"Spring maintenance" is actually a misnomer....It can be done at anytime of the year, but it's usually the easiest for us homeowner's to do it or have it done in the winter or early spring when we aren't having to cut the grass. Basically it's a tune up for the mower which consists of changing the oil in the mower, sharpening the blade(s), a new spark plug & air filter, lubing any grease points & a general "going over" of the machine. Personally, I take my mower to a local shop here in town & have trained mechanics do it, but, I'm sure many who are more mechanically inclined are able to do it themselves.

Why not get more bang for your buck by purchasing a used Troy Bilt Super Tomahawk? They can be bought for well under your budget, are very well made and long lasting. Parts are available on ebay and the flails are reversable for up to four uses. I own two of them and I use them often ... as in several times each week. They are ten times the machine you are considering paying more for. just my .02

dcarch -- thank you! Beautiful looking knives. I'm pretty sure I have an angle grinder. Maybe I'll try knife making sometime. Right now I have plenty of knives, but wouldn't mind fixing new handles on to some. Most are inexpensive things, so I can feel free to experiment. We have woods, so perhaps I can find something to use for a handle. It's probably easier to buy handles. There is a 5" or more sassafras tree that had to be taken down. After two years the wood may be too hard (brittle) to use. We've got a few saws, maybe planes, sanders, and a draw knife, so maybe I can figure something out. It's the lack of a good workbench, time and details that help slow things down. I can snap a few photos sometime. I've had knife handles chip, crack or break. Some I have hastily glued back together with epoxy (Marine-Tex), but didn't scuff up or prepare the surface enough. We heat with wood and don't have any boiler or furnace to warm up the 45 deg. cellar in winter. Did you buy those handles? How did you match the opening to your tang size? And do you use adhesive or epoxy to hold the tang into the handle? Here's a mess I made using _old_ (a tad too dry) Marine-Tex to try to repair a broken knive handle. I should have used newer epoxy, should have prepped the area. If I sand the hardened epoxy off, I'm sure the handle 'mend' will come apart. I like your wood slab. How did you get such an even slice and keep it from checking? Do you have a planer?

Do you use the Sharpened Hard Edger Blades? I am hearing the blades will sharpen themselves. I have Cut and Drilled 2” X 1/8” Band Iron as “Unsharpened Blades” for Friends. Personally I have only used Sharpened Blades and feel I see a Cleaner Cut. Every Inch of Our Yard to be trimmed has Concrete to help reduce the need to Trim. Plus, the Trim is with A Hard Blade On A One Wheel Stick Trimmer. At A 45 Degree Away To Reduce How Often Trimming Is Needed. I’ll try and find a Pic of a Fresh Trim!