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Is there anyone here that knows of a good tiller for the home? I was looking at the Mantis tillers which seems a bit expensive and need to know if they are worth the price tag of around $300 plus. Any one knows of a decent one that cost less or if the Mantis is a very good one.
I have a mantis and have had it for over 10 years and just love it...They can be stinkers to start but are just great
for small garden area's..I think when people can no longer need their mantis they will it to their kids thats how good they
are..
Enjoy it..
I have a mantis and have had it for over 10 years and just love it...They can be stinkers to start but are just great
for small garden area's..I think when people can no longer need their mantis they will it to their kids thats how good they
are..
Enjoy it..
I have clay soil ... how effective would you say that they are in ripping up the clumps to a managable state? Just how powerful is it compared to another type of tiller. They all seem to be very expensive, what do you think about this one Mantis® Gas Roto-Tiller (7225-00-02) - Cultivators - Ace Hardware .
Is it better to get an electric one versus a gas one etc? Based on your experience, what should I be looking for or recommend?
If your ripping through clay get a hydraulic tiller. You'll need to rent it because its probably out of your price range. However it will drastically reduce tilling time and difficulty.
The main question is, what do you want to do with this tiller?
If you're wanting to do a little very light "soil stirring" a micro-tiller like the Mantis will do just fine. Wonderfully, in fact.
If, however, you're wanting to till a whole garden, or tear up sod, the Mantis is NOT going to do the job for you. You'll want (at least) a rear-tine walk-behind tiller for that. And, as Bulldogdad said, you should probably rent one. It'll cost you about $50 for the day to rent it, as opposed to spending $1,000 to buy one new.
First of all, it depends upon how large of an area you hope to till and the composition of your soil. If you have heavy clay soil, like I do, you shouldn't even consider a Mantis tiller. It's simply too lightweight and won't do the job. As has been recommended, you'll most likely need a good rear-tined tiller. Also, you really need a gas powered tiller. I don't know of any electric tiller that would be suitable; they'd always have less power anyway.
But if you think $300 is expensive for a good tiller, I agree that you should look into renting or just paying someone to till it for you. You might be able to find a good used tiller for sale. I still prefer Troy-bilt, but I'm sure there are other brands that would be suitable, too.
just brought home my fathers tiller, troybilt wheel horse 1, 2 speed and forward and reverse rotation. live just north of tampa fl. going to check out the tiller and prepare soil (60x40) foot garden for spring
I have a mantis and have had it for over 10 years and just love it...They can be stinkers to start but are just great
for small garden area's..I think when people can no longer need their mantis they will it to their kids thats how good they
are..
Enjoy it..
"Stinkers to start" is an understatement. I hated our Mantis, eventually gave it to a friend, after it had been professionally tuned up and still would never start and keep running. Every now and then it would start, and run for about five seconds. He was never able to get it to start -- not even once. He donated it to Goodwill.
Now we have a small Stihl tiller which isn't always easy to start, but it's never impossible like the Mantis was. I think anything that has a pull-cord start and uses a gas-oil fuel mixture is always going to give you some trouble.
just brought home my fathers tiller, it is a troybilt wheelhorse 1. has a 7 hp kolher, going to do tune up , then start my garden. 60x40 and plant in the spring. live 30 miles n of tampa.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The Mantis is a great little tiller for raised beds, inside a greenhouse, or narrow garden strips. I would not go with electric, they don't have the power to get through the roots of the previous year's plants. For a larger area the 5-10hp tillers are more appropriate, as they will do at least 5-6 times more width on each pass. For the really big garden of 1/2 acre or more it's best to hire someone with a tractor-mounted tiller once a year. The 2-cycle is about $300, but I'd spend the additional money and get the 4 cycle version. It goes 16" wide and has a Honda engine. The cheaper one is 9" and you have to mix the gas and oil.
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my tiller
