Folks either love 'em or hate 'em. I've had mine for about 6 years and haven't seen anything that it won't handle yet. Don't know if I'd wanna do a 25x40 with it though. Even though it would do it, it would take quite a few passes back and forth.
My father-in-law has a huge tiller on his tractor. He does the initial tilling for us every Spring. So I need something to go between rows, or to use in the flower beds, etc.
Does the Troy-Bilt seem about the same as the Mantis? The Troy-Bilt is here:
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's a 4-stroke, which means no gas-oil mixing. I have a $100 gift certificate for Amazon.com, and they sell the Troy-Bilt (not the Mantis), and free shipping.
Well, I went ahead and ordered the Mantis. They had a glitch with their ebsite. They list the Mantis at $299, but if you do a Froogle search, there's a link that puts it at $269. It added to my cart just fine at that price.
By the way, in my research I came across some web forums where a few people said that if you don't drain the fuel completely after every use, it will gum up!
I have a Mantis tiller with a bad carburator. perhaps I should say "had" a Mantis -- I put it in the shop last year and the guy never called me when it was ready. I stopped by the shop several times over the next 2 months and it was always closed during posted hours. I didn't persue it because I hated the Mantis anyway. I bought a little Honda tiller and it works much better than the Mantis ever did.
Anyway, my Mantis was easy to start the first year, but the second year it was very hard to start even though I did keep fresh gas in it and drained it before storing it. I have lots of 2-cycle equipment, and the Mantis is the only one I ever had trouble with. Maybe I just got a lemon. It's been in the shop lots of times, and a couple of years ago they said the bottom plate on the carburator (the hard plastic piece) was warped. They replaced it with one salvaged from another dead Mantis and it ran OK for a few months until the priming bulb split. I replaced that, and it wouldn't start again.
Also, the Mantis in general is *too* light. It bounces around and is hard to control. The Honda tiller that looks just like it weighs about
2 or 3 pounds more (because of the bigger 4-cycle engine) and that added weight makes it much more controllable.
I bought my Mantis tiller about 10 or 12 years ago. I doubt that they still use the same carburator. But if you look at the base of the carb and it's made out of plastic NO NOT buy the thing under any circumstances because when the manifold gets hot during heavy use, the plastic will warp or crack. If the carburator is all aluminum, it might be OK but I still recommend the Honda.
What do I say? Bunk! I've had mine for about 6 years and have never emptied it yet. Mix the gas and oii with gas stabilizer, keep the tank full when in storage and I haven't had a problem.
Starting is pretty easy as long as you follow the "normal" 2-cycle method. Push the primer 3 times or so, put the choke on full and pull it until it sputters once, turn the choke off and pull again and it should be running.
I haven't had that problem (yet, ) I did have to have the carb. rebuilt last year after using it for the five previous years and digging up a very large area of the yard last year for our patio and walkways. Whihc digging it up the dirt was very dry and dust was flying everywhere so the re-build didn't surprise me. I agree that it does then to bounce so ya have to keep ahold of it when you're using it.
I just got a Crafstman Cultivator/Edger with a 4 cycle engine (no mixing of gas and oil). It also has Incredi-Pull for easier stating. I've used it for an hour so far and like it a lot. It's smooth running and doesn't bounce around. I chose it because of it's small size, the oil mixing issue, and also because it was the heaviest engine. I believe the extra weight helps it dig in better. I had tried a rentedmantis a year ago to dig up a strawberry patch but I foubd it hard to work with and fairly bouncy.
Be sure to follow the directions and work backwards especially when breaking new ground, and don't try to go down 6" on the first pass (juist like any tiller).
I've had mine for two years. Gave up my Troy Horse after my back surgery ub 1991 and went to sqaure foor gardening with a Mantis. I still have two more ruptured disks and am able to use my Mantis just fine for putting in new beds and moving beds to different locations on my 1/2 acre lot.
I owned a Garden Way cultivator I bought from Troy years ago when I had the Horse and it was real bad about getting hung up with rocks, weeds, etc. The Mantis will to but not nearly as bad.
I've never drained the tank (live in East Texas) and it takes about six pushed ogf the primer and three pulls with the choke on full to start and then the choke goes off immediately. Every engine has its own little trick. My Dixon rider does not start at all doing what they said to do, but it starts every time.
My mantis is starting it's third (or is it fourth?) season. It had not been run since last october. Fuel tank was about 1/2 full when I pulled it out the week before Easter. It started promptly as described above.
Always use fuel stabilizer, and when cold starting, use the "normal"
2-stroke starting method and you'll be fine.
My little poulan weedeater works the exact same way.
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