Stihl pole pruners HT101 vs HT 131

Bermy

Acolyte of the short bar
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So...we are saving towards getting a pole saw.
My Mr. likes the 4stroke one better, I find the HT 101 a bit of a struggle to use for more than a few cuts, as its that bit much heavier and bulky that the HT75, but I can see the advantage in the extra grunt of the 4 stroke over the old 2 stroke.

Now, the Mr. is keen on the HT131 because of the extra power...but I'm concerned about the weight

Is there that much more/better difference in performance between the 101 and 131?

Over here the 101 is $1484AUD and the 131 is $1589AUD
 
I hate running a pole pruner but bought one anyway a few years ago just for practicality. I went with the HT101 because I didn't want the extra weight of the 131. Unfortunately the HT75 was no longer available here. I've had it for about 3 years and it runs flawlessly whenever I need to pull it out.

If you get the 131 then you can assign it to your husband and never have to pick it up. :D
 
The 131 is a little power house, thats all I can add.

I'd like to add the non extendable one to the fleet too, for out of bucket cuts.
 
Went from the 75 to the 131 and it was a huge jump up. Why a non extendable from the bucket Brendon? The extendable reach comes in handy.

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I'll def try it, that sucker torques my back though leaning off a ladder or something.

They make a angled head for it too, wonder if anyone's tried it.
 
I had always thought an angled head would be a nice idea .Standing directly under a limb to lop it's real easy to hang the saw.
 
I have a 101 and it has its uses but I hate running it, just plain heavy. It really shines on blow downs or storm dammage where you just don't want to get that close to loaded limbs. The power is not the greatest but keep the chain sharp and it will do okay, but it is no 200t.
 
If you have a weed eater you can put the pole saw head on it rather than buying a second pole just for non extendable
 
I have the angled head. I used it for a couple months and found that the chain bit too aggressively and bound up all the time. Maybe a skip chain would work better. I also have the Echo ppt-280 and like the fact that I can add an extension and sometimes two to get some serious reach for that one limb that isn't worth a climb.
 
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  • #11
Interesting...borrowing from the shoulder injuries thread, my Mr. has the shoulder pain thing quite bad right now...so the weight issue wasn't just for me.
I can still get a 2 stroke here, does anyone see any redeeming qualities for it rather than the heavier more powerful 4 stroke?
Has anyone run the 101, then bought a 131 and thought WOW wish I'd got that one first!?
 
I have always been of the belief that you can deal with extra weight or bulk in a tool, but when the time comes when you need power or reach, if you dont have it, you dont have it. That can be as much or more of a PITA then lugging the bulk and weight when its unnecessary.

If you are debating I would go with the bigger one; then, when you need it, you got it.

disclaimer, I havent used either tool.
 
If I could, I would have the HT75 instead of the 101, but I'm definitely in the minority. Everybody wants lots of power in their pole pruner but I'm not using it for huge cuts. I rarely use it on anything over 6" and mostly on 2"-4" material, I don't need a huge amount of power for that. I end up using my fiberglass manual pole saw on more stuff because I don't want to lug out the pole pruner. Of course keeping everything razor sharp makes it easier to use less power.
 
Brian,

for 2-4" stuff I would likely just use a pole saw anyway, but then again I dont have a powered pole saw to use at all. I would think 6" stuff would be the minimum.

I do however see how the 75 could be nice. It makes sense to me to either go with the lightest most agile model or the one with power... The middle seems like a poor compromise to me I guess. Again though, no experience here with the power-pole-saws.
 
My tenant has the 101 and he loves the thing. Says it grunts right through stuff. Weight wise.... he is sorta built like this guy, so I doubt it is an issue :lol:

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The 101 is plenty of saw. Sharp chain makes huge difference on the littleguy. We regularly put the saw head on a fs90 weedeater frame. Works real well from the bucket like that.
 
I converted my HT75 over to a full time hedge trimmer with the Stihl angled hedge trimmer head attachment.
I bought the HT75 about 10-12 yrs ago when I first started into the tree service biz, came in handy but was always a chore to store it with my equipment. After a couple of bent "very expensive" shafts I cut the shaft down to 2 feet, reinstalled the bushings and mounted the hedge trimmer permenetly.

My best advice for Fiona is what I found is a Silky Hayunchi blade and some sections of Jameson poles is far more versatile then the HT75-101.
 
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  • #20
Hey Willard, Some interesting tips there! I have a 21' Hayauchi, but we find lately that there is quite a bit of tip pruning of larger limbs to be done from the ground and the pole saw either takes too long, can't get the right angle or undercut, AND causes my Mr.'s shoulders to give him grief. In eight yrs in Bermuda I think I used a pole pruner three times...over here in Tasmania I could probably use it every other week!
I borrowed an HT75 for an ash tree the other day and it made short work of the larger cuts from the ground that the fiskars couldn't do. Not to mention he could be crashing down branches on a removal while I was getting ready to go up.
The Hayauchi has its niche, for sure, wouldn't be without it.
 
The 101 is fine i feel,131 seems to wear out faster eg-shafts and bearings.
 
I've never used a 101 or a 131 but have the older HT 75 model .It had plenty of power .

The weak link on those things were the splined aluminum shafts .If they ever got bent it was a hell of a job to ever get them straightened out .Some times almost impossible .The replacement shafts were over half the cost of a new machine .
 
I've got a Poulan pole saw which I think is 32 cc .Flex shaft non telescopic .Not built heavy duty enough for professional usage but cheap .Gets the job done for the occasional trim the tree in the back yard type stuff .Comes with a weed wacker included for around 200 bucks .
 

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