[Noddymac]

I am a newbie -  but luckily managed to get a Mantis but need some advice please.  My plot is tiny but I or my OH use the Mantis for just an hour or two a day and have managed to chew up the grass and weeds on nearly half the plot (other than the 3 foot deep bramble roots that seem to appear daily!) and the earth has been turned into a lovely fine tilth.  I can manage to hold the Mantis but the one problem is that it tends to jump now and then - is it because the earth is so hard and dry (very heavy clay around here) that it jumps about or am I just using it wrongly - hopefully someone will be able to advise.  I am now wearing wrist supports as it has aggravated the arthritis in my wrists - ohhh to be young again!   Other than this, it is a brilliant machine and I can understand why everyone raves about it.  I would recommend it to anyone - our allotment site had been left to go wild for about 15 years so it was covered with assorted weeds and grass - no problem to the Mantis luckily!   Thanks for any advice you can give.

[SarahB]

It will jump if it hits a compacted area, or even a thick patch of weeds - basically anything that stops the tines digging in.  I had an allotment that had been left to go to seed for several years before I took it over.  The underlying soil was quite sandy, but the mantis still jumped in the very weedy bits every now and then - if I remember rightly, when it had dug itself in a bit far, then I pulled it out, it would jump before it bit into the next bit.  So the trick may be to keep it moving at a more even pace and don't let it dig itself in too far - go over twice if necessary to get the depth.  That, and don't give it too much throttle until it starts to bite, as it will tend to bounce if the tines are rotating too fast.

[RichardA]

Best to walk backwards with it - are you doing that ??
R

[jimbeekeeper]

I have the 4 stoke mantis, and I am very pleased with it.

I must say that fist off I hired a large Rotovator to do the initial clearing, but for my 5 beds (2m x 10m each) the mantis fits in very well.

The narrow bed widths means I can work the soil from either side, or if I do it length ways I always walk on the bit I have not dug, it would be nice it the handles could be angled to one or other sides.

We have very light soil which helps, but even cutting through weeds is not issue.

Also due to its size it allows working of the soil in small patches when crop is removed, but others either side are still there.

I suspect that I might hire again the large machine, maybe even every year for a once over deep dig, but at £40 for the day, it is a lot less than buying the same machine and having it sat doing nothing for 364 days of the year.

Where as the mantis I now effectively use in place of a spade!

Yes for the price you could get a very good used Howard gem or similar but it is horses for courses.

[Noddymac]

Thanks all.  I have the 4 stroke too - a bit easier I think.  Yes I did try walking backwards with it too  - in fact, every which way to try and stop it jumping!!   Finally realised that it was because of the compacted soil/bramble roots etc that it was jumping like crazy so have now managed to cntrol it properly - and how easy it is to use now!    And no more wrist supports!!   Once you get used to it it is an absolutely brilliant machine - still takes time but as it is so light it is so easy to use - and a lovely fine tilth after going over a few times.   Tomatoes I can grow blindfolded (nearly!!) but now I a going to put in some potatoes, beans, carrots, cabbage  etc.     I will have to go through all your old posts to learn about these.  Thanks again and good luck all with the growing.

[Kristen]

You can put the tines on "backwards" to "dig" with a Mantis, dunno if that would help?

[Troopersnoots]

Yep it's a good bit of kit, you can rough dig a patch and then zip up and down in a couple of minutes with your Mantis  and you've got a super fine tilthed soil that would've taken a couple of hours of hoe-ing and raking to get.