I’ve burned through two cheap pruners in three weeks working tomatoes in a 30x96 high tunnel — the sap gums the pivot and the spring starts sticking by midday. Anyone have a durable pair that stays sharp and cleans up fast — Felco 2, Okatsune 103, or something else? I’m wiping with 70% alcohol between rows and pruning about 150 plants each morning.
ARS VS-8Z has been my tomato workhorse — hard‑chrome blades shrug off the “sap gums the pivot” issue, and a tiny drop of camellia or silicone oil on the joint after each alcohol wipe keeps the spring snappy. Okatsune 103 cuts great too but needs more oiling to avoid surface rust with daily 70%, so want the ARS part numbers for spring/blades?
Felco 2 is fine, but the coil spring hates tomato glue — switch to a Bahco PXR‑M2 (Xylan-coated blade + sap groove) and hit the pivot with a dry PTFE spray right after your 70% wipe; mine stays slick through about 150 plants. @nora_tho80’s chrome note is right, but bumping to 91% ISO gums less by midday. If you stick with Felco, keep a spare spring in your pocket and swap at lunch.
But i run ARS 310 micro‑snips in my tunnel, and the one thing that stops the midday glue is rubbing a tea‑candle across the blades and pivot right after your 70% wipe — thin wax film keeps sap off and they flick clean for a few beds. @mia74’s coating point tracks; if you’re set on Felco, the wax trick still works — want to try snips for the tomatoes?
I fought the same stickiness in a 30×96, and what finally worked was switching to an ARS VS‑8Z and, every couple rows, dipping just the pivot into a jar cap of hot water with a drop of dish soap — resin breaks fast and the hard‑chrome blade wipes clean. I blot dry and touch the bolt with a fingertip of Super Lube (food‑grade silicone), and it’s kept moving through ‘150 plants each morning’; link if helpful: https://ars-tools.com/ars-vs-8z.
I stick with Felco 2s, but after your 70% wipe I hit the pivot with a single drop of dry PTFE lube — , tomato sap turns any wet oil into glue. The dry film doesn’t grab gunk and mine stays snappy through 150 plants; this is the one I use: https://www.dupont.com/products/teflon-non-stick-dry-film-lubricant.html. If you’d rather swap tools, fluorine‑coated blades (e.g., ARS 120‑series) shed sap well — would a quick spritz between rows fit your routine?
Bahco PX‑M2 has held up for me in a 30×96, and what finally stopped the gum‑up was a thin rub of furniture paste wax on the blades and spring before I start — it dries slick so sap releases and cleanup is quick (model: https://www.bahco.com/us_en/px-m2). If you stick with Felco 2s, the same “wax pre‑coat” works; I re‑touch once midway.