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On Jul 26, 2003, hopflower Santa Rosa, CA (Zone 9a) wrote:
This year in early Spring, I invested in a Mantis Tiller...the 20 lb. wonder that is so often advertised, and it is indeed a little worker. The whole package arrived in a compact box; I could not believe how they got everything inside, but it was all there and more: the complete manual, an order packet for more parts (both replacement and extra) and assembly instructions were all tucked into the box around the tiller. I had already received a free tape from the company by filling out one of those cards that Mantis puts in garden catalogues. It was a sales promotion tape that describes how the tiller works and what it can do in the garden backed with testimonials by satisfied customers. I had my doubts: our soil is full of crabgrass and other weeds and tends to be somewhat clay, as is the rest of the county's. That afternoon, I went down and got the correct oil and gas mixture for the motor, planning to get started in the garden with it that weekend.
I could not believe the miracles that little tiller worked in my hard-packed garden! It does all that it says easily, it just took a little getting used to for me to handle a tiller...about 15 minutes and I was going like a real farmer! I dug up weeds (I had to stop literally about every 5 minutes though, or the crabgrass would get wound around the tines; best to pull it out to avoid stress on the tiller's engine)and added compost and well-rotted manure to my soil. It was fun to use and worked very well to get my garden area ready for the summer.
My Mantis tiller is well worth the investment. I even did a friend's garden, who exclaimed she had not seen her garden's soil like that in years! I am glad I bought it and would recommend it to everyone and anyone wanting a light, comfortable and hard working tiller for a small to medium garden.
I bought the 20 lb. tiller and I love it!!! I have a hard time with controlling big tillers, and this one is perfect for me. It is great between the rows too. Digs fast and easy. I couldn't ask for anything better!
My husband gave me a Mantis tiller for my birthday about four years ago. We ordered via the mail system. It worked great the first year. I was absolutely thrilled that I could start it so easily and transport it so effortlessly. The next season is another story. In the middle of using it one day, it went dead. I had plenty of fuel in it. Yes, it was the correctly mixed fuel. My husband has operated chain saws for years, so that was no problem. I re-started it. In went dead again. After many exhaustive tries, I gave up. We have taken it to the local small engine repairman in our town, plus I drove fifty miles to an authorized dealer to have it repaired. It's the same story. Get it out of the shop, it starts fine. Start to till with it, it goes dead and then is impossible to start or keep running. We paid over four hundred dollars for it, plus all therepair bills which by the way have amounted to almost another two hundred dollars. I have called the 1-800 number to speak to their representative who advised me to take it to the authorized dealer/repairman. I hate that Ihave spent that much money and have not gotten any satisfaction from this product. My husband told me today he was going to buy another one for me, not a Mantis. We will shop around and do some comparison. I guess we should have done that before buying the Mantis.
