I'm thinking about trying a BT 45 "Planting Auger" for small to medium aerating tasks. It looks handy, but lightly built...wonder if it will hold up. Stihl says "not for hard soils".
I purchased mine about 3 months back and so far so good. I've only used it on 3 aerating jobs thus i don't know how it will hold up long term. But it's at least paid for itself.
I used it the other day for a couple of cables. I had no problem with drilling hole for the 5/8 lags. A high quality cordless would also do a nice job.
The stihl has a little bit more power than the echo if i remember correctly.
we tried this Stihl model ST45 gas powered drill for these 2inch wooddrills. It didnt work as that drilhead spins 900rpm. To fast and to less torque. Also it twisted ya arms when the drill got caught into wood.
After this we tried a BT120C drill (190 rpm). we made our own drillhead for it. No problems with 2 inch wide, 3 foot long drill into wood. Also when getting caught into wood that safety kicks in. we bought this one new for the use with those drills. (and ground/planting drills)