Concerned American
Diamond Member
For cutting trees I use a Stihl Farm Boss 18" chain saw and it does a great job. Never seen a blade like the one above for a weed eater though. I don't know how it would mount on any equipment that I have. I like the mini excavators and they are useful for digging, but I use a 35 hp tractor with a back blade and loader bucket and I have a backhoe attachment that meets my needs and it ran about $20K under what you quoted for the mini excavator. I think I can get the county conservation district to help with the cost of an masticator. I am told I can get away for about $5K to clean up about 10 acres of moderate forest.You can get 7 and 8 inch beaver blades for hand-held trimmers and a 12" for wheeled trimmers to take down up to about 3".
The Dewalt 18v cordless pole saw is another good small tool that punches above it's weight class. I've done a lot of cutting with one of those bad boys too. A few small trees, and a lot of big roots in my utility trenches, the Dewalt never let me down...
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