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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 93 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 59 found the following review helpful:
 Fantastic Product. Excellent Deal Thru Amazon Sep 06, 2007
By Quentin Deverill
"QED"
I purchased the Mantis based on the reviews of the model without the kickstand (that one had nearly 40 reviews at the time but cost $100 more). You have to watch the prices on these as Amazon constantly changes the price (put one in your cart and the price will likely chage from day to day or week to week). From what I tell the one offered here with a kickstand and the one without are the same (except this one includes the kickstand...a nice bonus).
I'm using the Mantis to till an area where I had an above ground pool. I am well pleased that this thing performs better than I could have hoped for. At first it bounces until it gets it's teeth into the ground then it just eats down to about 9 inches pulverizing the soil and the bit of sand I couldn't remove. It chitters on rocks but the tines seem no worse for the rock contact. I've learned when it's hitting a rock and sort of let it work around the sides of the rock. Sometimes it just kicks the rock behind it.
I should mention this thing makes almost no noise. You can easily work at dawn without waking neighbors. It was also easy to put together; however, the kickstand was a bit of pain to install as the bolts are hard to get to (the main body is in the way).
I give this 5 HUGE stars. I love this thing.
39 of 39 found the following review helpful:
 Great tiller if you have electricity where you need it. Oct 02, 2007
By Steve Silverman
I have had a Troy, a gas Mantis, a small Honda tiller, and now the electric Mantis. The electric works surprisingly well. It does tangle with long grass or weeds but the tines come off easier than my gas Mantis.
Breaks up soil quite well. When you hit a rock, just let off the trigger and remove the rock. Starting is just pulling the trigger rather than restarting a gas engine. Big plus. Once you get the rocks out, smooth tilling. When I say rock, I'm talking about fist or bigger rocks. They can jam the tiller. When the this happens, circuit breaker blows. Easy reset after removal.
This is not a replacement for a big tiller but does fine on small areas.
Allows easy cultivation. Great for raised beds. Use a weedeater or lawnmower before the tiller for the grass & weeds.
Very glad I got this.
33 of 33 found the following review helpful:
Quality Tiller (if you have a heavy duty extension cord) Jun 10, 2008
By David A. Coates
"dork-of-all-trades"
The first day of using my tiller, the electric motor burned out. The extension cord I was using was the proper gauge according to the user's manual, but somehow the motor had burned out from not being able to draw enough power. Thankfully, a warranty service shop was nearby and after about a week without my little tiller, it was returned to me, at no cost, fully repaired. I purchased a more substantial extension cord and am now having no problems with it. If you get this tiller, I'd suggest at least a 12 gauge/50' extension cord for it.
18 of 18 found the following review helpful:
Quiet, powerful, a great tool to prepare the garden Mar 14, 2009
By backprop
"Chris"
I have spent years tilling and cultivating my tiny suburban garden, if you can call it that, with hand tools. This year, I decided to increase my garden area by a factor of ten. As I learned more about soils, weed control, and organic gardening, I realized that I needed a tiller to prepare the soil for the Spring. I purchased the Mantis Electric Tiller on Amazon. It came with a free cultivator and kickstand attachment.
Assembly: Assembly is not difficult. If you don't get the kickstand, the hardest part is connecting the handles down where they meet the body of the machine. Tighten them good so they won't work loose as you work. If you get the kickstand, the bolts to attach are in a confined area. Even a small wrench will only move through a few degrees, making tightening them slow going. After the first one, I wised up and used a small socket wrench for the second one. It took less than a minute for the second kickstand bolt. The tine assembly is straightforward, as are the tops of the handle.
First tilling: My first tilling job mirrored some of the reviews on here; the machine would stop a lot and the tines would gum up. It was very slow going. The reason was that my soil was still so wet. It wasn't sopping wet, but wet enough to stick together and gum up the tines. There is a safety breaker on the Mantis that is easy to reset. It may need about 15 seconds after the machine stops. It also doesn't necessarily pop all the way out. Just push it in and you'll hear the "click" when it's ready to go.
Lesson learned: After the soil dried out a bit, I went at it again. This time, the tiller performed completely flawlessly. I was working in huge amounts of compost into my heavy clay soil, and it cut through the grass. The Mantis did not stop once, and it easily worked down the full 9" it claims, quickly. I would say that the highest moisture level would be like a moist cake and no more. Don't waste your time! Let the soil dry out and you'll be tilling huge amounts of it faster than ever before. My soil is 100% better than I could have ever gotten it with hand tools.
Moving around: You can "walk" the tiller across the lawn from one job to the next by running it on the slow speed. Otherwise, there is a handle molded into the case which makes carrying it relatively easy.
Noise: The most incredible thing about the tiller is how QUIET it is. It's practically silent. Even if you go to YouTube and watch some videos of the Mantis electric tiller, it simply does not do the silence justice. The tines hitting the dirt make more noise than the motor itself. I can easily be out at 7am and the neighbors 20 feet away will not hear it.
Tough job: Last year I cut about 200 hundred square feet of thick zoysia sod from my backyard and put it right-side-up in a different area. This year, I want to turn that area into a wildflower garden. Once I knew the soil was relatively dry, I took the Mantis back there to chop the dead grass into the soil and work some compost in. Despite the two thick, heavy layers of grass, the Mantis chewed right into it. It was turning over huge quantities of soil, breaking the thick root system of the grass into the soil. Because of the tight root system, I made a number of passes with the tiller. But its claim of breaking through sod is now verified with me.
Ease of use: The tilling happens when you pull the tiller backwards. After doing three large areas of my yard, I really appreciate all the work the tiller saves. Still, if you're not in the greatest of shape, using it can be quite a workout. Just take your time and do small areas.
Overall: I'm very happy with the Mantis. I wish I had gotten one years ago. Now everyone sees my soil and wants to use it. A very fair deal and a great product.
16 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Love this thing - great investment Dec 14, 2007
By Krista
"yard girl"
I absolutely love this tiller. It's easy to maneuver and does a fantastic job of tearing up the soil into finely granulated soil. I used it aver a large area where I recently planted about 40 trees/shrubs. I have soil with a lot of rock and clay and it had no problems working thru it all. It can kick up a bit when it it first starting out, but will start to sink down into the soil in no time. I used it to loosen the soil, then used it to mix in many bags of compost and it did an amazing job. There is no way that a spade and pitchfork could ever do as good a job as this tiller does.
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