Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Equipment Shed => Topic started by: Southmead on May 19, 2006, 21:51
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Hello Everyone :D
Instead of hiring a rotovator, I am thinking of buying one. Can anyone recommend a make and model of a rotovator. :?: My soil is soil for about a foot then clay!
The rotovator would be used quite a bit on the allotment and other areas in the garden I would like to start cultivating on.
I do not want to spend a fortune, but want something that will last and spare parts are easy to get. I know, I want my cake and to eat it too!
All thoughts or advice gratefully received.
PS we live in Surrey.
Tracy
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Hi Southmead
If you go for 2nd hand check out local papers and house clearance auctions - pay upto a hundred for one that works. Don't worry too much about spares - the garden machinery guys always seem to get them from somewhere.
My Merry Tiller is 30 years old, cost 80 plus 87 for a service including parts. It's brilliant and well worth it.
If you want to go new, it's worth a day trip to France from where you are. Check out the Bricomarch and Leroy Merlin who have great prices compared with the UK.
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like john ive got the merry tiller, its a very good machine. alot of the newer machines like mountfield ect are a bit on the tinny side, they work, but in my opinion you have to work with them!. hondas are very good ive used and sold them in the past, very well put together and very reliable, you may have to pay a bit over the £100 for a good rotavator in our neck of the woods (surrey) :wink:
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I forgot you are in Surrey, tell me does ones chauffeur or gardener drive one's rotovator? :)
I'm sure I'll get corrected if wrong, but I think with the Merry Tiller it was so well built that little goes wrong with the tiller and worst case is you put a new engine on it. - is that right gwiz?
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belt or at worse engine. there`s a few on ebay at the mo. parker, our chauffeur, would`nt use any other type......but he has been getting a bit above his station of late. :lol:
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My Mantis is brilliant. Got it off eBay. They are quite expensive but you can get a range of attachments if you want, sometimes you can buy off eBay with attachments already, as I did.
It knocks my heavy soil down to seedbed tilthe, and saves me a huge amount of raking.
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Hello everyone
Thank you for all your replies, they have helped me a lot to try to decide what to get. I cannot afford a new one, so it is second hand only.
Do the Merry Tiller's or Honda's have a reverse gear, as someone mentioned that it was back breaking work without a reverse gear. Any thoughts? Or should I let the chauffer suffer, after all I pay him enough!
I keep looking on e-bay, but they are so far away! I am happy to travel but..... I will keep looking, if you hear of any decent ones for sale, please let me know.
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The Merry Tiller only goes forward but once you get the knack of it, it's not so hard to control.
Does take a bit of practice to get the knack though.
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thats odd, the merry tiller ive got goes backwards as well, or rather the tines can be put into reverse which amounts to much the same thing.have you got a belt missing john? :?
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No belt missing, although I'm told I have a screw loose.
Perhaps it is a model thing - my MT Major from 1976 doesn't have any gearing
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What model is your Merry Tiller gwiz?
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I forgot you are in Surrey, tell me does ones chauffeur or gardener drive one's rotovator? :)
If you cant get his chauffer to do it, I'll get on to the house staff to sort it out. Damned hard to get decent hired help nowadays in Byfleet 8)
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It's probably your house prices that make it hard to get staff!
Having said that, they are pretty crazy where ever you go in the UK.
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righto, sorry for the delay, the model ive got is a merry tiller super major model AC3481
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Hi to all ,my Merry Tiller titan gt as high and low gear as well as reverse, my Norlett 5 hp as reverse as well, the Norlett as just been stripped and repainted its been very reliable, Briggs and Stratton engines take some beating in my opinion. I need to make some room in my shed so the Norlett might have to go. Is there any one out there what knows any thing about victorian wood morticers? await to hear from you, thanks. Mick
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Hello all
Well, I have at last taken the plunge and purchased a Merry Tiller Super Major 5hp with a Briggs & Stratton engine that needs a bit of 'tlc', ie it is not working yet.
I am leaving the 'tlc' to my husband to do! I have downloaded John's pdf and found a few interesting pieces on the web. I have also borrowed a Haynes manual for small engines for OH to look at. I cannot get him away from the manual now!!!!
Thank you everyone for your input into this, my first rotovator, now for the next part, trying to get it to work!
Will keep you posted. Any other help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
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well done! seeing as you are so local, if you have any trouble with it, give me a shout. :)
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Welcome to the Merry Tillers Owners Club!
My tip for getting the engine going, after 40 minutes of pulling the cord to no effect. Put some petrol in. Yes, I am rubbish with motors :)
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the fuel tank is below the carb on this type of briggs engine, most starting problems are due to the petrol pick up filter (on the end of the pick up pipe inside the fuel tank) being dirty, or the diaphragm being u/s ( halfway along the carb body behind a square plate held on by 4 screws) very old engines had points, these are found behind the flywheel, and have an integral condensor.if you fi`t new ones dont forget to "dress" them with some fine emery cloth to take off any protective coating, before fitting them. i have`nt fitted a set of points on a briggs engine for a long time. i think they were set to about 15 thou-ish but your book should have the correct setting in it, if not i will look it up for you. the engine takes a pint of oil from empty or 500ml if you prefer. :lol:
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That's it gwiz - rub it in :)
Look, I thought it had fuel in - I checked after 10 minutes and was sure it had some in there.
I had worked out where the fuel went for myself - I thought that was pretty clever.
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its quite a deep fuel tank isnt it? and it can be difficult to see down to the bottom, dont use a match for illuimation tho................. :lol:
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its quite a deep fuel tank isnt it? and it can be difficult to see down to the bottom, dont use a match for illuimation tho................. :lol:
Being serious, it is deep and I had checked by looking. pal suggested using a dipstick to check.
Years back we (my firm) were fitting a kitchen and there was a problem under the gas hob. So one fitter is in the cupboard and can't see. He lit a match <BOOM>
Now we'd been ribbing him about having his hair permed - he came out with it an inch shorter and smoking :)
The customer was dialling 999 and we were rolling around laughing (including the chap who went boom)
Happy days
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Hello everyone! :D
Update. My OH has got the engine running and the engine seems ok.
We do not have a lot of information on how the actual rotovator part works, so we are just going to take it down to the bottom of the garden at the weekend and see how it goes! :shock:
I hope all goes ok. If anyone out there has any advice on the actual workings of the rotovators themselves, my OH would be glad to hear from you.
I also need to get some transport wheels for it, as the rotovator did not come with them. Any ideas on where I could get a decent set including the frame they go on from?
Tracy