Spent 3 years pruning with a dull bypass pruner before a guy at the Salem co-op asked to see my cut

Morgan Hayes · 2026-10-17T01:10:04.332689+00:00

I was at the Salem co-op last month picking up a new handsaw when the guy behind the counter nodded at the pruner hanging off my belt and asked if he could see one of my cuts on a branch by the door. He looked at the crushed tissue on the stem and just said, "that's a dull blade, not a sharp one." Turns out I'd been mashing my way through every limb for 3 years, and the torn cambium was the reason I kept seeing dieback on stuff I'd trimmed a season earlier. He pulled out a file and showed me how to touch up the bevel in about 4 minutes instead of me just buying a new pair every spring. Now I sharpen every 8 to 10 hours of cutting and the difference in how clean the wood looks is wild. Anyone else figure this out way later than they should have, or am I the only one who thought a pruner was just done once it got sticky?

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Spent 3 years pruning with a dull bypass pruner before a guy at the Salem co-op asked to see my cut | Arborists - Guest Forum