Mantis tiller

Elliot · April 26, 2010

Has anyone bought and used the mantis tiller. I ordered one and before assembling it want to know what others think about it. I can return it for a year.

matereater · April 26, 2010

Best investment I ever made. I've had mine about 15 years now and use it to till the garden (small 5' x 20'), flower beds, and dethatch the lawn. I don't care much for using the edging attachment, hard to control, but everything else is great.
Mine was running sluggish this spring, pulled the spark arrestor screen out of the exhaust (almost fully clogged) and now its running like new.

Tomatovator · April 26, 2010

I have also been wondering about this product. How deep can it go? On TV it looks like it only gets down 4 or 5 inches or so??

cottonpicker · April 26, 2010

We have 2 of them here in our adult community garden...... GREAT tillers!! I have tilled 24 8ft.X 10ft. plots in the past few days with them. I get down to about 8 inches or so by making a few passes going in two perpendicular directions. RECOMMENDED!!

LarryD

Elliot · April 26, 2010

Thanks for the advice. For the past ten years I have used a pitchfork and shovel and lately my back has been saying. "don't do that anymore." So we are assembling the Mantis. Any advice on which accessories to use?

cottonpicker · April 26, 2010

I have only used the "planter / furrower" attachment for general deep tilling and when working amendments into the soil. It "digs down" when pulled backwards, toward the operator.

LarryD

matereater · April 26, 2010

you can go as deep as you want if you just hold it in place and let it do its thing.

**carolyn137** · April 26, 2010

The Mantis I bought in the mid-80's is still running fine. I never used any attachments I just used it as a mechanical hoe.

The first thing I learned is that if using it where there are a lot of stones, don't till there until after you've eaten your next closest meal, ahem.

it's sitting out in the tool shed right now and hasn't been used since my brother moved south a few years ago. At my new place he'd use it to work up my raised beds and he did take it in for an overhaul, don't ask me what it needed , and he paid since he was the one using it the most at his own place up here before he moved south.

But the raised beds got converted to perennials and the like after I fell and now have to use a walker, but the roses and dianthus and foxglove and Campanulas and Shasta Daisys and Phlox and all else are so beautiful that I'm very happy that conversion was made. The tomato are grown in 12 gal gro=bags and other stuff in free standing containers.

So my wonderful Mantis tiller is now on Medicare with an AARP Supplement and reposes in the tool shed underneath the mounted deer antlers of some of my father's hunting exploits.

If I told you what I paid for mine in the mid-80's I know most of you would NOT be surprised. And so it goes.

snappybob · April 26, 2010

I love my Mantis. If you're used to a big heavy tiller it will take a little getting used to. It tends to bounce quite a bit on hard ground. Pulling the tiller back wards is the best way to use a Mantis. I've found that they are also good for clearing grass from areas that you want to build raised beds and such. Just turn the tines around so that it cultivates rather than digs. Great little tiller for maintaining beds. If you are trying to bust up hard, never worked before ground I would recommend something a little heavier. That's when I'll go rent one for the day and use the Mantis after that.

dustdevil · April 26, 2010

I've used the mantis for digging holes and loosening the area around the holes for planting 1400 small trees. It's easy to lift into hard to get spots such as a flower bed to prepare a small area for new flower bulbs. Not to hard to get down 7-8" for veggie garden. Be sure to keep on hand a spare air filter element, grease for the gears, and a couple spare clips for holding on the tine assemblies.

azgirl · April 26, 2010

I'll chime in as well on how much I like mine. An old one was given to us by a guy that owns a lawn mower repair shop. It needed work, so my hubby fixed it for me. It's a great little machine. We ended up being given a second one, so we fixed it for my dad. Definitely worth the investment. Very nice to use in preparing the beds for planting.

huntoften · April 26, 2010

Ok...I'll be the first to complain about the Mantis on this thread. I wanted a Mantis for years and years when I was a kid...those commercials enthralled me! When we bought our house, the first thing I bought for the yard was the 2 cycle Mantis Tiller...it was a wonderful thing the first two years. It turned soil into a fine powder and I loved it dearly.

After two years, it became harder and harder to start. I had to constantly fiddle with the carburetor to get it to run. Then this year...kaput! It would not start at all. I got online and researched all of the forums on the Mantis...turns out hundreds and hundreds of folks were having the same problems. Ethanol gas destroys the gas lines and the carbs of the 2 stroke engines. My gas lines were toast, and despite te liberal use of a can of carb cleaner and tearing apart the carb twice...the thing would not run. I had a choice of buying a new carb for $50 or getting rid of it...I sold it for $100.

Now the good news...when researching the problems with the Mantis I discovered the Troy Bilt Corded Tiller. The reviews at Lowes and Amazon were ALL stellar. Everyone said the thing looked like a toy, but then they used it and were amazed.

I took the $100 I got from selling the dead Mantis, added another $100 to it and bought the Troy Bilt. The cord isn't much of a hassle as long as you're within 200 feet of the house and this thing RUNS! It does everything the Mantis ever thought of doing, but it does it at 1/10 the noise level, doesn't jump when you hit a rock or a piece of wood, doesn't smell of 2 stroke smoke, and it chews up soil like nobody's business!

If distance to electricity isn't a problem...go with the Troy Bilt Corded Tiller instead of the Mantis...you won't be sorry!

puzzley · April 26, 2010

Elliot, another option is the Stihl MM55. Just a tad heavier than the Mantis, but it's really built well. I like Stihl's products, and couldn't be happier with mine. I have an optional wheel kit that's really handy, and the wheels fold up so you can use it wheelless like a Mantis.
Just something else to muddy the waters.....

Here's a link....
http://www.stihl.com/isapi/default.a...em/default.htm

peggyneckfarms · April 26, 2010

My Mantis works great and I love it. Will dig nice and deep,just pull it backwards,let it walk forward and pull back again. Just be sure to always use properly mixed gas/oil if you have the 2 cycle model.

b54red · April 27, 2010

The Mantis is great for working in organic mater like manure and for use in small spaces or raised beds. It does tend to leap about when it encounters roots or stones but it is a fantastic tool and it does what it is intended to do.
I won't use one very often because its tines chop up my wigglers into little bitty pieces and it seems to take them a while to return to where I have tilled with it. The very thing that makes it work so good, its' tine speed, is also hell on worms.

April 26, 2010	#1
Elliot Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Hicksville, New York Posts: 503	Mantis tiller Has anyone bought and used the mantis tiller. I ordered one and before assembling it want to know what others think about it. I can return it for a year.

April 26, 2010	#2
matereater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: S.E. Michigan (Livonia) Posts: 1,264	Best investment I ever made. I've had mine about 15 years now and use it to till the garden (small 5' x 20'), flower beds, and dethatch the lawn. I don't care much for using the edging attachment, hard to control, but everything else is great. Mine was running sluggish this spring, pulled the spark arrestor screen out of the exhaust (almost fully clogged) and now its running like new. __________________ Steve Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

April 26, 2010	#4
cottonpicker Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: SE PA..near Valley Forge Posts: 839	We have 2 of them here in our adult community garden...... GREAT tillers!! I have tilled 24 8ft.X 10ft. plots in the past few days with them. I get down to about 8 inches or so by making a few passes going in two perpendicular directions. RECOMMENDED!! LarryD __________________ "Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause". Victor Hugo

April 26, 2010	#6
cottonpicker Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: SE PA..near Valley Forge Posts: 839	I have only used the "planter / furrower" attachment for general deep tilling and when working amendments into the soil. It "digs down" when pulled backwards, toward the operator. LarryD __________________ "Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause". Victor Hugo

April 26, 2010	#7
matereater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: S.E. Michigan (Livonia) Posts: 1,264	you can go as deep as you want if you just hold it in place and let it do its thing. __________________ Steve Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

April 26, 2010	#3
Tomatovator Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pennsylvania Zone 6 Posts: 461	I have also been wondering about this product. How deep can it go? On TV it looks like it only gets down 4 or 5 inches or so??

April 26, 2010	#8
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	The Mantis I bought in the mid-80's is still running fine. I never used any attachments I just used it as a mechanical hoe. The first thing I learned is that if using it where there are a lot of stones, don't till there until after you've eaten your next closest meal, ahem. it's sitting out in the tool shed right now and hasn't been used since my brother moved south a few years ago. At my new place he'd use it to work up my raised beds and he did take it in for an overhaul, don't ask me what it needed , and he paid since he was the one using it the most at his own place up here before he moved south. But the raised beds got converted to perennials and the like after I fell and now have to use a walker, but the roses and dianthus and foxglove and Campanulas and Shasta Daisys and Phlox and all else are so beautiful that I'm very happy that conversion was made. The tomato are grown in 12 gal gro=bags and other stuff in free standing containers. So my wonderful Mantis tiller is now on Medicare with an AARP Supplement and reposes in the tool shed underneath the mounted deer antlers of some of my father's hunting exploits. If I told you what I paid for mine in the mid-80's I know most of you would NOT be surprised. And so it goes. __________________ Carolyn

April 26, 2010	#9
snappybob SETTFest™ Coordinator Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 214	I love my Mantis. If you're used to a big heavy tiller it will take a little getting used to. It tends to bounce quite a bit on hard ground. Pulling the tiller back wards is the best way to use a Mantis. I've found that they are also good for clearing grass from areas that you want to build raised beds and such. Just turn the tines around so that it cultivates rather than digs. Great little tiller for maintaining beds. If you are trying to bust up hard, never worked before ground I would recommend something a little heavier. That's when I'll go rent one for the day and use the Mantis after that.

April 26, 2010	#10
dustdevil Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: WI, USA Zone4 Posts: 1,887	I've used the mantis for digging holes and loosening the area around the holes for planting 1400 small trees. It's easy to lift into hard to get spots such as a flower bed to prepare a small area for new flower bulbs. Not to hard to get down 7-8" for veggie garden. Be sure to keep on hand a spare air filter element, grease for the gears, and a couple spare clips for holding on the tine assemblies.

April 26, 2010	#11
azgirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Arizona Posts: 113	I'll chime in as well on how much I like mine. An old one was given to us by a guy that owns a lawn mower repair shop. It needed work, so my hubby fixed it for me. It's a great little machine. We ended up being given a second one, so we fixed it for my dad. Definitely worth the investment. Very nice to use in preparing the beds for planting. __________________ Melissa in AZ

April 26, 2010	#12
huntoften Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kansas CIty Posts: 560	Ok...I'll be the first to complain about the Mantis on this thread. I wanted a Mantis for years and years when I was a kid...those commercials enthralled me! When we bought our house, the first thing I bought for the yard was the 2 cycle Mantis Tiller...it was a wonderful thing the first two years. It turned soil into a fine powder and I loved it dearly. After two years, it became harder and harder to start. I had to constantly fiddle with the carburetor to get it to run. Then this year...kaput! It would not start at all. I got online and researched all of the forums on the Mantis...turns out hundreds and hundreds of folks were having the same problems. Ethanol gas destroys the gas lines and the carbs of the 2 stroke engines. My gas lines were toast, and despite te liberal use of a can of carb cleaner and tearing apart the carb twice...the thing would not run. I had a choice of buying a new carb for $50 or getting rid of it...I sold it for $100. Now the good news...when researching the problems with the Mantis I discovered the Troy Bilt Corded Tiller. The reviews at Lowes and Amazon were ALL stellar. Everyone said the thing looked like a toy, but then they used it and were amazed. I took the $100 I got from selling the dead Mantis, added another $100 to it and bought the Troy Bilt. The cord isn't much of a hassle as long as you're within 200 feet of the house and this thing RUNS! It does everything the Mantis ever thought of doing, but it does it at 1/10 the noise level, doesn't jump when you hit a rock or a piece of wood, doesn't smell of 2 stroke smoke, and it chews up soil like nobody's business! If distance to electricity isn't a problem...go with the Troy Bilt Corded Tiller instead of the Mantis...you won't be sorry! __________________ Kansas City, Missouri Zone 5b/6a

April 26, 2010	#13
puzzley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Lexington, Ky Posts: 93	Elliot, another option is the Stihl MM55. Just a tad heavier than the Mantis, but it's really built well. I like Stihl's products, and couldn't be happier with mine. I have an optional wheel kit that's really handy, and the wheels fold up so you can use it wheelless like a Mantis. Just something else to muddy the waters..... Here's a link.... http://www.stihl.com/isapi/default.a...em/default.htm

April 26, 2010	#14
peggyneckfarms Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Md's Eastern Shore Posts: 7	My Mantis works great and I love it. Will dig nice and deep,just pull it backwards,let it walk forward and pull back again. Just be sure to always use properly mixed gas/oil if you have the 2 cycle model.

April 27, 2010	#15
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	The Mantis is great for working in organic mater like manure and for use in small spaces or raised beds. It does tend to leap about when it encounters roots or stones but it is a fantastic tool and it does what it is intended to do. I won't use one very often because its tines chop up my wigglers into little bitty pieces and it seems to take them a while to return to where I have tilled with it. The very thing that makes it work so good, its' tine speed, is also hell on worms.