@Yvonne Smith - thank you so much for all the helpful info. A yard sale is a good place to buy yard equipment. I once bought an electric hedge trimmer at a pawn shop and used it for years. I had lined my front and most of my back yard with ligustrums.
@Don Alaska: I would recommend getting a cordless "weedeater" if you don't want to deal with the weight and hassle of a gasoline engine. I definitely want a cordless one. I just need a small weed eater to trim the grass where my lawn mower won't fit now that I've planted flowering shrubs near the privacy fence. The woods growing onto my property are spreading vines down along the privacy fence in the back. I am using full strength vinegar to kill the vines and weeds along the fence. I was pulling them up. Vines and thorns have taken over those woods. There's probably tics also.
I just mentioned the rental since sometimes the cordless models aren't strong enough to knock down woody vines. If you have woody vines, cut them with a bigger whacker, then keep on top of them with the cordless one. My big whacker will take on things up to about 1/2" in diameter with the nylon line, but will take out 3" trees if I put the blade on it.