A Stihl FS130 with their Chisel Tooth blade has never done me wrong for similar projects.

 

I recommend the chisel tooth blade also. That's what I use on my Stihl FS250 to clear saplings on my 5 acres.
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is the 250 strong enough to handle 3" saplings?

 

I think it is. I cut ones that size fairly regularly around my property. (Our property was way overgrown when we bought our house.) I don't think they make the FS250 anymore though. I think it got replaced by the FS240. Looks like the FS240 has good reviews on Stihl's site.
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A big handlebar cutter, Mid 30cc at least. I use two 33cc Tanaka's. One with a 12" tri blade for the small stuff, and another with a saw blade (I'm not sure what a chisel blade is) if the trees are more than 1 1/2". The big tri blade can really clear large area's fast, but not so good on the bigger saplings. I wear a chainsaw helmet with mesh face shield and and my goggles, stuff really flies everywhere. If your new trimmer has a guard, take it off, it will just hang up on everything and cost you time. Check your work area frequently when doing brush work, for some reason people seem to walk up on me more when I'm doing this than any other landscape work.

 

I use a pole saw head on the end of a string trimmer for saplings. I use a Stihl 110 but I figure other brands have similar tools.