Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Equipment Shed => Topic started by: yanfoex on July 03, 2006, 16:58
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I'm thinking of buying a Mowerland Hobby tiller, 3.5 h.p., Briggs & Stratton engine. A reasonable £219 delivered. Does anyone have any experience of these i.e. are they worth buying. I've got good(ish) soil which doesn't need much work - when it's not 31 celsius!
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That looks to be a worthwhile machine if your soil is not too heavy. Falls between my Mantis and Merry Tiller.
Go for it would be my feeling.
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i agree with john, providing you aint got a clay soil, i reckon its not a bad deal. engine parts wont be a problem, i dont have any experience getting the rotavator bits so i could`nt say. give it a go, got to be easier than a fork and spade :D
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I've decided to take the plunge - helped by the comments and the fact that it only weighs 30 kg, so is relatively easy to transport. I'll let you know how it goes - once we've had some rain soak in, to loosen the plot a bit!
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I've had no experience of these devices - what's the difference between a Mantis and a Merry Tiller? (never thought I'd ever ask a question like that). Does one just go deeper than the other.?
What would people recommend for pretty decent loamy soil which mostly just needs things like compost and manure dug in? I spaded it last winter but I must admit I was not as thorough as I might have been. Some beds were merely tickled.
This year I'll be digging in broad bean roots etc.
Would it be worth getting a second-hand device? (I don't want to spend too much as I'll have to keep it in the shed.)
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a merry tiller digs down quite deep. you can spread your organic matter on the suface and let the machine turn it in for you. a mantis is what i would call a back scratcher. its fantastic at turning over the top two or three inches to prepare a seed bed or just to keep the ground looking in tip top condition, but no good for heavy work. sounds like you need somthing a bit heavier than a mantis. dont forget tho` it wont matter what you get, nobody says you have to turn it all over in one day! take your time over it, less strain on your machine and you that way. :wink:
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Thanks, I'll have a look round for a secondhand merry tiller I think
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You can probably hire one you know. We use one belonging to Rupperts dad but the allotment shop has one people are allowed to borrow. Nobody uses it though because they're scared of breaking it and getting into trouble. The top brass at our place are pretty severe looking. :)
Seriously though, I'd be supprised if you couldn't hire one.
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Thanks, good idea. I'll ask around the site and have a look in some hire shops.
I don't want to become like a really irritating old bloke on our site who strims constantly - shattering the peace of me communing with my weeds. Still I think he gets chucked out of the house first thing in the morning so I suppose he has to do something.
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I don't want to become like a really irritating old bloke on our site who strims constantly - shattering the peace
Last Saturday we had a squad of young lads racing trail bikes on the public path at the back of the plots. They made some sarcy comment about disturbing us, but I said it was ok, we had strimmers with bigger engines than their bikes. They appeared quite sullen after that. Bless. :twisted:
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The Mowerland is out of stock everywhere - unless I want to pay £250 - so I have to wait until August.
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I bought one of these from my local Wyevale a couple of days ago, for the bargain price of £134!
It was the last on display and didn't have a price and it took two of the assistants half an hour to come up with the price they did. Needless to say I snapped it up immediately.........
Might be worth a visit to your local Wyevale just in case theres one left on display, without a price on it.....?