Because different blade designs may be fitted to a lopper, slightly altering its length, lopper length is measured along the handles, excluding the blades.
Loppers are available in lengths from 387mm (15in) to 5m (16ft).
The longer your lopper, the easier it will be to reach high branches, and to make cuts with ease (see: A note on leverage and length).
The shortest loppers available are best suited for pruning shrubs, hedges, saplings and bushes low to the ground. For a task at shoulder height or lower, one of the longer loppers would be awkward and ungainly to use– especially in tight spaces, such as a narrow, hedged footpath.
However, a shorter lopper will give you less cutting power, and require more force input on your part.
The heaviest lopper available weighs 1.42kg (3lb), while the lightest weighs just 375g (13oz).
For comparison, the heaviest lopper weighs about the same as an average laptop computer…
…while the lightest weighs the same as a box of cereal.