Rototiller Review
One of the things that’s very clear to me is that with my tractor dead, I’m going to need a small tiller for garden maintenance and creation in some parts of the garden building process. I’m not going to put one on the new tractor as that would be serious overkill.
And I don’t need a serious workhorse of a machine that will do acres but rather a smaller unit that is easily handled and will only be used occasionally (remember I mulch my main gardens) to turn old straw in on the veg patch and make new garden beds – working in the peat moss and first application of compost kind of things. Light duty – only used several times a year.
So tell me what you like or don’t like about your rototiller. What would you recommend for light duty work.
Mantis tiller – I have used it for a lot of things including digging planting holes, at least to break up the soil then clean out hole. I have a BCS tractor/tiller for big jobs, but the Mantis is a great small tiller. Mine is 12 years old and running strong.
@Harold Keiner -
Thanks for that comment – I’m looking at a Mantis for what I’m thinking of doing for sure. Glad to know you like yours.
I had a Mantis too for several years. Never could get the thing started. Finally gave it away.
F
I have Had and used several Tillers over the Years,Big, Large and Small and they all worked good if use as they where intended to be used. Best small Tiller was Mantis and it would do what you want very well.
The engine needs to be maintained properly as with all small engines like that.
However The best Tiller I have ever used is a Good
Old Fashion Garden FORK.
John
@John at JWLW -
Ah, the old recommendation to use the fork. I never could get my mind bent around the fork (I own one but rarely use it) and have done a fair bit of shovel work over the years. There is a symmetry to the use of hand tools that doesn’t come with machinery. I admit that but there is a rather large scale to these gardens I’m building and frankly, I’m not about to start hand digging all these new beds – although I am considering renting a tiller for the times I’ll need one. It will be enough work with the loader and bucket to clean out the soil (but more on that later in a video when I’m actually doing it this fall).
@Florence -
The Mantis folks won’t be pleased to hear that (although I’m sure whoever you gave the machine to is quite pleased)
Love my Mantis. I’ve had it since 2003 and it has always started. You DO have to fiddle a bit with the choke the first time you fire it up but after that, zoom. And, of course, it’s a two-stroke engine and has to have oil and gas mixture but it uses very little fuel so you don’t need to keep a lot on hand.
It only weighs about 20 pounds and can easily be lifted up into my raised beds and it’s easy to fluff up the leaf mulches I use and incorporate them into the soil. I have an edging blade on mine and found it useful for digging a trench for buried conduits.
I reviewed Troy Bilt’s 4 cycle cultivator earlier this spring http://maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/2008/05/cultivator-review-does-it-make.html
It’s loud and I probably won’t use it much, if at all. I’m now exploring the Ruth Stout methods, “just” layering compost, yard waste, etc. on top of the ground to create new beds without a lot of digging. But when I do dig, I like the garden fork as well as a shovel.
Carol, May Dreams Gardenss last blog post..Embrace Garden Journals for a Happier Life
Doug, You are Right in thinking that the Fork is not so good for Large projects and working new beds.
Large heaver machines are needed, then they are to big for maintaining and general clean-up of gardens.
One of our local rental place has a machine that is all hydraulic and makes duck soup out of any project.
Will be renting it this fall to prepare a large garden for use in the spring.
John
@Carol, May Dreams Gardens -
The system works and I’ve been using it and adapting it for years. I find that I use a tiller when initially making the bed and for general cleanup every few years. On the farm, we’d mulch heavily and then every 3 years we’d till the mulch into the soil and start over again. Ruth never did till after she established the mulched bed.
I have a first edition of Ruth Stout’s classic ‘Gardening without Work” – it may have been the first garden book I obtained way back when.
And then you read some of the modern stuff on compost and compost tea and understand how much damage to soil fungal bodies are done by tillers and you want to toss ‘em.
But a useful tool in the right place and circumstance.
Doug
I thought that I read that tillers are not reccommended and thought it was from you. I could be wrong. I do not remember why they were bad I just remember that I did not get one> Please help me out with this as I am a bit confused. I am a great supporter of you and love your stuff
Ken
@Ken -
Tillers have been given the boot on many garden maintenance systems to be sure. They create hardpan conditions on heavier soils where the tines scuff the bottom of their arc, they chew up fungal masses and can sometimes do structural damage to some soils in some conditions (like clay soils worked too early in the spring). So I don’t use them for maintenance.
However. I’m in the process of building rather large gardens. And I need to cultivate and get the soils up to scratch (you should see the crud I’m starting with) on organic matter content etc. So I need some tools for the job. The tractor bucket and I are getting set to do some rock screening (wait till you see that video)
but I need something to dig and cultivate some of the bed areas where there is soil to work. So bed creation is something I use a tiller for.
I also use a tiller for large bed renovation. When I’m working in organic matter into annual or trial beds and renewing them, I’ll use a machine for the purpose.
I do not use them for general cultivation – preferring to keep my gardens mulched or hand worked between the flowers.
Hope that helps – construction and renovation but not maintenance.
There is also a grainy video of Ruth Stout’s garden with her voice narrating what you are looking at. It was probably converted from an old movie. I saw it about 9 years ago at a University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener meeting. It was really interesting. I remember she had a varmint problem so had part of the garden fenced in. She wasn’t able to rotate where she planted stuff because of that, but didn’t seem to have any disease problems with letting plant debris lay where it fell and planting into it the next year.
I don’t use a tiller but I’m not working on anything near the scale you are.
Jan
The Mantis, hands-down! As opposed to the gas-fume spewing monsters that drag you around your garden at will, gouging an unruly swath with no guarantee that you do not excavate prize plants in the process.
My friend loaned us their Mantis this summer, as they are in the throes of home construction and do not envision needing the machine until next spring. We are contemplating holding Mantis hostage now, because my husband has had a lot of fun with it. It also has an edger attachment that is very handy.
Not sure about its repair record, but our friends have had this model for four years, and it gets loaned out alot to family and friends, many of whom are probably inept, with no ill effects.
@prairiepetunia -
Yeah, scale can be a problem for sure – sometimes my reach overwhelms my common sense when it comes to gardening.
@Margot -
Thanks for the vote
I like my Mantis “Electric Tiller”. I don’t ever have to worry about gas and oil and it not starting. I added optional wheels to it, which makes it easier to control, and it stands up fine on it’s own when being stored.
Troy-Bilt tillers are the worst tiller you could buy. I bought a Pony and in two seasons have spent $200 for repair. The thing still doesn’t operate. The MTD authorized repair shop said it is about the worst engineered piece of equipment he has seen. Sure now like the pre-MTD tiller. Those would last for 20 years with poor upkeep and lots of use. That’s why I bought a new one for myself. What a dumb act that was. This is a typical MTD product. No more for me. Don’t like to buy non-American but am being forced to do so. No more MTD junk for me….
The troybilt is a piece of crap that my local Small engine guy hates to work on. Shortly after buying a new one the pull cord came undone somehow. The mechanic groaned when I brought it in. They put the pull cord on the bottom of the engine where the dirt is. Also he had to remove the whole engine to get to the pull cord. Then the second season the egine was just dead. I had to replace every relaceable item I could think of and make several adjustments. Still ran like crap. Finally I tore down the carburator, cleaned it and put it back together. Finally got it running. While doing all of this work I bought a Mantis which uses the superior Echo engine. Starts every time and works like a champ!
I love Lowes, but Troybuilt ain’t what it use to be!
I just bought a Yardworks Electric Tiller and I love it! It is only a baby tiller, so you have to use it appropriately, but I don’t have to pull any cords; it is light and I can lift and handle it. I have a large garden that I usually hand dig a bit at a time. With the Tiller, I can do larger sections at a time and it is so much easier!
I just bought an Echo TC-210, it seems to work great. Runs nice, and starts easily. It fits well between the rows, and is very light weight, so my wife or children could actually handle it. I have owned some MTD equipment recently, and they are crap. I recently invested in a Husky Rancher 55 chain saw, and a Husk 323 grass trimmer (with a steel brush trimmer) and I couldn’t be happier! My friend does lawn maintenance and he has used the same trimmer for 8 yrs of abuse. All I can say is you usually get what you pay for, and I just don’t have enough time anymore to own junk, LOL!
Jas
Pete:
I have had a Troy Horse since 1972 and have used it every year working a 2 acre garden. I have also excavated drainage ditches on several occasions. Aside from new tines the only repairs in 38 years has been belts, a reverse disc, and a carb rebuild. Best money I have ever spent.
Mike