Annie, have you ever thought about getting a sawzall? I'm thinking that would take care of a whole lot of things you have to cut. I understand not getting a chain saw as we chose not to either. We've never had a chainsaw where the chain didn't come off or get hung up or some such aggravation. They're heavy & noisy & awkward.
We did get a sawzall & have never regretted doing so. The blades are cheap enough & you can even stick the blades into the ground to saw roots. They come battery operated & ours has plenty of power. You can cut down trees that aren't too big around & those branches & most limbs don't stand a chance against them.

Ours is similar to this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RY...

You know, it is soooo funny you should say this because just a few weeks ago, when I was taking apart the cherry that got split in the wind, my neighbor (who is doing major remodeling work), came over with his SawsAll and cut down a big limb that would have taken me a half hour to get thru with a hand saw. He suggested I get one too because they are so versatile. I am definitely going to check this out. I've been renting a small batterypowered chain saw and it is very nice to use and can get thru some really big stuff. I will NEVER use a gas powered one again...we had one for a while and it was noisy, complicated, terrifying and always a hassle to get started. THANKS!

Oh you're so welcome! You can get different length blades too. They can flat out do some work.