Barrett,
End fed wires and/or inverted 'L's tend to work much better with an
adequate ground system. That 'adequate' is very variable, more is
better than less in general. Something like 150 feet is not exactly
'adequate' enough for a 'good' 160 meter 'wire'. Not exactly 'bad'
for the higher bands though. A surface ground system will probably do
as well as a buried one. Just watch it when mowing the grass!
Either of your options are going to be marginal for 160m. Which would
be best? Good question! Hope you let us know the answer when you
find it. While putting that tuner at the feed point is almost always
the 'best' way of doing it, it's also the hardest. I'm afaid
'practical' wins out over 'best' in most cases.
Not much help, huh? You're right, it isn't. 'Best' is always
dependent on the particular circumstances present. Good luck.
- 'Doc