You don't won't to use 2 cycle engine oil! That's for equipment where you mix the oil & gas.
The SAE 30 will be OK.

Regular gasoline

I have no personal experience with a Mantis, so I don't know how well it would break sod. It probably would eventually.
I think I would take an edger and "outline" the area to be broken. Else, you probably won't have a very straight edge.

I'll try to answer what I can. I just got my Mantis for my birthday in April and love it. It's the 2 cycle.
Yes, the book says to pull it backward and then let it dig forward. The reason the tines have to be switched for till or cultivate is the tines points point a little off center. When in the till position,the points are pointing forward in the direction of travel. Just the opposite for cultivate. This is so the tines won't dig in so deep when cultivating.
Don't know about the oil change procedure since mine is 2 cycle. Owners manual should enlighten you on this and what kind of oil to use.I'm guessing a good 30 wt. oil will be what it needs but I stress read the owners manual.
Just regular gas should be fine. Some folks swear by Stabil to keep gas fresh and not form varnish. I,like you, empty the gas tank and run the carb dry. Been doing it this way for years w/ no problem.
As for salesmen,It's easy to tell when they're lying.WHEN THEIR LIPS MOVE!!!! The Mantis will probably break sod,but to me it's like sending a boy to do a man's job.I think it would shorten both your's and the Mantis' lives.I would have someone w/ a larger tiller break out the sod.
The tine pins are really easy. Just pull the "hairpin clps" out of the pins,then remove pins.Tines will then slide off shaft.When storing for the winter,apply a little oil or grease to shafts the tines slide on. This will prevent rust forming and causing tines to stick to shaft.
Hope I have helped you.
Mike

Check the oil by tipping the machine on it's nose and screwing out the white dipstick. The oil should be level with the top of the opening. Check it every time you go to use the machine. That little rascal only holds 100 ml of oil, about 1/10 of a U.S. quart, so maintenance is critical. After 10 hours or so, dump the oil out and replace it with SAE30 motor oil.
It is a great tool. Don't be afraid to experiment a little to find what works best for you.

Mine is a Honda brand mini tiller with the same engine. It will break sod, but you have to clean the grass out of the tines periodically. Heavy duty scissors work well for that. Mow it short first so you don't have as much grass wrapping up in the tines. It will work you a bit, but not as bad as a shovel and hoe. Just hold it in one spot so it can dig through the roots.

SAE 30 or "small engine oil" available at Tractor Supply and most automotive places.

Thank you all for your generosity in your responses. It was a great help. You answered all my questions, it will break some sod, I can hand dig the rest for no bigger than I'm going.

My beautiful arbor fell over during the night, so my heart isn't in anything right now.

First trial. Wouldn't start, confusion about the choke, when done read the manual again, says to start with choke closed on a cold start, open on a warm start. Forgot to turn the switch to on duh. Whatever.

I had turned the blades to till and set out to enlarge and reshape a small patch I had done with a tractor. I did have to break up some sod on the edges. But no matter where I was in there, it likes to bounce, does a number on your arms, hope I get used to that, I did put on hiking boots and took my watch off. One hand is still shaking an hour later.

It is easy to miss spots, but overall I am pleased, got the manual out, read it again, and now all I don't quite understand is messing with the throttle, air filter, will get into that later. Think I understand how to do the oil now.

It is a pain to clean it. I didn't want to hose it or soak the tines in a bucket, so took them off, pulled off all the stuck grass and dirt, washed down with a scrubbie and old cloth; it's in the back hall air drying. I don't think that detangle tool would do much for me, easier to just take the tines off, time will tell.

I'm hoping it will be a little easier in cultivate mode in an area that is dug and planted.

Next I will try the edger to neaten what I did today. I don't think I would try to break up very much sod ever again, and I don't think it would be safe to use on the terrace the way it bounces. But I can see what it will do from the sidewalk and find a way to get the rest done.

The bottom line is that I could not have hand dug and gotten the soil so fine, would have taken a lot more time and energy to do that, never could have broken up the soil that well.

It does run quietly, is a real little work horse. Thank you for giving me the courage and info. A lot of that is in one of the manuals.

The arbor is dis-assembled and stored in the garage, had to move on without it for now.

Once you've broken down the hard pan and mixed in some mulch you'll find the bounch will be gone. Bounch is simply hard blades bounching on hard ground. If you keep the garden area up, future tilling will become almost fun. The initial prep work is indeed work but gets easier in maintenance mode.

I have a 3 year old Mantis 2 cycle that does all I would want in a garden but I have excellent soil that's easy to till. The Mantis tines rotate forward so to dig them in you pull backwards. If you let it go forward, the forward rotation causes the tiller to bounce. Pull it toward you when tilling and it will not bounce on you.

I use the edger mostly for edging my walks. Again, you pull it backwards; don't push it forwards.

Do you pull it backwards when the tines are turned to cultivate?

Have you broken small patches of sod with it? I'm not talking about 10'X20'. One poster told me to edge first which I will do.

Have you used it on a terrace? I was thinking on one side I could stand on my steps and pull it across, but can't do that on the other side. I need to prep an area, at least one yard wide for lilies; it is partly fill, part weedy/crab grassy. I'd say it might be easier to hand dig that, but I don't think I can stand on a 45-degree terrace and dig without buying golf or cleated shoes. I may have to get somebody stronger to do the terrace for me. To just dig out a hole, I can probably do that.

I will edge my walks when I get my planting areas finished and edged. It is too hot again for me to use it now, mid-80's is about all I can take.

Thank you for the tips, everybody. I really appreciate it, am a little chagrined you can't walk forward with it. If I can't walk forward with it when I cultivate, I will have to be very careful of my footing on the top of the terrace, plus to get around my 21 tomato cages, I am going to be having to do a lot of lifting and re-positioning.

What I can't get done this summer, I'll try to make up for it in the fall, getting things in better order for spring.

Hey Aliska,

Like another poster mentioned, Setting your mower to its lowest setting and mowing the grass completely off really makes breaking new ground a lot easier. My wife and I bought a house 3 seasons ago and the first plot I tore up with my BCS without mowing first. It was a bugger with the tiller wanting to lurch forward all the time. On the next three plots, I mowed them first and had considerably less lurching.

The Mantis won't bounce very much if at all during cultivating. It's just the hard sod that causes that. Rocks will make them jump, too.

When cultivating, you can just walk slowly forward and the tiller will do fine unless you let the weeds get over 6 inches tall. My FIL doesn't do very well at keeping his garden weed free and I find myself walking backward every now and again when cultivating to knock down, uproot and chop up the foot and a half tall foxtail. Otherwise, I hardly ever walk my mantis backward unless I'm doing some very aggressive tilling.

Good luck with your mantis! They're a great little tiller

farmerboybill, thank you so much. I guess I would have found out soon enough just by trying different things. I have the yard mowed because of the terrace and so many days of high temps w/high humidity, but can fire up the tiller if it is cool enough after he's just mowed, he does cut it nice and short.

He said he would do the terrace by the steps for me because I could fall and break something which would be nice to avoid as long as possible.