Norman Sandland wrote:
Now that I am coming up
to 63 I thought I might explore further if rotavators are worth
their storage space let alone their costs.

The Mantis is light at 20lbs. Whilst it lightness is an advantage
from the point of view of carrying it, how is it heavy enough to
dig in to produce a ten inch tilth. It also rotates at a high speed
- twice as high as other rotavators.

When it comes to advertising, bear in mind that the advertiser will
emphasise the good points.
I suspect that there is a subtle play on words between 'rotovating'
(previously cultivated tilth) and 'cultivating' (virgin ground).
If you have reasonably good soil which just needs breaking up prior to
sowing / planting then, sure, a rotavator will whiz through the task.
If you have virgin or heavy soil that a farmer would use a plough on,
then forget the cultivator and stick to the old fashioned spade.
You may gather that I'm not a cultivator fanatic. I did own one (past
tense) and now I own three spades and two forks of various sizes. I am
amazed that Mantis are claiming a ten inch tilth capability - I
presume they mean depth and not width(?). It might manage that on very
light soils but a light machine will require some hefty down force
(supplied by your arms and shoulders) to stop the tines running away
over the surface.
I would ask them for a demonstration before you buy - and not on a
sandy beach. ;-).

--
ned (coming up 69)