A lopper used to perform lopping, pruning and similar operations includes a lopping head (12) provided with a spring-biased blade cooperating with a jaw (20), a drive mechanism (16), and an elongate housing (14). The drive mechanism includes first and second wheels (30,46) rotatable relative thereto about a first axis (32). A head line (34) couples the first wheel to the blade at a connecting point (42), and the second wheel is coupled to a driving line (48). The first wheel is eccentric relative to the second wheel so that a distance separating a region of a guiding surface of the first wheel from the first axis is smallest at a predetermined point of blade travel across the bight. The lopper also includes an intermediate handle (74) and a lower handle (78) selectively operable to actuate the blade relative to the jaw.
