Mantis Tiller

Pros: Lightweight. Easy to use. Fits in small area. Perfect for my Wife to use.
Cons: Gas ratio. Clogging tines. A bit pricey.

Yesterday, a very rare thing happened at our house. My Wife asked me to show her how to use a power tool or in this case a garden power tool. She has at least 5 flowers beds around our house, and is having a bit of trouble controlling the weeds. So she ...

Pros: Light weight, full variable trigger control of speeds, reliable, and has a variety of uses.
Cons: Not for heavy use in rocky or hard unbroken soils.

Well, here's what everyone interested needs to know from the standpoint of someone that has used the same Mantis for almost two decades. I also have and use a 60" rear PTO tiller and plows on my 3010 Grand L Series Kubota tractor and a Craftsman rear ...

Pros: powerful, lightweight, ease of use, portable
Cons: none yet...

GARDENING, although greatly recreational at times, is work. When you strip away all the joys of this quite exhausting avocation, there is a great deal of effort and back-busting labor to get those vegetables, fruit and flora!

GARDENING: This...

Pros: Great tool for keeping up lawn/garden. Anyone could use it.
Cons: Breaking ground for a large garden? May want to hire out a big tiller.

Although I use “no till” on my small vegetable garden, I’ve found that the space really needs some tilling between seasons. I also wanted to add an asparagus patch, a couple of flower gardens, and perhaps another small garden plot to keep my heirloom ...

Pros: A great garden helper managable by young and old.
Cons: Best suited for small jobs, larger tasks are challenging.

This summer, while stumbling around in the confines of my tool shed swiping at spider webs and cracking my shin against rake handles, I discovered a Mantis tiller. I dragged it out of the shed to inspect it and determine whether it was usable, or simply ...

Pros: Lightweight at 20 pounds; tines are really strong; easy to use
Cons: Tricky to pull start

I used a Mantis Tiller for a number of years before I expanded the garden and it became too small to handle the rows. But, it was an exceptional mini-tiller for smaller patches of ground, or getting in where the tractors couldn’t go. ...

Pros: Performance, versatility.
Cons: Somewhat pricey, somewhat flimsy. (Another person said engineering.)

I bought this tiller a few years ago to till around half of our back yard. We have fairly dense soil in our yard, and one area was pretty much without grass. Mantis had a special where you received a supply package, the edging attachment, and a payment pl ...

Pros: Light, powerful, clean, quiet, reliable, east to maintain.
Cons: None.

A few years ago I sold- really, gave away- a 2-stroke tiller that made a lot of noise and smoke, but didn't move a lot of earth. Every year, when it came time to prepare my garden, I ended up renting a 5HP Honda tiller that was really too big for my use, ...

Pros: Small, light weight, easy to use. Really does the job.
Cons: 2 Cycle engine, very noisy.

Last week I did my fall tilling and put away my Mantis for the winter. Made me want to write a review for here. I do not have a very large garden area, so certainly do not want a large tiller. I had borrowed my neighbor's Mantis in 2003 and was ...

Pros: Lightweight, easy to use, inexpensive, works hard
Cons: Doesn't always start the first pull of the cord, not meant to last forever.

Below is the original review I wrote on the Mantis 2-cycle tiller. The next few lines are the updated opinions I have of this little monster.I've since learned that the Mantis 2-cycle tiller can cause me to curse loudly and frequently. I had this ...

Pros: Commercial Engine, Lots Of Power, Easy To Start, Tills Well, Many Attachments, Light Weight
Cons: Cannot Till Heavy Sod,

Almost everybody you know has a garden, and some like to have vegetable gardens. To make the ground fertile for planting, sometimes you have to till it and even more so if you have clay soil! People run into issues when they just want a small perennial ...

Pros: Great functionality, rugged, lightweight, works well, quiet.
Cons: Expensive, everything is extra, minor engineering problems.

I purchased the unit with the Honda 4 cycle engine over 9 months ago. I chose the 4 cycle engine for several reasons: Honda reliability; quieter; cleaner burning; and less odors. I use it mainly to till a 20' x 9' vegetable garden with adobe (clay) soil....

Pros: Easy to start, quiet, powerful, no gas fumes.
Cons: The cord is somewhat bothersome, but it definitely beats a pull cord and gas fumes.

May 2008 UPDATE I would buy it again, in a heartbeat! It has been a year now, and the tiller is working very well. I have used it to make new flower gardens and most recently to remove a large area of ground cover. I would not want to give up ...

Pros: Light, Durable, multiple attachments increase functionality.
Cons: Price.

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....

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

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...