dps wrote:
Doug Kanter wrote:

Anyone have one? I'd appreciate comments pro or con. They're
cheaper than renting one three times around here, and at least
according to the promo material, they're much easier than trying to
wrestle with the bigger units. I'll be using it to create a 40x40
vegetable garden, and as many flower beds as I can find time to
fiddle with.



I've got one; it's a horrible little device, and impossible to keep
running after the first year. Mine is in the shop right now, and I may
not bother to pick it up when it's ready and just let the shop keeper
have it. I don't have problems with any other 2-cycle equipment, just
the Mantis. Maybe mine just came from the factory with a bad carburator.

Also, it's too light to use to *create* a 1600 sq ft garden
unless your soil is mostly sand. It might be OK for cultivating a
garden that big after the soil was broken and most of the weeds removed.

OTOH, I bought a Honda FG-100 tiller earlier this year and it is great.
It is a little bigger and heavier than the Mantis, but that's a good
thing because it doesn't bounce around so much. It has removable
transport wheels like a big front-tine tiller if you are too weak to
carry it ;-) The Honda could probably handle a job that big without any
trouble, but it would take a while.

Best regards,
Bob