All, thank you for your suggestions. still not sure what I want, but as much as I would love a Stihl or Echo, the price of one is more than I can eat right now. I am also seriously looking at battery. my goal is to get it done under 200 bucks and at this point I am leaning towards a Bauer model. I looked at the Ryobi mentioned above, and they have the best price. for 140, I can get the tool, battery and charger. the comparable Bauer will run me closer to 180 with no coupons available.
But why spend another 40 bucks? the Bauer is marked as comparible to the Ryobi one, and pretty much looks the same functionality wise. But the Ryobi battery system does not have as much tools offered as Bauer. right now, I have very little in cordless tools, I got a craftsman impact drill for christmas a few years ago and it actually is pretty decent for what it is, but Craftsman being what it is, I don't think I want to go that route for getting into cordless. I also have a no name leaf blower that came with two batteries and a charger for christmas this past year, but cannot find it at all, and the battery packs seem to be unobtanium when or if I need to replace them, so while It works good now, I have little hope of getting batteries as they fail and it is less than 9 months old.
Ryobi and Bauer both seem to be in for the long haul, so I feel reasonably assured that I can get batteries for either one. But, Ryobi does not make a battery power impact driver in 3/8 or 1/2 inch. Bauer does. both do have leaf blowers. also looking at a possible 8" chain saw for limbs and pruning that will make my life easier. so it seems that Bauer is the possible best choice.
@PetroleumJunkie412 what was your main complaint on the HF Atlas 80 volt weed wacker? I have been looking at that, and it is a bit more than my price range, but Dad has the leaf blower as well and he loves it too. I liked the design of the head of the atlas, but I am wondering what your issues were with it?
AJ
