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Tiller??

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2004
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by Chrissy on April 14, 2004 06:04 AM
I have been hand digging my gardens for years & I am beginning to feel my years & it is just so hard to do. I have carpal tunnel in both of my hands/wrists from many years of factory work. Now that I am a stay at home mom I have such trouble with my hands it just about kills me to do all the digging. Well I have finally talked my husband into buying me a tiller. Has anyone ever bought or used the Mantis Garden Tiller they advertise on TV & in all the garden magazines? It is supposed to be really light weight, so I am thinking I could handle using it & it is only 100 bucks!! The price shocked me...I was expecting something closer to the price of the rototillers I see at the Farm Supply which is MUCH higher. I would love to hear if a tiller this cheap & light weight can actually do the job. Thanks for your feedback:)

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z5b
by afgreyparrot on April 14, 2004 06:48 AM
I will be waiting for an answer to this one, too!
I just sold my Troy-Bilt Horse, and want something like you are talking about. Can't wait to see the response!

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by weezie13 on April 14, 2004 07:42 AM
Here's mine!!! [Cool] [Love] [thumb] [grin]

Ryobi Cultivator

Mine's 7 or 8 years old (we couldn't remember)
But from day 1, I've loved mine..

Easy to use, I walk right over there, I do have to put my foot on the bottom, and pull the rip cord, but it's relatively easy to do, gotta have a few muscles, but not many!
Easy to take care of, I can put the oil and gas in, not too big on the brain surgery..

I never really used any "tools" before I moved here with my husband, so for me to say that, it had to be easy to work..

The one small down fall is, that if you think it has the power like the big ones have and try to break, fresh ground, you'll be there for awhile, breaking down the sod, and I do mean awhile depending on the size area you're going to till.
But, I out smarted the thing, and if I have a certain area you want done, just put some card board down on that area, like the fall before and load up on the chopped up leaves from fall time, come spring time, the card board and the worms have done most of your heavy work for you and it's a breeze to use....(pull any large items of card board or un decomposed leave mold if you don't want it to get caught up in the tine's...)

If you pull up the sod ahead of time too, that
may work for you too!

One other thing is, every now and again a medium sized rock may get caught in it, and get stuck,
make sure it's off and take a hammer and wedge, or a big stick or something and it does come undone.

But, for the most part, it's given me some unbelieveable freedom instead of having to wait for the poor hubby to get around to draggin' the bigggggggg Troy Bilt out!!!

Weezie

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2

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http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/
by obywan59 on April 14, 2004 04:17 PM
I have a Mantis as well as an 8hp Troy-bilt. When my old 6 1/2 Troy-bilt broke down, I had to the use the Mantis for an entire year. It worked well, only it takes longer of course. I had to cut my gardening by about half, down to 2500 square feet from 4500. My old Troy-bilt only tilled to about 6 inches and the Mantis goes to 10 so that was good. Only it was hard work since the ground below 6 inches was fairly hard. Since you have been digging your soil, you should have no problem. The mantis is great for tilling between rows. Being so narrow, you don't need such wide rows and can squeeze more in. For small crops, I grow them in beds of 3 rows spaced one foot apart with the beds 1 1/2 to 2 feet apart. Of course I also have the cultivating tines which have only have one tine on each side instead two. The edging, de-thatching and aerating attachments work great. I use the aerating tines on my yard after overseeding in spring and fall. The grass seed will come up in the slits. I've never had a thicker yard.

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Terry

May the force be with you
by obywan59 on April 14, 2004 04:19 PM
Oh yeah, I carry a big flat head screwdriver in my back pocket for the rocks.

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Terry

May the force be with you
by Chrissy on April 14, 2004 04:45 PM
Thanks so much for your information on the tillers Weezie & Obywan:) The Mantis sounds like it will do the job. And ya just can't beat that price! I was surprised to hear it tills to 10 inches. My husband borrowed my dad's big bad-ass rototiller last year & he could hardly hold the thing steady & I don't think it tilled more than 5 inches...so Mantis it is!!! Thanks so much for helping me make this decision. [thumb]

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z5b
by afgreyparrot on April 14, 2004 07:13 PM
Where can you get it for $100.00???

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by Chrissy on April 14, 2004 10:01 PM
My sister got a postcard in the mail from Mantis that has the price listed as a "spring price buster sale" $100.00 plus shipping. She doesn't want the sale card, so I said gimme it sis:)

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z5b

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