Beginner Gardening: Back Yard Nightmare, 3 by Erraticdancer

Erraticdancer wrote:
I had some tenants that just moved out after 3 years and I was left with 5 foot tall weeds of varying types covering the back yard. I tried an electric hedge trimmer and it couldn't even cut through the stalks. I'm doubting a weed whacker will cut it either. I've been going through and manually clipping each stalk because they're too tough to pull out by the roots, but it's going to take me weeks to accomplish that. Is there a machine I could rent that could help demolish these stubborn weeds? Like a rototiller? What then? I have two small children with asthma and a dog with skin allergies, so spraying a toxic weed killer across the yard isn't an option. Are there other alternatives?