Jack of All Trades
Written: Jun 30 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Light, Durable, multiple attachments increase functionality.
Cons: Price.
The Bottom Line: Better than having a shed full of tools and gadgets...
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| myoptical's Full Review: Mantis Tiller |
I'll admit it. The most enjoyable part of my wife picking up landscaping as a hobby is that I get to play with more toys (testosterone translation: tools). She has magazine subscriptions for gardening. She watches the Gardening Channel on TV. Normally I'm just the physical labor, but when it comes to the heavy-duty work....I enjoy the energy expenditure. She plans and I execute. OK, this arrangement was predetermined by her phobia of insects. She won't work in our garden unless escourted by her grasshopper-killin', spider-eradicatin', ant-stompin', mayfly-swattin', rootin', tootin', fastest hairspray can and a lighter-drawin' hombre...this side of Del Valle!
She ordered the Mantis after we bounced the idea 'round for a couple o' months. Every month the deal kept getting better of what they kept mailing to her. Eventually she ordered the unit: main engine, tiller attachment (which doubles as a furrower) and an edging attachment.
The UPS man (true to style) left it on our porch and sprinted for the truck. That way we can't ask him for a blood sacrifice. Why else do they drop-and-run so fast? The box wasn't that heavy; approximately 30 lbs or so.
I set the box in the middle of the living room floor and waited for her to see it so I could start tinkering with it. Even though it wasn't mine, I was itchin' to get my phalanges on this new toy...oops, I meant tool. I broke a unspoken rule and opened her mail (the Mantis box) to take a look at how this small box is supposed to house this supposed "powerhouse" of a tiller.
It came with a video tape for assisting with assembly. There are not written instructions to follow. Actually, I think this is better as watching someone is always easier than attempting to interpret the cheesy graphics in most assembly instructions. After gaining my queen's approval, I extracted all the contents of the box and neatly spread them out all over the living room floor in an organized format. I started the video tape. Be prepared to have your finger ready with the "Pause" button frequently because the assembly on the video takes a few seconds, but it took me about 6 minutes. You'll need wrenches and/or pliers.
I recommend you order the maintenance pack. This includes perfectly measured oil mixture for the gasoline (6), filters (2), extra tidbits (washers, etc.) and replacement pins to hold the attachments in place.
There are good recommendations on the video about maintenancing your Mantis tiler also. Hours of use versus maintenance scheduling, how to maintenance, different types of maintenance and when they are appropriate. Troubleshooting and tweaking are also given significant air time on the video; thank goodness.
Now for the test drive..... I let my wife have the honors of taking the first crack at starting it up. Although secretly I was crossing my fingers that she wouldn't be able to do it. Sexist or not, I wanted to start it for the first time. Sue me, I like power tools. After almost pulling her shoulder out of place, she gave me the glance of "OK, it's your turn...even though I don't want it to be." I have a veery independent and prideful spouse. It started after a few sharp yanks. We let it warm up for about 3 minutes (per the video recommendations) and then started ripping into the TX dirt.
This little tyke did the Do! Rolled limestone rocks up to the surface w/o kicking them up at a dangerous velocity. A little on the lite side, it bounces a bit when I had to get deeper to more of the limestone (about 4+ inches down). To compensate, I crouched a bit and tilted the tiller back. That way it bounces forward and not up giving me more control. It's more work on my thighs and back, but I can till deeper and faster. I ran that dang thing for about 5.5 hours and there was still fuel left in the tank. Now THAT made me happy.
One problem though. Rocks about half-fist size get lodged between the tines easily. I had to keep stopping and pounding them out with a screwdriver and a hammer as I couldn't gently rock them out. Dislaimer: Be careful with this unorthodox maneuver as it isn't covered in the video. Although they it did show a snapshot of a 15' pile of weeds, rocks, thatches, etc. with a petite female standing proudly beside it and her Mantis, it didn't cover removing lodged rocks from the tines.
The edging attachment has a straight tine on one side and a wheel on the other to guide the Mantis smoothly. It works really well too! I can't wait until my wife orders the thatching attachment around Christmas. You can also purchase a hedge trimming attachment and quite a few others. If you reverse the tilling tines, it changes it's action into a furrower so you can trench out for whatever you need.
Tiller, Furrower, Edger, DeThatcher, Trimmer, Aerator, Crevice Cleaner, Plower. This is the Jack-of-All-Trades tool that doesn't require you to be a 250-lb. "bubba" to work it. The price tag isn't exorbatant considering that a regular tiller can cost more and doesn't have the added ability to transform into other gardening power tools.
Their website MantisGardenTools.com is very nicely laid out. They showcase some of their other products: their Blower/Shredder/Vac, Compost "T-Twin", an additional Trimmer/Edger tool, SprayPartner (motorized, up-to-12-gallon) sprayer.
We chose the 4-payment option, which is also marketed from the website. They do have the ability to process orders online. They have testimonials from (obviously loyal) customers and links to other gardening-related websites.
Overall, it's worth it's weight in rocks (the ones I removed from our gardens)!!!!! I recommend you at least research this product before you by a tiller, or furrower, or edger, or dethatcher, or aerator, or crevice cleaner, etc.....etc........etc......etc.............
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
myoptical
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Member: JOHN B. WADE III, all liberties reserved
Location: near Chicago, Illinois Republic
Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 64 members
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