Stihl MM55 mini-tiller or Mantis??
the_filters
16 years ago
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canguy
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Tillers
Comments (19)I bought a full-size rear-tine tiller from Sears a few years ago on a whim -- I went in to get vacuum-cleaner bags and came out with this monster for $200 as a discontinued model. But it takes every bit of strength I have to wrestle that beast around. Last summer I got stuck in traffic with a pawn shop out my right window. After about half an hour, I pulled over, parked and went in -- and they had a Honda four-stroke minitiller still in its original box for about $200. I went home that night and asked the guys on the Toolshed forum the pros and cons of this machine/what I should offer for it -- next afternoon I bought it for $75. Thanks to the TS guys, I expected the difficulties I encountered in assembling it, and knew to buy my own connector bolts since the ones that came with it didn't fit. Not bad at all -- I had it together in only an hour or so, and I am not normally mechanically inclined. This tiller is like having a manic Jack Russell terrier at the end of a leash -- it digs deeper than the big boy does, I can lift it and start it easily, and if it bounces around, it's still controllable. The big boy stays in the shed now except for heavy big projects like initial tilling of a large bed. The Terrier is my tool of choice for digging tree-planting holes or even digging out the foot-wide foundation for the 75 feet of drystone wall I've laid over the last 6 months... By the way, the TS guys will tell you that overtilling is really bad for your soil -- not only does it kill worms, the tines essentially polish the bottom of where they scrape, compacting the base below your loose soil and preventing water percolation. So I till once to loosen the ground and just once more to work in a stack of amendments -- after that things stay loose enough to use the Terrier for individual holes. LynnT...See MoreMantis tiller tines
Comments (5)Mantis is really a cultivator rather than a tiller. I have the dethatcher tine and it worked BEAUTIFULLY. It didn't beat up the lawn like the big Bluebird and work pretty fast. Good for cultivating weeds around plants. Tilling.....so so!!! But still my favority equipment because it did such a good job in dethatching. From my memory, Troybilt have a bigger shaft than the Mantis and fitting the tine to me is a waste of effort. I would buy the Mantis as a complete unit because it has so many useful attachments that Troybilt don't have that it is much better off buying the whole thing. Else, wasting money to buy the tines and still have to modify it. Mantis has a much better engine too. I have the Honda for a little more money and I love every minute of it. I bought direct from Mantis and their support is second to none!!! Believe me. Do a search of my past posts....See MoreStihl MM55 - Mantis or Honda Mini Tiller
Comments (7)NO I only reason that I came across the way I did is I want someone to come forth and really give me a testimony which Mini Tiller could and would perform the very best under these conductions that I ask about. Since I have heard from no one with the HONDA I was hoping that someone would come forward and give their testimony about all three of these Mini Tillers. You are the first to come forward and give your feelings about the HONDA. You see I am a big HONDA fan but have never heard any one talk about the HONDA, always about the Mantis and how great they are. Yes I have clay soil and yes I shove it and turn it over by hand. So in doing this will I be able to use the HONDA to brake the soil up? I still would love to hear about the Stihl? You are a great help in telling me about your expense with the HONDA and the MANTIS and I am very grateful for this....See MoreMantis Tiller question...
Comments (11)I'm not as much into garden machines as Larry is soy answer won't be as technical. We have had several different tillers and cultivators over the years and how well any one of them has worked has varied depending on what kind of soil we had. We have a large rear-tine Troy-bolt tiller that Tim uses but it is too powerful for me to control if I try to use it on heavily compacted clay----both the tiller and I bounce around on heavy clay. It works fine for Tim because he has the strength to control it. I use my Mantis for virtually everything and broke up several thousand square feet of new garden space with it this winter and spring. Most of the ground was heavily-compacted sandy-silty soil, and I mean really heavily compacted because it had been driven on by cars, trucks and large machines like front-end loaders and bulldozers over the years. The Mantis did a great job with most of it, but Tim got out the bigger Troy-bilt tiller for one area that was densely compacted clay. Once he broke up the clay the first time, I have been able to rototill it with the Mantis ever since. In one part of that clay area, he was having trouble breaking up the ground with the Troy-bilt, so I used the Mantis and in that area it did better than the Troy-bilt. I love my Mantis and if I could have only one tiller or cultivator, it would be the Mantis. Before we bought the Mantis we had both a Craftsman (needed constant repair) and a Ryobi (also needed constant repair) of a similar size and neither one worked nearly as well for us as the Mantis. Once we have broken up virgin ground the first time, we amend the clay soil heavily via the addition of lots of organic matter and it is great soil and easy to cultivate after that. I feel like the Mantis is all I really need. It takes me a little longer to do things since it is a smaller machine but it does everything I want and need for it to do. I rarely find any rocks at all in the soil. If we had really rocky soil, the Mantis might not be the best option. Dawn...See Morerdaystrom
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