees, collecting branches and making Christmas wreaths.”

After working hard throughout the year, Adam sent the Prunions for an annual service at the expert Pelllenc technical centre in Edinburgh.

“I was very impressed with the service and it was all part of the warranty agreement,” he said. “I simply dropped them off locally to Agrovista Amenity and all five Prunions were back within a couple of weeks with new blades and in excellent condition ready to be put to work again.

“I’ve used electrics for quite a number of years for pruning and these are the best set I’ve ever come across,” Adam continued. “They are practical, easy to use, cost effective and function very well. They have proved to be an exceptionally good purchase.”

Pellenc products are exclusively distributed in the UK by Etesia UK.