What I'll do is get onto a ladder or step of some kind if I still can't reach something with it.
I looked at some pole saws in bunnings and the very cheapest was an Ozito plug in way north of $100.
Pole saw attachments for the Ryobi was north of $200 from memory.
If I can get this running like a violin, I think $70 would be money well spent to convert this into one.

Great advice regards the starter.

Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!