BLACK+DECKER Alligator Powered Lopper 550 W with Chainsaw Cutting Performance in Fully Enclosed Bar and Chain GK1000-GB

We bought one of the GK1000 "Alligator" loppers because we needed to deal with a hedge that had become overgrown and a number of self set trees had start to grow in and around it. It's a great tool that sits roughly midway between an all out chainsaw and a large pair of manual loppers/pruners or small tree saw. The design means that it's much safer to use than a normal chainsaw, light enough (and small enough) to slip in between the branches of a hedge, and because it takes little effort you can trim down large branches etc a bit at a time working your way into the hedge. In the space of about 15 minutes it did more than we had managed in a couple of hours by hand. You also suddenly find you can get a lot more in the boot of the car or in the green bin because cutting branches down to smaller sections is no longer hard work that takes a lot of time. My one minor complaint, which I think others have mentioned, is that whilst it comes with an empty applicator bottle for oil, it does not however come with the oil itself so before you use it you need to buy some chainsaw oil, which is an irritant if you don't already have some handy.

This is completely fabulous and I'd recommend it to everyone! As a female in my late 60s, a chainsaw novice and not quite confident or strong enough to use my son's large petrol chainsaw, I have been able to completely tame my garden shrubs and trees and cut up logs for the fire. I started with old dry limbs that had been well seasoned and it went through them like butter. Over a month or two, I've become more confident/experienced and find the Alligator is also great for new wood, so long as the small green twigs are stripped away first (these small bits can jam things up). Easy to solve - if that happens, stop cutting straight away and unscrew the only two bolts (not hard to find and tool supplied ) to unjam - and I do this anyway to clean and reoil it after every use, which is a quick simple job. This also auto-retensions the chain so it's a good bit of routine maintenance and takes only 5 minutes. Having managed to get the Alligator stuck in a tree (call to my son for help) he taught me to make a small cut on the 'falling side' first, then cut from the other side, to stop that happening. This has also shown me that it is possible to easily cut through quite large diameter pieces (6 inches/15cm or more - see pic) by cutting from one side and then the other. And I've now developed the 'advanced technique! :-)' of rotating the saw as I cut, which has the same effect. As others have said, no oil reservoir and a little slitted hole to drip oil through means you do have to constantly lubricate every few minutes - and as others have also said, it is easier to oil the chain directly. The not-too-accurate plastic bottle supplied doesn't help. But that's a small inconvenience in the scheme of things. And I now have a small metal oil can with a flexible spout which is much more accurate. The Alligator really does cut through wood like butter - it's so fast, accurate (since you hold the wood in the jaws and can see where the cut is going) and easy that it's much bettter than larger, powerful petrol chainsaws for some jobs - my son even borrowed it to make the lovely wooden coasters/display bases that you see in the second photo. Absolutely love my Alligator!

Great tool, As most of the other owners of this tool will say the thought of using a chainsaw to me is a little scary. This tool however is very easy to use and takes away some of the risk of using a chain saw. It states on the instructions not to use the item on ladders but if your sensible (as with any tool) I used it to prune an out of control pear tree. I managed to cut through sections of the tree that measured 4inchs (10cm) just let the chain do the work. Once all the tree sections are on the ground this tool is great making light work of cutting sections and even cutting up small twigs and branch's which are hard to do with a chainsaw. With the chain being protected via the jaws your much less likely to damage it and it protects the chain from dulling which happens if your chain hits soil on the ground. Before I purchased I did a bit of research and I was also looking at the worx WG307E Jawsaw but I was struggling to find one in the uk competitively priced. All in all a great tool that is very versatile and much safe to use and maintain over a chainsaw for the DIY gardener.

Absolutely brilliant idea. Great for all the smaller pieces of wood that are too fiddly for a chainsaw. Makes really light work of chopping done smaller trees or lopping branches of bigger ones. It is so much quicker to chop fire wood into length for the wood burner than the chainsaw. I have used it absolutely loads. It seems so safer than a normal chainsaw as most of the time the chain is pretty much enclosed. The ability to grip stuff is fantastic. I have to thanks a previous reviewer who mentioned about the poor self oiling function. It is absolutely diabolical and is the only drawback of this tool. I bought an old fashioned oil can and oil the chain and bar every 15 cuts or so. It takes about 10 seconds to oil and I am sure it is why this has lasted so long and is still going strong. (I tip the saw on its side so the chain bar is horizontal and squirt 2-3 squirts on to the bar and it runs on to the chain. I started using biodegradable chainsaw oil but read another review about using vegetable oil and that is all I now use for this and my main chainsaw. I haven't noticed any difference in wear. I think it is probably better for the tool as I am not worried about how much oil i use both in terms of cost and how much sprays over the garden so I use a lot more than I would otherwise use. The inbuilt oil reservoir just doesn't seem to work and the filler they provided is next to useless.

Das Gerät funktioniert einwandfrei und ist bestens geeignet um Äste bis 10 cm Durchmesser zu schneiden. Man wird hier aber wohl beachten müssen, zuerst die Säge anlaufen zu lassen und dann zuzupacken - nicht umgekehrt, sonst wird's wohl mit Qualm und -Gestank den Geist aufgeben Jedoch war jedenfalls das mir gelieferte Gerät mit einem Commonwealth-Stecker versehen, sodass ich mir einen Reiseadapter kaufen musste um es gleich verwenden zu können. Der einzige Hinweis, dass es für den englischen Markt ist, den ich hätte erkennen können, ist das GB in der Produktbezeichnung ("GK1000-GB"). Es gibt bei diesem Gerät unterschiedliche Typen. Das mir gelieferte Gerät ist "Type 2", also das neue Produkt. Da ich einen Preisnachlass erhalten habe, der mir den Reiseadapter und die Kupplung zum Anschluss für ein Adapterkabel (MasterPlug Heavy Duty UK Stromkabel Buchse Rewireable 13a BS1363 A) ersetzt, verzichte ich auf einen Abzug, weil das Gerät hält, was es verspricht.

A mi parecer una maravilla. Aún teniendo una motosierra grande, el uso que doy a esta pequeñaja es increíble. Muy ligera, muy segura y hace su trabajo de maravilla. Si no quieres complicarte la vida con máquinas de gasolina esta es tu motosierra. Con la única limitación de no cortar ramas ni troncos de más de 10-15.

L'articolo è arrivato nei tempi e nei modi previsti e si comporta coerentemente con le aspettative: comodo, leggero, maneggevole e estremamente efficace! Un solo problema: arriva dal regno unito e la spina necessita di un adattatore per essere utilizzato qui da noi, non è grave, ma è bene saperlo.

Pourquoi livrez vous en France un appareil avec une prise américaine ?Obligation=aller chez Castorama ou autre pour acheter un adaptateur .Sinon l appareil fonctionne très bien

Bonjour, le produit est bien arrivé, mais quelle ne fut pas ma surprise de constater que le branchement électrique est doté d'une fiche mâle anglaise, chose qui n'était pas du tout signalé.