I've been walking around our property clearing off some of the stone walls so they are more visible. Plenty of small to medium sized trees that have fallen over the years no one has been spending any time back in the woods on most of our property. I've been using some pretty amazing Japanese saws which have the advantages of no fuel required and little danger of kickback plus lots of exercise. And they are quiet. Portable. Relatively inexpensive. Anything more complicated I will call in someone who works with a chainsaw more often than I do. I'd rather not take myself out with a flying tree.

But what about chainsaws? I have been recommended two chainsaws - a Stihl MS261C-M and a Still MS 271 Farm Boss.

But I've also been told that for most of my use I could probably get a Stihl or Milwaukee battery chainsaw. I think the Stihl my neighbor has is the MSA 200 C-BQ and one of the arborists who worked on the site said to look at this Milwaukee saw.

And what about splitting? Our friends in the Catskills have a pneumatic splitter that works amazingly well, but it also spends several weeks in the shop every year. That means several Thanksgivings (big bonfire with turkeys roasting over coals and 50 of their closest friends) there has been a pre-turkey splitting fest where we take turns with various implements for splitting wood - mauls, axes and wedges. My personal favorite is this Japanese axe and (on the other side of the spectrum) this crazy splitting axe.

What about wheeled machinery? These same friends have a John Deere Gator that they use to do almost all their hauling tasks on their property, including sliding logs out of the forest. It is a six wheeler side-by-side. I remember Joe Robonza got a Honda Foreman that he can use as a snow plow and liked. I don't think I want a tractor or a Bobcat. That's way above my needs.

What else? There have to be tools for every day stuff that I am going to want to have handy once we move in. I know I'll need some ladders for roof maintenance.

Most of the heavy duty stuff I am better off budget-wise hiring someone who knows what the heck they are doing to come in and take care of the problem quickly and efficiently. Definitely I am not going to be bringing down hung-up trees down by myself any time soon. So the goal is to spend money on tools and machinery efficiently. And right now, given the choice between labor savings and a bit of exercise, I'm leaning towards the exercise with minimal requirement for medical attention.