HANDMADE CHESTNU BUR PICKERS

A homemade option, developed by Dave Armstrong of the Pennsylvania Chapter, is a window washing stick with a heavy wire attached and bent into a crook which can extend to 18 feet.

I used a pole pruner (see below) for a while but found it difficult to use and it caused damage to all the new growth where the ends were cut. I have made up an attachment that works much better for me. It is made up from a paint roller rod. I bent the rod and cut to the desired length. They are quite hard and may have to be heated with a torch at the point where you bend them to keep them from breaking. The twist closest to the paint rod has to be small enough so that the burs can not slide through, and you need at least 1.5 twist so that it will not come off the limb after it is twisted on. See attached pictures...

I just twist the attached spiral around a limb just back from the burrs, and then push it away from me. This way it strips the burrs off the end of the limb and is then free to be twisted around another limb.I usually pick the burrs from larger trees, which I have to climb, and push directly away from the trunk.

COMMERCIAL POLE PRUNERS:

On the left is a pole pruner/saw from Corona. On the right is one from Ace Hardware. These two are simply used as examples