yungman,

You should go into more detail about the amount of property you plan on working. I've got the Mantis tiller and dethatcher. To me the dethatcher works well. I did sections of my yard through out the year until completed.

So far at the mantis aerator tines, forget about it. Your only making slits in the soil and it is not effective for aerating. I'd look into a rental aerator from home depot, etc. The work goes fast and if you've got a few neighbors who are interested you can share the rental fee for the day.

Best of luck with the project, rredogg

Hi Rrdogg, Thanks for the reply, I only have like 3000sqft yard. It is small.

So it does work well. I am glad to hear that. I am relutant to go with the Bluebird. It is a single purpose unit, big and more expensive. I don't even have room to store it. This is for my own lawn only, son it will end up being used ones a year and sit there to rot out.

Is slit tine better than nothing or you think the aerator shoes are better?

Do you use the lawn mower to go over the lawn after de-thatching to pickup all the dry grass or just use a blower. I never done this before.

Thanks

I have a Mantis with all the attachments. The dethatcher tines work very well. The width is not so large; so, it takes quite a few passes to do a lawn (depending on size of lawn). I find that the aerator does an adequate job of slitting for the slit seed method of overseeding. You will probably get quite a bit of dead grass and thatch when you dethatch. You can either run over it with a lawn mower, making it mulch or you can rake it up and remove it. I would recommend mulching it.

Hi Jayt63, thanks for your reply. How long have you been using the de-thatcher tines? Does it last? What is the advantage of mulching?

Have you ever turn the regular tines around and use it for digging up weeds around scrubs. Does it really not hurting the roots?

THanks

I have used them for the last ten years. The tines (all attachments for Mantis) are guaranteed for life. If you are asking how long does the dethatching last, it will last at least one season, depending on how bad your thatch is. The advantage of mulching is obvious--it returns the dead material to the lawn which will use it as fertilizer.

Hi Jayt63

You mean the dethatcher will start to break after one season!!! I hope it will last longer than that!!! I talk to Mantis, they said only the tines that come with the tiller is guarantee for life, all the others only 2 years.

Since you think all the tines are lifetime warrante, I assume you never break one yet!!!!

Thanks

You mean the dethatcher will start to break after one season!!

Too bad people can't read posts. I clearly stated that the dethatcher attachment (as well as other Mantis attachments) are guaranteed for life. And if I have been using mine for ten years, I fail to see where you come to the conclusion that they will break after one season. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to try to answer people's questions, if they can't read.

On your last post, you said " If you are asking how long does the dethatching last, it will last at least one season, depending on how bad your thatch is." That was why I want to clarify with you what you mean.

As I said, I called Mantis to verify, only the tines come with the tiller are warrante for life, all other tines including the dethatcher are only warrante for 2 years unless you bought it under a different policy.

Anyway, that is good to know that it last a long time. That pair of tines cost a lot of money.

I should be recieving them tomorrow or day after tomorrow. I am excited about it.

On your last post, you said " If you are asking how long does the dethatching last, it will last at least one season, depending on how bad your thatch is." That was why I want to clarify with you what you mean.

This is a vast difference between a dethatcher (the machine) and dethatching (the process). You were unclear in your question about how long does it last and were unclear whether you meant the dethatcher or the dethatching. That is why I answered the way I did.
Anyway, I am glad you are getting the tines. I think you will find that they work quite well. Btw. if you ever decide to go organic with your lawn, you probably will not have to dethatch too often or at all.

Thanks, that clear everything up. Yes, I understand I need to do dethatching at least ones a year if I don't do anything special like going organic. As long as the Mantis last, I'll just do it when I see dead yellow stuff under the grass.

I should be getting the Mantis today and tomorrow, I am exciting about it.

Bottom line: the Mantis is perfect for your lawn size. The dethatching attachment works exceptionally well and is not too bad with an area that small. The aerator may have been a waste of money. I see it useful only for prepping areas for seeding (ie. slit seeding). I see professionals using the mantis for freshing up flower bed mulch so I am sure you will find use for it there. And yeah, the dethatching unit will last a long time if used once a year (which is all you should be doing).

Mantis is now offering 1 year guarantee
This is for both 2 & 4 cycle tiller and Mantis Composter

Here is a link that might be useful: mantis Tiller 2 cycle & 4 cycle Distributor Page

I have since use my Mantis for dethatching. I LOVE IT!!!

It pull so much stuff out of the lawn it fill up a 40 gallon can and more....stuffed. The lawn looked nice right away, not like what other people warn me that it will look bad for 2 weeks. It does not beat up the lawn at all. It immediately look better right after. I end up re-dethatch few weeks later again and the grass looks very good now.

Mantis as tiller....not so nice!!!! Jump to much, really not a substitude for even a cheap front tine tiller. I still use my cheap Poulan front tine tiller. Cultivator is a joke. It jump a lot more with the tine reverse for cultivation. I know it will work better if pulling backward. BUT, cultivating usually done around plants which is in tight space, where do you find space to pull backward. I tried for 2 minutes, it throw dirt all over the place, made a big mess, I quit end up using my hand roll cultivator instead. If you think of buying it as a cultivator around flower beds, think again!!! Get it from Mantis direct so you can return within one year free shipping.

I am surprised very few people use it for dethatching. It work so well, no jumping, I can't imagine the Blue Bird can do much better, just wider so you dethatch a wider path. The tine look to be high quality that can stand up to use even commercially.