Master Dirt Blaster
Written: Nov 12 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It's light weight, the blades are guaranteed for life and can handle the rockiest soil, and it's a cinch to use
Cons: Won't turn established lawns into garden beds
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| nobody_knows's Full Review: Mantis Tiller |
The Mantis tiller is a perfect match for me. It's light weight, easy to start and does a superior job on my small(ish) garden.
We briefly owned a full-sized tiller - too big for me (a little old granny lady) to handle. Having seen an ad in a gardening magazine I decided to give the Mantis a try. The ad really made this tool sound too good to be true, but, ever the optimist, I went ahead and ordered it.
After five minutes or so of getting to know each other, my Mantis and I got down to some hard, dirty work. It turned over my garden in under an hour, breaking through a fine crop of Maine rocks and fluffing up the soil beautifully - down to more than 12 inches in depth.
Rarely, a rock or root would become stuck between the blades, but it was a simple job to dislodge these nuisances and get on with the job. Having fought with more than my share of hard-to-use garden power tools (especially my weed-whip which deserves a separate rating of its own) I was gratified to find that I could handle any problems that cropped up (ouch, sorry) and by the time my garden was put to bed my back wasn't sore, my hands weren't blistered and I didn't need the usual four days in a hot tub to recover from the experience.
We're going on three years together and the Mantis tiller is still going strong. While it may not be strong enough to get through the average lawn, it can take care of an established garden site like a champ. In fact, I liked it so well, I went ahead and bought one for our son. He's a real gardener and is fully capable of using a man-sized tiller, but even he found the Mantis a better bet for easily tending his large garden.
It's a sad fact that many of the impulse purchases I make end up gathering dust. Happily the Mantis isn't one of them. This summer the Mantis helped me grow an abundance of corn, tomatoes, greens, potatoes, and even artichokes (for which I can thank my wall-of-waters - yet another subject for a rating) and it will take me very little time to till the garden and get it ready for winter, thanks to that handy dandy little helper.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
nobody_knows
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Member: Judy Wick
Location: Brooklin, Maine
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 35 members
About Me:
I used to have a handle on life. Then it broke.
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