what do you think of mantis tillers?

You can do alot with a good pitchfork. Don't massacre your worms either.

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the last tank of gas you put in it also add some stabilizer to it you wont have clean the carb. what happens the little gas thats left turns to schlack clogs everything up

We purchased a Mantis almost 2 years ago. It has been real handy for tilling some of the small areas and digging holes. Does an amazing amount of work for it's size and weight.

I've had 3 Mantis tillers. The gas powered ones were , IMHO, very hard to start. I got the first one on a 1 year free trial and for the first 6 months it worked great, but after that I had a hard (read that IMPOSSIBLE) time trying to start it. I called the company and they were wonderful about taking it back, postpaid. This was when they were first coming out with the electric model, and they offered it to give me a year's trial on it. I have been thoroughly pleased with it. It's quiet, doesn't smell, and has great power. You do have to back off the switch fast when it hits a root or a rock (we have LOTS of both), or it pops the breaker on the tiller. Not a huge problem - just wait a minute and push the breaker button back in, you're off again. Anyway, I think it is well worth the $300 for the convenience of having something that starts when I want to use it! If I thought I could find one used, I'd have waited for a better price, but I don't think I'll see many of them on the used market for a while and I need a tiller now. Oh, yeah, my 3rd Mantis is a gas powered model I got for $20 at a garage sale and can;t get to start. Don't know as it's worth the price of repairing it...

DH bought a Stihl weed whacker last spring, and chose the model that can have attachments added. We bought the tiller attachment, it's great. It will bounce a bit, but overall we really like it.

We have a big Husquavarna tiller for the tought stuff.

Stacy

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I'm with Kincora, I bought a Mantis about 10 yrs ago to loosen my raised beds, I owned it 1 hour, 45 min of which I spent trying to start it, it did a lousy job even on soft dirt. I returned it and bought a small Troybilt, been in love ever since. If I wanted a weeding tiller I'd buy a Weed eater that accepted attachments, Husq makes one so does John Deere. That way you can make use of it for more than one job.

I have a Mantis and never use it for the garden. It's great for digging holes, however. It has had its starting difficulties.

I urge you, implore you, to get the books Lasagna Gardening by Pat Lanza, Weedless Gardening by Lee Reich, and Chicken Tractor by Andy Lee. I am quite sure you can get these used on Amazon or Half.com. The most disturbance I would ever do on any soil, especially clay, would be to use the broadfork once per year just to slightly loosen the soil.

Tilling brings up weed seeds, pulverises earthworms, ruins the tilth, and is a lot of work. Combining the techniques in the three books above, will guarantee a gorgeous garden loaded with big earthworms that will till for you. The garden will improve immensely each year and you will wonder where the clay went.

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Best wishes,

Sandi

"Anger is an acid that does more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to the object on which it is poured." Corrie TenBoom

I have a mantis rotting in our shed. It's been impossible for me to start from the beginning, and, now impossible for DH to start. Our Troy-built horse has lasted probably 25 or so years and I can still start it!