[fatbelly]

Hi my new plot is big and although it has been dug over and the only weeds are annuals and some mares tail.

I am thinking of buying a 4 stroke Mantis Tiller with the Honda engine.
If you have one of these machines can you please give me your views on it.
I have looked at Johns page about this machine but would like to get other opinions before I spend my hard earned.

Any views good or bad would be welcome.

Thanks FB

[Gwiz]

I can honestly say I've only ever heard good things about the mantis, also about the little Honda rotovator which is the same-ish kind of money. If it was me buying, I'd go for the Honda, but only because I can get parts cheap.

[jimbeekeeper]

Great little machine, I have the 4 stroke. It is like the swiss army knife of rotorvators.

I also have a big Howard 350, which is also great but the mantis does jobs the 350 is wayyyy to big for,.

OK, If you have virgin land to clear, hire in a larger unit, and then on-going the mantis will do all you need.

I would never not have one now, and use it like I would a spade a lot of the time.

[Hobnails]

I too have a Howard 350, which I bought new in 1970. As it's getting on in years I bought the Mantis four stroke when we came to live here in France and started buidling a veg garden out of a field.

I find the Mantis is very slow. Any stone the size of a pigeon egg will likely jam the rotors.
The spread of the tines leaves a central ridge that requires going over again using a diagonal motion or criss crossing the plot from a 90 degree angle from the first pass direction.

Walking backwards takes a little getting used to - I would prefer a swivel to offset the control bars allowing one to walk forwards alongside the machine while working.
On hard ground it will bounce around and needs some grip to control it. Another factor of its lightweight.
The Honda engine is good, it uses a lot of fuel to till a plot- combination of slow speed, number of passes required ( more than one) and the 9 inches width of cultivation.
There is a lot of vibration and the lack of self locking nuts means one must check them for tightness before using the machine. I lost the stand bolts on the plot through being negligent of this.
I had a problem with escape of oil into the cylinder while trying to clear a jam, by stupidly turning it over for a moment. The lightness of the machine will allow this to happen.
I still use the machine for but for any serious work I break out the Howard, even although  it is difficult to manouvre around the beds I have laid out.

My usual practise is to run forwards over the line to be cultivated then run backwards. This leaves two pronounced ridges either side of the run. One of which is run over on the forward run to start the next row.

For quite small jobs I will often resort to hand digging. I have just hand dug a bed that
grew sweetcorn  and squash this year and tomatoes the year before. The bed is 1.6m x
12m. It had been dug previously with the Mantis, so was faairly easy digging, but with the high water content of the soil and  digging in manure I knew the Mantis would not handle it. I found it chokes up on manures so digging in is difficult.

The Mantis is expensive for what you get for the money. There are better options.
I did not find the support service helpful at all - perhaps that's as a result of buying in Uk and moving to France.

I have said a lot on the negative side, but its  game little machine. It gives  agood tilth and goes down 10 inches - which is more than the Howard. It's a great concept, but I feel it is not finished and would like to see some more design put into it.
The tines need to overlap. Perhaps some refillable water ballast tanks to give more weight ove the tines to reduce  bounce. An offset swivel perhaps. For weeding between rows, it's good, but why buy a machine for that!

By the way, this is only my opinion as a user and is not authoritative. If buying again I would seriously ask myself exactly what it is I want in a machine and test drive a few before making my purchase to see i get what I want and not let myself be seduced again by all of the very wholesome opinions of other users who find it ideal for their purposes.

Good Luck with your search for a machine.

Hobnails

[jimbeekeeper]

Walking backwards takes a little getting used to -

I always walk forwards, but sort of to the side. Quite right, like the howard, off -set handles would be good, but the unit does not have the mass to "set and forget" like the howard.

All of my beds are 2m x 10m, so I can work from both sides without having to step on the soil.

Like I said, dont think this will tackle virgin rock hard ground, it will just bounce and skid around and not get going. Hire a big unit first to clear the land.

Once the unit does get going into the ground, I find it can be run full depth so the sheild it rubbing the top of the soil, this gives a very good finsih. But requires some adjgility to not walk on the dug bit (as I walk foraward)

Its horses for courses, but I would not be without it, even with my 350, and now search for a Gem or Howard 700 to add to my Gadgets.

[Hobnails]

Ahh!
A Howard Gem!
 Now you're really talking rotovators!!!

[fatbelly]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I am almost certainly going to buy one.

Apparently the ones for £279 on eBay and listed as having light use are from customers who have sent them back under the one year return if not satisfied.

So I think it will be a new one bought with the 4 months interest free credit.

[Troopersnoots]

I got mine in March this year, bought it with the option of sending it back within 12 months if I decided I didn't want it.
Plus points are:
1. It's easily transportable, put it in the car boot and can carry it up to my plot when        required, don't need a trailer to move it.

2. It breaks the soil up to a very fine tilth, I use the 'vacuum cleaner' tecnique, i.e like you would hoover a carpet, found that to be the best way for me.

3. Very reliable, well built and got some power for a 25cc 4 stroke.

4. Easy to clean and doesn't take up a lot of space in the garage.

Minus points

1. They cost a lot.

2. The odd certain size stone does get stuck between the tines and the gearbox housing sometimes, only takes a secound to clear though.

All things considered I'm delighted with mine and won't be sending it back.

Cheers

[caroline800]

I was lucky enough to be gifted one by a very kind lady at work    she had left it in the garage for over 5 years and didn't know whether it would still work! 

I tried it out in the garden the other week, but the tines didn't go round very quick and it struggled even to edge the border. 

A quick check of the manual, some grease applied to the wormgears and when I tried it at the lottie last weekend it was amazing

It went through the grass roots and weeds with ease to a reasonable depth leaving lovely soil behind.  Only snag was because there were so many roots (I cleared about 3 dustbins full from a 8 x 20 feet stretch!!) I kept having to stop and untangle them.  Easy enough to take off the tines to remove the roots, put them back on, start it again and off we go!!

Very impressed for such a little machine, particularly after 5+ years in storage!!  Would definitely recommend. 

Caroline 

[blue_seeds]

I took the plunge last week and had the 4 stroke model delivered on Thursday last week. Doddle to put together (comes with a DVD for assembly), so easy to start and runs superbly.

I took it to a piece of lawned ground not previously dug - fairly heavy clay - and it did bounc a little bit but once it gets a hold of the ground it produces the most amazing crumbly earth which i can now leave out for the frosts to get to. Each to clean too, roots got tangled in the tines but i would have expected that anyway.

I cant recommend it highly enough and i am just waiting to get to the (so far untouched) allotment soon!

If you think for too long the price will rise by £7.50 - £10 depending which one you go for (I got the planter pack with the plough and planter attachments in) and if you get it now you can get a full growing season out of it.

My 2 pennies worth!

Wes

[jimbeekeeper]

, roots got tangled in the tines but i would have expected that anyway.

 (I got the planter pack with the plough and planter attachments in)

I bought the weed spacer things, these are very good for easy cleaning of the tines, and in a way I sue the machines "ablity" to catch the weeds to my advantage.

I also got the narrow tines, these are also good.

As for the plough, I tried it once and had no luck with it.

[harry]

I bought this machine new on four payments and after i got used to found it invaluable. My only problem, walking over ground already done so i walk backwards or to the side.

[Comfortably Numb]

I bought mine just over a year ago now, and wouldn't be without it 
A major plus point for me is the ease of transportation, as I live about 7 miles from the plot.

[SkipRat]

I bought the 4 stroke version (honda engine) 4 years ago and without doubt is a god send. My beds are 1.2 mtr by 10 mtr raised beds and the mantis is light enough to lift in and out of the beds and leave my soil like breadcrumbs. I dont walk at all on the beds while i,m tilling it choosing to walk off set while the mantis does its job. If you change the tines over it makes weeding effortless. Its small enough to carry when you need it in a car boot and also stores well in the shed when not in use. All in all a good buy for my needs.

[fatbelly]

Hi Guys thanks for all the replies.

In the end I bought a Honda FG201 Tiller.
The reason being there was a Brand New one on eBay for £200 less than list price.
It is a wonderful fantastic machine and I would not be without it.

It makes light work of getting the soil ready for planting, if you after a tiller then in my experience the FG201 will not let you down.