Hi,
What kind of soil do you have. We live in rocky New England and constantly had rocks, large small and in-between, bind up the tines. And it takes a hammer and muscle to get them dislodged. Half the time I had to call my husband, and I was then 50, medium height and not easily winded!

The gent who sold it and repaired it (at least once)said it was designed to work where it was built- north Carolina.

If you lived nearer, or if you take a trip to Mass. I'll give you mine! It needs another tune up and I'm sick of messing with it.

Marie

If you don't have excessively rocky soil, they are GREAT! They've got a strong engine for their size, they're light & easy to handle, & easy to start. I think mine was about $300.

thanks, belgianpup. Light and easy to handle is what I was hoping to hear. This is thick Missouri clay here, rocks and stones shouldn't be a problem.

Hi Marie (idabean) Do you still have your Mantis 20 to offer? I have one that is very sick and need to get another. I live on the south shore, can you send me an email? bill.mark@analog.com thanks

I belong to a Master Gardener program in Arkansas..we have clay and rocks. Between us we have about a dozen Mantis tillers used primarily by women between 45 and 65. WE LOVE THEM. They can be tough if you have a lot of rocks or really hard soil and it takes some shoulder to work deep in the soil. My husband (my most useful garden tool) laughed at me when I bought it and now he is always using it!

I echo all positive commments about the Mantis. I had a ruptured disk in my back and foot surgery last yr so though I have always been strong I suddenly couldn't do anything much. We have heavy clay in northern Ohio and the Mantis eats it up - it is great for mixing manures, compost, etc, opening up the soil for planting and getting into small spaces between plants. I give credit to the Mantis for my great annual beds - soil prep in spring is easy. I have bent some tines hitting rocks ( which are not that hard to straighten - you give it to your husband) and occasionally I've had to take it apart to unwind long grasses or stems, but I'd buy it again. I searched the internet with Google and found a hardware store in AZ that sells them at a discount - I think I paid about $260.

I finally found somthing I could buy my Dad - who thought it was really sissy - then My bro in law used it at his house and wouldn't let my Dad have it back. The continuing refrain is "That thing is great!"

I'm late to this thread, but also checked out the Mantis tiller before I decided to go with Lasagna gardening. I'd buy a Mantis too if I could.

Anyway, another source for Mantis tillers is eBay - just make sure it's new and includes the original warranty. Also make sure you know which model you're bidding on - there are different ones. You can also pick up some good deals on attachments there.

I bought one a few years ago and it never worked right. I personally don't like it at all. For some reason mine will leap into the air and the engine will stall. Maybe my ground is too hard. I only used it for about 5 minutes and now it is rusting away in my shed.

Sorry to be so late with this reply, but I just found this forum. I bought a mantis tiller a few years ago. I found it was great for digging holes in my half rock/half clay ground. It was not easy to use, however, and bounces like a bucking horse whenever it hits a rock. I used it to dig holes by churning up the soil with the tiller, digging out the area, then tilling in the bottom, until I got the size I wanted. You can get several feet deep with this method. The manual one I have has to be started by a pull cord and turned off every time you want to stop using it to dig out the hole, or whatever. The pull cord gets pretty tiring after a while. Also, because it is small, I found it very tiring to try to use it on any garden area of more than a few feet. It vibrates like crazy and was not kind to my arthritic hands. I recently checked on the electric motor one at a garden show and the people there told me the electric one would bounce around just as much as the manual. It would be nice to get rid of the pull cord, but at the moment I don't think I'm well enough to make the investment worth while.
The tines on mine do get bound up by rocks that wedge into them and I would be afraid this would burn up an electric motor.

I wonder how many of you are familiar with the Troy-Bilt version? I have one and the only complaint I have is that it's awfully noisy.

Hi Mehitabel,

I was surprised to see your post here, since I spend most of my time in the fragrant forum.

Anyway, I have an Electric Mantis tiller and heavy clay soil. Here is my story. I love the tiller. It is about 20 lbs and I have no problem lugging it around the garden. The clay soil I do not love. It is dense and full of rocks. I have found that lasagne gardening really works the best with my heavy clay. I build up the topsoil by composting in place and then I get the rich soil that I really like to grow in.

The Electric tiller cost $300 and it is very quiet. I sometime have used it on Sunday mornings. I need to use it in fairly close proximity to the house because I need an electric outlet.

Overall, once the soil gets conditioned properly, I don't need the tiller since the garden fork does the job turning the soil just as easily. I also feel a little bad when I am shredding all of the earthworms...

If you have any questions feel free to send me an email.

Linda

I had some additional comments after reading Kitty Rumpus:

> I found it was great for digging holes in my half rock/half clay ground.

Yes, you can also use the tiller like this to dig fairly large holes.

> It was not easy to use, however, and bounces like a bucking horse whenever it hits a rock.

Yes, the tiller does buck when you hit a big rock. Here is my definition of big: if it is the size of an orange the tiller kicks it up, if it is the size of a cantelope the tiller just laughs at you by bouncing around on top of it.

> The manual one I have has to be started by a pull cord and turned off every time you want to stop using it to dig out the hole, or whatever. The pull cord gets pretty tiring after a while.

The electric tiller has no pull cord! It is extremely easy to start and stop. This is a particularly good bonus if you have lots of rocks that you need to pick up and remove at regular intervals.

> It vibrates like crazy and was not kind to my arthritic hands.

If you have arthritic hands the electric tiller is still going to irritate you. I don't have arthritic hands, and they sometimes still bother me after tilling for an hour or so.

> The tines on mine do get bound up by rocks that wedge into them and I would be afraid this would burn up an electric motor.

The electric motor has the equivalent of a circuit breaker that gets thrown if it gets stuck on a rock. I had to use it once when it got particularly jammed.

Hope this helps!

Hey, Linda, thanks for the great information about the tiller. I appreciate the detail. I was thinking of using it to start new beds or dig holes for shrubs, but from what you say I'm pretty sure I'm not strong enough to control the thing. It'll probably fly right thru a window and decapitate someone, if not me :)

I agree that the lasagne method is the way to go. A book written by Ruth Stout claimed that use of a 6-8" hay mulch continuously created over several years a deep rich soil that never needed tilling, and I've seen the worms the newspapers bring on, so I believe it.

Thanks again for your kind response.

I got an email from someone looking for purchase info on the Mantis. I "googled" a search and found the best deal on eBay - bids starting at about $250.

for $300.00 you can have a nice front tine tiller from craftsman. love mine.

Yes, the Mantis kicks out orange-sized rocks, and Yes, it bounces atop canteloupe-sized rocks, and it DEFINITELY jams up with lemon-sized rocks, but once you figure out how to get best advantage out of it, it really does the trick, and I'm really missing mine, which was stolen a couple months back.

I found that by letting it dance AROUND the big rocks and/or roots, the Mantis would clear a space around them so I could either pick them up or cut them off... side-to-side motion is best for digging... doggoneit, I WANT MY MANTIS BACK!!!

Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Love my lil' digger.
The legendary SC clay is no match for this buckaroo. Have been using since last 3 years, belive me it is very easy to go overboard with this machine. Making perfect veggie beds, digging holes for planting trees, incorporating soil amendments have never been so easy. It's a pleasure to garden with mantis.
Last weekend I had to install 150 feet of cement edging (using 18" scalloped pieces) around the flower beds. I marked the lines with chalk powder, and made perfect 4" wide and 4" deep grooves with mantis (using tines on one side only). The entire job was finished (including the cleanup) within 2 hrs, without breaking a sweat.

Wow! So glad I found this thread! A Mantis was already the ONE thing I told DH I wanted for Christmas, but its nice to read such great reviews!! Come on spring!!! Yippee!

My husband bought a weed wacker with a tiller attachment that works great (2 in one tool). It also cost a LOT less than the tiller alone. check out Lowes or Home Depot.

I have had my Manis for 15 yrs. It has been completly rebuilt 1 time. Of course I have cleared & prepared 2 acres of wooded lot with it over the last 11 yrs. Need I say more?

Leave that Mantis Tiller to a strong young man. I have the gas operated one and loved it when I was younger, but that rascal often got the best of me. It is not for an elderly lady to operate.

Gandy75041

Hi Mehitabel;

Please let me put my 2 cents in: the Mantis tiller is a gem. I'm a 60 yo male forced to use a power wheelchair in clay soil & my Mantis is the only thing that allows me to garden!! It's easy to use (even for me) & does a great job. Be sure to get the "Kit" & Kickstand when you order your tiller; both are a big help. Drop a line if you need more info.

I live in SC and we have clay and rocky soil. I have owned my Mantis for ten years plus and am on my 4th set of times and with the exception of large rocks , it has done a great job.I'm 81 Years old and the only problem other than large rocks is my neighbors borrowing my tiller.

I live in SC and have clay and rocky soil. I'm on my 4th set of tines and my only problems are rocks and neighbors borrowing my tiller.

Love, Love, Love my Mantis tiller. I had a front tined Craftsman that needed work before every season and only my husband could use it because it was too heavy to turn around in my small garden. I now have a bigger garden and my mantis does anything I want to do. I do have to take it apart to get the Virginia Creeper roots out of it now and then, but it is a workhorse. I am female, almost 65 and have 10 inches of steel down both sides of my spine. I can use it without any problem. Also you may find it is easier to pull something than to push it when you have a handicap. If you pull the Mantis, it just keeps digging in.

I'm with Mehitabel & Taba: build lasagna gardens & spend the $300 you saved on plants & seeds. I've sheet composted here for more than 20 years. Last year we put in 15" high raised beds & filled them w/ lasagna. I've never used a tiller here at all. Now, with my raised beds I don't need my pitchfork or shovel either. I have fibromyalgia.