I've had one since the late 80's, maybe it was the early 90's. I can't say what they'd be like in clay soil though, it's wonderful for small areas, cultivating between rows and mixing amendments in. I gave my 5hp Honda to my son-in-law, the Mantis does everything I want to till now. Really great for raised beds, I wouldn't be without mine.

Annette

Extremely noisy. Apt to bounce off of hard soil.

bboy's right about noisy, sound quite like a chain saw :).

Using it can be kind of like riding a bucking bronco. But it did OK in an area where the PO had put a lot of 1-2" smooth stones in the soil. My main beef with them is that if there is a lot of vegetation, roots in the soil, etc. it wraps around the axle rather than being thrown out so I had to stop and pull or cut it off every now and then since I was using it to break up sod.

It can also be used for edging, wrapping vegetation around the axle would also apply.

I had one of the older ones (early 90s?) and I loved it, started easily, usually on first pull, and never failed me. It would dig in the most impossible ground. I finally replaced it 2 years ago and my experience and the experience of most of the people I know who have bought a Mantis in recent years is that they have really gone down hill. I've had mine repaired several times, not cheap, and it fails again after several uses. I've read all the tips and tricks, used fuel stabilizer, always fresh fuel, leaded gas, etc. and nothing seems to work. I would tend to think that I just happened to buy a lemon except that I know so many others who have similar problems. Google "Mantis Reviews" and you'll find many similar stories.

Amounts to a power hedge trimmer with tines instead of blades. Very rinky dink.

There should not be a need for long-term, repeated use of a tiller on the same site anyway. Tilling pulverizes soil particles, is best limited to breaking up uncultivated soil during the first phases of creating planting areas.

Thanks for the opinions. We are still thinking about it...

I would rent one before buying.I did, and found it not suited to my needs.

A lot of folks don't believe in cultivation. Sometimes there is no need. If the clay soil is not very compact, nor very wet, the Mantis should be okay.

But I recall a guy putting a small lawn in for our neighbors, and he used a Mantis to break up some pretty firm clay soil. Geez, he thrashed into it like a 1/4 inch at a time. Took forever and he rototilled it to virtually dust like fineness.

We found that we needed a large rear-tine tiller to till the garden area the first few years, but now the raised beds have been amended to the point where our Mantis works just fine. That's good because as we are aging, a heavy tiller is too hard to handle. The beds probably wouldn't need tilling at all, but we like to till in compost and manure in the spring.

Try spreading it as mulch instead of tilling it in.

I see the electric Mantis is now available in Canada, does anyone have one, are they as good as the gas models?