I've usually found Fiskars gardening products to be innovative and effective, but there's usually a kink in the design.  I still swear by the Power Lever shears because the blades move parallel and effortlessly, but the kink is the retaining pin which is a pressure fit which simply loosens with use as the hole in the blades enlarge.  As to this very lovely and innovative Power Gear lopper, well, let's say there are a lot of kinks.  As you may have discovered, the handles break and the blades are fragile.  Just how fragile?  Check Home Depot's website for feedback on this very lopper and you'll even see pictures of the chipped Titanium blade.  It happens a lot, a whole lot.  Quality control may well be to blame, but the material used in the titanium blade is just not solid or steel.  My blade broke or rather chipped the first week of use and the broken surface revealed something that looks like pot metal.  The material in the blade looks like a composite, a grainy composite.  If you look at the blade you'll see that's it's very hefty and designed to withstand a direct applied force, but apparently not a force related to twisting, which would act against the cutting edge with increased leverage due to the unusual depth of the blade and its almost rectangular shape.  So you have high tech materials that when working, operates as advertised, save for that extra span needed to clear the blade around let's say a 2 inch branch.  BUT here's the good news:  Fiskars has replacement blades.  Here's the not so good news:  Fiskars charged me a reasonable $7.99 for the blade, but a very, very hefty shipping and handling ($4.00 for the handling) charge of $11.39, making the modestly priced blade $19.38 to purchase and receive.  The replacement blade (they're determined by the distance between the mounting holes)is steel and shaped like traditional lopper blades:  no more composites, no more thick blades, which tells you something.  As to Power Gear hedge shears, well , count your blessings with the lopper, because there ain't no replacement parts for the hedge shears from Fiskars, and their kink is the composite Power Gear mechanism, which breaks teeth with a passion, rendering the unit useless, unless you have a similarly wounded twin, because the mechanisms are comprised of two sets of power gear parts, that are interchangeable front and rear.  There you go, have fun.
I've usually found Fiskars gardening products to be innovative and effective, but there's usually a kink in the design. I still swear by the Power Lever shears because the blades move parallel and effortlessly, but the kink is the retaining pin which is a pressure fit which simply loosens with use as the hole in the blades enlarge. As to this very lovely and innovative Power Gear lopper, well, let's say there are a lot of kinks. As you may have discovered, the handles break and the blades are fragile. Just how fragile? Check Home Depot's website for feedback on this very lopper and you'll even see pictures of the chipped Titanium blade. It happens a lot, a whole lot. Quality control may well be to blame, but the material used in the titanium blade is just not solid or steel. My blade broke or rather chipped the first week of use and the broken surface revealed something that looks like pot metal. The material in the blade looks like a composite, a grainy composite. If you look at the blade you'll see that's it's very hefty and designed to withstand a direct applied force, but apparently not a force related to twisting, which would act against the cutting edge with increased leverage due to the unusual depth of the blade and its almost rectangular shape. So you have high tech materials that when working, operates as advertised, save for that extra span needed to clear the blade around let's say a 2 inch branch. BUT here's the good news:  Fiskars has replacement blades. Here's the not so good news:  Fiskars charged me a reasonable $7. 99 for the blade, but a very, very hefty shipping and handling ($4. 00 for the handling) charge of $11. 39, making the modestly priced blade $19. 38 to purchase and receive. The replacement blade (they're determined by the distance between the mounting holes)is steel and shaped like traditional lopper blades:  no more composites, no more thick blades, which tells you something. As to Power Gear hedge shears, well , count your blessings with the lopper, because there ain't no replacement parts for the hedge shears from Fiskars, and their kink is the composite Power Gear mechanism, which breaks teeth with a passion, rendering the unit useless, unless you have a similarly wounded twin, because the mechanisms are comprised of two sets of power gear parts, that are interchangeable front and rear. There you go, have fun.