A neighbor had my Extractigator all winter. Time to pull trees was coming so I bought a PullerBear Pro XL321. I remember reading a long review (no longer available) where the writer said the two products complement each other but if you can buy only one, get the Extractigator, which I did four years ago. Now I have both. Biggest plus for the PullerBear is grabbing the tree closer to the ground. I have pulled up a number of trees that my Extractigator snapped off in previous years and would have snapped again. Another plus is also a minus. XL321 has a long handle. Gives me more leverage for bigger trees. Unfortunately, the main thing I want the PullerBear for is to pull trees the Extractigator would probably snap. I don’t need a really long handle for that. And yesterday, that long handle was a big problem in a tight spot. Was no way to I pull the handle because of a low branch in my way. Extractigator to the rescue until the tree snapped. Now for PullerBear downsides. PullerBear sorta makes fun of the Extractigator’s Bigfoot option. Why spend $20 for a Bigfoot when you can just make one for free with a scrap piece of wood and attach it to your PullerBear? Well, my PullerBear was not doing much because it was just sinking in the mud so I needed a bigger base. Found out I did not have the necessary scrap piece of wood laying around. Went to Lowes and Home Depot to find a scrap piece of wood. Scrap piece of wood lasted for less than two days. I’d much rather spend $20 on a piece of metal that lasts. While pulling trees, the PullerBear quit working. It was basically just scraping off bark. Happened over and over. Finally figured out that mud was inside the jaws but not visible because it was thinner than the tooth depth. Not a huge deal but not a problem I’ve ever had with my Extractigator. In the review that said the two tools complemented each other, the reviewer said the Extractigator was faster to use. He was RIGHT. Getting the PullerBear jaws on the tree can be a pain. You pull up on the handle to get it in the right position and the jaws shut so you put the whole thing down again and kick the tool into the right position. Or you lean over a lot and move it with your other hand. Either way, it is time consuming. The PullerBear requires a more downward angle on the handle when getting the tool on the tree. PullerBear touts this as a good thing because you get more handle travel when pulling. I found it to be a detriment because there were trees I could not use the PullerBear on because other trees were too close for the handle. Wish I had bought the PullerBear Cub XL. The main reason I wanted the PullerBear was pulling small trees the Extractigator would snap. The Cub XL would do that and have a handle 17” shorter than the Pro XL321. Plus, it was $45 cheaper. Now back to Home Depot for more scrap wood. :(

lily of the valley may not tolerate the hot afternoon sun. i have it in, and have always seen it in partial shade situations. but, if you can get ahold of some pips, plant them & try. llily of the valley is one of my very favorite fragrances. my grandmother had a carpet of them, and i was lucky enough to be able to gather a large nosegay of them each yr. i only pick a couple of mine, at least for a few more yrs. they will intermingle with other groundcovers. in fact, at my folk's place they grow in the woods intermingled with periwinkle. i don't know if periwinkle will take the hot sun, either, but if you're local, i have lots and want it gone. you can get some & experiment. i'm in garner. once it's established, it's bulletprrof. but it's also a bit invasive, which is why i'd like to get rid of it. let me know if you are interested. pachysandra is another shady groundcover. dunno if it could handle hot aft sun. tammy

bill_g_wisconsin re: backpack sprayer I empathize with your leak. It always makes me nervous carrying these things around on my back but don't see any option if you have a lot of area to cover or a lot of plants to spray. I've had my own leaks and have increased PPE protection each year for better safety. I think we need more than what they recommend on the labels. I look like an alien in the woods when spraying. The propane tank on my back also makes me think but haven't invested in any fire retardant clothes. I have the cheaper 3 gallon Jacto. https://www.jacto.com/northamerica/products/backpack-sprayers. As far as I can tell its a good brand. They market professional users and sell a pretty much full line of replacement parts and accessories. After sales support is reasonably accessible too. Apparently, I should 've purchased a level up, however, for use with the kind of stuff we're using. One thing I'm not too crazy about with mine is that there is no way to release the pressure within the chamber in the handle where the filter resides without making a mess if it is already full. Don't know if any other models or brands address this problem differently. Also, if you go with Jacto, I recommend the white tank. It's difficult to see the level of your content with the dark blue. I also have an Echo 3 gallon hand held sprayer and have learned that Echo sources Hudson product which they then sell with their label through their channels. I did not find Echo support to be very good and, if I recall correctly, had to go to Hudson for help with that one where support was much better.

I agree that Kevin has the most perfect approach. However in my case I can see myself getting arrested if I even tried to cut down or back any invasives on public property. The Nature Preserve that I was talking about has a big sign prohibiting digging, cutting, or otherwise tampering with any plants on the preserve. Even if they didn't the amount of Porcelian Berry is staggering. While the Preserve is mostly deep woods with nice wide hiking trails there is one section were it opens up into a large sunny clearing. I mean about a half acre. And what do you think is 90% of that clearing? Yes, its all Porcelian Berry. That was all here before I moved into my house and the Porcelian Berry has always sprouted in any disturbed ground around the yard and the neighborhood. So I have no guilt over planting my less vigorious Varigated Porcelian Berry in my yard. As far as cutting down the Japanese Honeysuckle that grows around some of the shrubs in the park, anyone trying to cut them would have the police called on them for defacing public property. I have never seen berries on them, just flowers but who knows. I didn't even know what to do with my mistakenly bought invasive Adult English Ivey until I found a nice grove of it climing trees in the very same park accross the street. It seems to be in that area, on those trees but not elsewhere. So I planted my little shrub.