I Bought this for overhanging branches that are high. The construction is quite well made. It does bend slightly, but not too much. I used this to cut branches with a few poles attached. After using it a bit ( it does take a bit of getting used to ) I did use all the poles fitted. I think this was about 8 metres plus. I work in a physical job, but was aching alot after using this, so I would say it needs a certain amount of strength. I had my doubts about the blade, but works well. I did get it stuck twice though. I was looking for a long reach chainsaw when I found this, which I'm glad I did. I did used a polesaw about 2.5m long, as well as a chainsaw to do the job for lower work. I would recommend this to cut up to about a 4inch branch. The only drop on a star was easy to use, because it does take a bit of getting used to. Besides this it was great to do the job.