04-02-2003, 08:40 PM
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Mantis tiller
(Jerome R. Long) writes:
My Mantis is a terrific tool for cultivating an established garden
with not too many rocks. It is not a sod buster.
True. It will break sod, but it's just so small that you wouldn't
want to do more than a very small patch with it. The biggest problem
I had was that weeds or grass of any length at all wanted to wind up
on the tines very badly. The Mantis is really more suited to
cultivating and re-working soil that was previously worked and cleared
of most vegetation by a larger tiller. It'll do a nice job of
breaking cloddy dirt down into a fine soil for planting. It's much
easier to handle than I expected; it doesn't pull or jerk much at all.
If you can keep a chain saw running you will have no trouble getting
the Mantis to start and run well.
I'd say the Mantis is much more temperamental. If you maintain it
exactly according to the instructions as far as weather and
winterizing go, it might run great for years. Mine ran fine the first
year, but after a winter in the garage after forgetting to empty the
gas from it, it wouldn't run. I cleaned the spark plug and carburetor
and got a new fuel filter, and was able to get it to start and idle,
but as soon as I put a load on it, it dies.
I'm no small engine expert, but I can generally get a stubborn
chainsaw or lawnmower to at least run well enough to get by. It
appears that if I want to use my Mantis again I'll have to pay to have
it worked on. My own fault, of course, for not storing it properly
for the winter; but prospective buyers should be aware that they will
need to take very good care of it.
--
Aaron
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