"David Hill" wrote in message ...
I would also go with getting someone in to do it,
They will know their machine
Have a more powerful machine than you could get
Charge you for the hours worked, not the days of hire for the machine.
You can watch and learn so that if you hire a machine in the future you will
A/ have a good idea of how best to use it
B/ you will be working on ground that is easier.

A few years ago my Howard gem was out of action and I had to hire a machine
from local hire shop.
The job took me almost 3 days with their machine rather than about 6 hours
with my Gem.
Felt like digging the ground with a tea spoon instead of a spade.

OK, I've checked out the cost of getting someone to rotivate it. It's
only about 150 square yards but I'm getting quotes of between £250 to
£450, which seems excessive. On the other hand, if I hire a machine
from the local HSS hire shop, taking petrol and transport costs into
account, it would cost me about £100 to have the machine for the
weekend, which is also quite a lot.

One interesting thing which emerged is that there is something called
"Breakthrough" or "Breakout" which apparently you mix with water and
spray on the ground 24 hours before rotivating. It's supposed to
soften the soil. I've never heard of it, but one local firm swore by
it. They advised against simply watering the ground, and said that
this would make the problem worse, I'm not sure why.

Ken Cohen