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HomeView All TubtrugsMantis 7225-00-02 2-Cycle Gas-Powered Tiller/Cultivator (CARB Compliant) |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 Mantix Jul 28, 2010
I am very pleased with the Mantis Tiller/Cultivator. It is very light weight and easy to use, especially around our garden plants and down the rows that are now too small for our full-size tiller.
 Mantis Review Jul 22, 2010
A good product. Great for between garden rows and edges. Haven't used it too much yet, but know it will certainly save time and backache! Very bouncy and doesn't do very well in rocky gardens.
Older Mantis tiller still works great! Jun 29, 2010
I bought my Mantis fourteen years ago for turning raised beds. During that time I've used it for that purpose plus one summer I dug holes for shrub planting in clay soil with my wife pushing down on top of the motor while I ran the controls! Insanity - but it didn't break. This summer I used it to break up old soil and mix in compost for rejuvenating old beds at a new house. I'm embarrassed to say that I've never had the machine tuned up. I drain the old gas for winter and only use good quality oil in the gas mix, and I clean the air filter. I've managed to break a couple of tines on rocks but otherwise it runs like new. It ALWAYS starts on two or three pulls when I bring it out of storage each year. It's light and hops around when it hits rocks but just chews the daylights out of anything in its path. If it was stolen or run over by a truck I'd buy a new one in a minute - one of the very best tool purchases I ever made!
 Powerful but with a design flaw Jun 09, 2010
I like the mantis overall; it's lightweight; pretty powerful, starts easily but the on/off switch is too close to the accelerator handle so if the mantis jumps (and it will) it can cause your hand to hit the cut off and shut the thing down. I understand why they put it there because of an emergency situation but man, when I first got it I was accidentally cutting it off like 5 times during while tilling my 30 x 30 raised bed!!!!
Mantis Tiller Has Lived up to Expectations. May 16, 2010
I have owned my Mantis tiller for nearly 8 years now. I chose Mantis because I wanted a smaller tiller that did not require a lot of storage space. I also liked what I saw on tv commercials about the Mantis. My father had a much larger tiller of another brand that took up a lot of space and was incredibly heavy (but quite sturdy). He was going to give me his tiller when he stopped gardening, but after thinking long and hard about it, I decided to get the Mantis instead. Here is what I have learned about the Mantis in that time:
1. Mechanical: The tiller works great, starts in 2-3 pulls right out of the box. It takes mixed gas at a 50/1 ratio. Never use "old" gas or gas that is not the proper ratio. Over the years I have had some minor problems with it, mostly related to starting and idling. My recommendation is to clean or change the air filter regularly. The filter is easy to get at and oftentimes clogs with dirt and dust. Change spark plug every couple years. When putting the tiller "to sleep" for the winter, take out the spark plug and pour in a teaspoon of motor oil. Pull the start recoil and distribute the oil in the cylinder. I have not had any major problems with the tiller. I just finished an hour of tilling today and it ran great. Final tip: clean the accumulated weeds off the tiller tines when they begin to accumulate. This reduces the stress on the motor. The blades are faily easy to remove, clan, and return to place - it will prolong the life of the tiller. Since the Mantis has a smaller engine, it cannot be overstressed. To compensaate for the smaller engine size, the tiller has extremely sharp blades and they spin very fast. The engine does not have much torque however, and the engine will bog down in heavy jobs. The engine will stop if rocks lodge in the tines. If your garden space has a lot of rocks, this is probably not the tiller for you.
2. Functional: The tiller is lightweight and works best in smaller gardens, although it will work in a large garden too if the soil is lighter. I like how it can be manipulated with ease around plants and through smaller narrow rows (which a larger tiller cannot do). I am able to plant rows of vegetables closer together with the Mantis and till around them with ease. Perhaps most importantly, the Mantis tiller will not work well in heavy soils (with lots of clay). I experienced this firsthand. In heavy soils, the tiller cannot penetrate the compacted hard soil and just skims the surface. I found I had to spade up the heavy soil with a shovel and then till the clumps. A heavier tiller would have handled the clay soil, so if your soil is compacted and full of clay, this is not the tiller for those conditions. On the other hand, in lighter soils, the tiller goes through the soil just as depicted on tv. Excellent tiller for sandy loose soils. The tiller is only about 20 pounds. It stores easily in most sheds and doe not require a dedicated shed as a large tiller. Very portable!
3. Overall: Overall performance is in the 3-star range, mostly because of the limitations of use in clay/havy soils.
I do recommend this tiller for the gardener who has a smaller garden, wants to set plantings closer together, and has lighter soil. I'd recommend a larger heavier tiller for larger gardens or gardens with heavy soil. As Clint Eastwood said in "The Outlaw Josie Wales: "A man's got to know his limitations". Same case with this tiller. If you don't rry to do too much with it, and know what it can handle (and can't), I think you will be pleased with the Mantis tiller.
konedog
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