Hi...

Wonder if anyone happens to have knowledge of these Murray
cultivators... small 2 cycle engine, perhaps 30 or 40 cc things?

I bought one for a small garden (10 x 15 feet'ish) at the lake.
Durned thing bounces across the top really well, takes forever
and a lot of coaxing to get it to dig down even a few inches.

Studied the manual, made sure that tines were right way, etc.

Noticed that the manual warned me that the tines were self-sharpening
and that I had to be careful to not cut myself. Something wrong
here, 'cause I'm not sure they'd cut through warm butter!

Should mention, brand new. And the "cutting" edge is just flat
steel, no edge at all.

So, the question, if I may? Should I sharpen them? Have them
sharpened? Or wait for them to "self-sharpen"? Or throw it
away!

Thanks in advance, and take care.

Ken

"Ken Weitzel" wrote in message
news:imMgg.239476$7a.72908@pd7tw1no...

Hi...

Wonder if anyone happens to have knowledge of these Murray
cultivators... small 2 cycle engine, perhaps 30 or 40 cc things?

I bought one for a small garden (10 x 15 feet'ish) at the lake.
Durned thing bounces across the top really well, takes forever
and a lot of coaxing to get it to dig down even a few inches.

Studied the manual, made sure that tines were right way, etc.

Noticed that the manual warned me that the tines were self-sharpening
and that I had to be careful to not cut myself. Something wrong
here, 'cause I'm not sure they'd cut through warm butter!

Should mention, brand new. And the "cutting" edge is just flat
steel, no edge at all.

So, the question, if I may? Should I sharpen them? Have them
sharpened? Or wait for them to "self-sharpen"? Or throw it
away!

Thanks in advance, and take care.

Ken


Borrow (rent) a real tiller and when you have the ground worked up you can
use the small one to keep it that way. My wife bought me one of the 'toys'
and it did the same thing. After about two years the motor section broke
off. Probably only used it 10 times. It would have been less expensive to
have rented a tiller for the number of times I actually used it before it
fell apart.

"Ken Weitzel" wrote in message
news:imMgg.239476$7a.72908@pd7tw1no...

Hi...

Wonder if anyone happens to have knowledge of these Murray
cultivators... small 2 cycle engine, perhaps 30 or 40 cc things?

I bought one for a small garden (10 x 15 feet'ish) at the lake.
Durned thing bounces across the top really well, takes forever
and a lot of coaxing to get it to dig down even a few inches.

Studied the manual, made sure that tines were right way, etc.

Noticed that the manual warned me that the tines were self-sharpening
and that I had to be careful to not cut myself. Something wrong
here, 'cause I'm not sure they'd cut through warm butter!

Should mention, brand new. And the "cutting" edge is just flat
steel, no edge at all.

So, the question, if I may? Should I sharpen them? Have them
sharpened? Or wait for them to "self-sharpen"? Or throw it
away!

Thanks in advance, and take care.

Ken


Not sure what you have but if it is like the "Mantis 20# tiller" (there are
now many similar) they do better if you drag them backwards rather than try
to walk them forward like a normal tiller. I have a Toro (had a Mantis) and
they do bounce but they are very handy and when you get used to handling
them you can get close to plants to cultivate very nicely. No tiller (big
or small) is as simple to use as they appear in TV ads.

Ken Weitzel wrote:

Hi...

Wonder if anyone happens to have knowledge of these Murray
cultivators... small 2 cycle engine, perhaps 30 or 40 cc things?

I bought one for a small garden (10 x 15 feet'ish) at the lake.
Durned thing bounces across the top really well, takes forever
and a lot of coaxing to get it to dig down even a few inches.

Studied the manual, made sure that tines were right way, etc.

Noticed that the manual warned me that the tines were self-sharpening
and that I had to be careful to not cut myself. Something wrong
here, 'cause I'm not sure they'd cut through warm butter!

Should mention, brand new. And the "cutting" edge is just flat
steel, no edge at all.

So, the question, if I may? Should I sharpen them? Have them
sharpened? Or wait for them to "self-sharpen"? Or throw it
away!

Thanks in advance, and take care.

Ken


Are you trying to break new ground? Those cultivators do a pretty good
job in an existing garden. They do not break new ground at all. You
might want to rent a tiller to get the beds established and then use the
cultivator yearly to turn things over.

Sharp doesn't really make a difference.

--
Art

"luvsmengines" wrote:
If so,
remoe the tines and reinstall the ones removed from one side to the
opposite side and visa/versa
Ken Weitzel wrote:

-major snippage of good advice-

So in other words you're saying those electric portable tillers ain't so
bad?

I've been thinking about buying one for small cultavation chores close to
the house, but I've never tried one out yet. Good to go for what it's
worth? (not expecting too much with a plug on it... besides winding up the
extension cord in the tines)

Of course. hehe

--
I went back to the store
They gave me four more
The guy told me at the door
It's a piece of crap. ny

I am not familiar with the Murray, but I have a 1.5hp Craftsman about
the same size as the Mantis. I got it used and It did not seem to cut
as good as a Mantis that I had tried. I checked the rpm and it was
governed at 6000. I set it up to the recommended 7600rpm and it does
good. I have a Troy 5hp and a front end 3hp tiller. If the ground was
broken up by a larger machine before planting, these little fellas do a
great job at cultivating. You mentioned that the blades had a blunt
edge, no they will never sharpen themselves. Take a close look again
and see if the back side of the blades are ground to an edge. If so,
remoe the tines and reinstall the ones removed from one side to the
opposite side and visa/versa
Ken Weitzel wrote:
Hi...

Wonder if anyone happens to have knowledge of these Murray
cultivators... small 2 cycle engine, perhaps 30 or 40 cc things?

I bought one for a small garden (10 x 15 feet'ish) at the lake.
Durned thing bounces across the top really well, takes forever
and a lot of coaxing to get it to dig down even a few inches.

Studied the manual, made sure that tines were right way, etc.

Noticed that the manual warned me that the tines were self-sharpening
and that I had to be careful to not cut myself. Something wrong
here, 'cause I'm not sure they'd cut through warm butter!

Should mention, brand new. And the "cutting" edge is just flat
steel, no edge at all.

So, the question, if I may? Should I sharpen them? Have them
sharpened? Or wait for them to "self-sharpen"? Or throw it
away!

Thanks in advance, and take care.

Ken

"Ken Weitzel" wrote in message
news:imMgg.239476$7a.72908@pd7tw1no...

Hi...

Wonder if anyone happens to have knowledge of these Murray
cultivators... small 2 cycle engine, perhaps 30 or 40 cc things?

I bought one for a small garden (10 x 15 feet'ish) at the lake.
Durned thing bounces across the top really well, takes forever
and a lot of coaxing to get it to dig down even a few inches.

Studied the manual, made sure that tines were right way, etc.

Noticed that the manual warned me that the tines were self-sharpening
and that I had to be careful to not cut myself. Something wrong
here, 'cause I'm not sure they'd cut through warm butter!

Should mention, brand new. And the "cutting" edge is just flat
steel, no edge at all.

So, the question, if I may? Should I sharpen them? Have them
sharpened? Or wait for them to "self-sharpen"? Or throw it
away!

Thanks in advance, and take care.

Ken


Ken,
If you purchased it new, I would take it back and get the Mantis . They are
a little more expensive but my wife loves hers . I do use the big tiller in
the spring and then she cultivates/weeds the garden though out crop season
with the Mantis .
Just my .02,
Raz