[Turkey Jane]

I need a lightweight tiller like the Mantis for cultivating etc, but not much choice available here in Turkey as far as I can determine.  Does anyone have any experience of the Stihl Multi-tool system - it looks like a copy of the Mantis, and I can get it here?

[DD.]

I'll move this to the equipment shed to where the 'know alls' lurk!

Welcome to the fourms BTW.

[Gwiz]

Hi,
The mantis tiller is very good, I don't have one, I bought the Ryobi 410r instead. They're both lightweight machines, and easy to use.
Honda have brought out a small tiller (4 stroke) that has been quite highly spoken of.
I wouldn't have thought that you would have any trouble buying them in Turkey, particularly the Stihl.
hope this helps.

[Larkshall]

I have been despairing of getting any normal garden crops for the last two years. I am on heavy clay and with the wet season last year and now this year I have been unable to keep ahead of the tremendous growth of weeds and nettles.

So with the recent hot dry weather I decided that a fresh approach was needed. I have always laid out the vegetable garden in rows, but now realise that on clay it is not the best way. I used to work for H.M. Forestry Commission and on 24 acres of nursery we had it laid out in beds 3ft wide and 1ft rows between. I have now laid out the Veg garden in the same way (so that I don't have to tread on the tilled clay, which is fatal when wet or damp). I have made beds 1mtr wide and 40cm paths between. I dug them over with a spade (pulling out nettle and horseradish roots then went over them with a Mantis Electric Tiller to reduce the clods to a reasonable tilth. I have a large petrol engined tiller (Wolsley Webb Major) but as I am nearing 80 I can no longer manage to handle it. The Mantis is the answer to the problem, it is much lighter to handle and it has 40 blades in 9inches compared with the Major's 8 in 12inches. Pulling the tiller towards you instead of following it is also an improvement as the direction in which the blades revolve help to keep it in full depth without the weight. At 9.5Kg I can easily carry it to where I want to use it and lift and turn round at the end.
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[Turkey Jane]

Thx for the contributions, I ordered a 2Hp petrol engined Stihl tiller today, will post progress when I've tried it.  Fingers crossed!

[muntjac]

wooly major now  thats a machine and a half for a younger person to handle ,,, but i love them  

[Larkshall]

The Wooly Major can just be seen outside the rabbit fence in three of the pictures.

[Percy]

Turkey jane,
                   Have a look at e-bay today, I have just bought a 2stroke  Mantis for £219.00 with free postage in the UK

[amc]

My dad has got some info from Mantis - apparently, you can get the electric, 2 or 4 stroke for a year and you can then return if for a full refund for any reason. There is also an option to pay in 4 instalments, The 4 stroke was £339 and the 2 stroke £269 i recall.

I'm not connected in anyway to mantis or its agents. The website www.mantis-uk.co.uk
seems to confirm this.
amc

[Larkshall]

My dad has got some info from Mantis - apparently, you can get the electric, 2 or 4 stroke for a year and you can then return if for a full refund for any reason. There is also an option to pay in 4 instalments, The 4 stroke was £339 and the 2 stroke £269 i recall.

I'm not connected in anyway to mantis or its agents. The website www.mantis-uk.co.uk
seems to confirm this.
amc

You seem to have mis-read the price of the electric, it's £289. I got the same package from a dealer for £269. Another dealer was selling the electric £259 without theStand and Edger. The stand is very useful but I have no use at present for the edger.

I had a problem today, the motor clamp bolt worked loose, it's a Torx headed bolt and I have a set of Torx bits. The trouble is that the bolt head is not very good and it stripped out. I then had to drill the head out and replace the bolt (with a Philips/slotted head). I recommend replacing the bolt when you get the machine, preferably with an Allen headed bolt.

[Percy]

I've just received my Mantis 2stroke which is brand new and off e-bay £219.00 and like the chap said it comes next day which it did, we unpacked it from the box and had it assembled and running in twenty minutes