I have a Troy Bilt Horse, Poulan Pro rear tine, and a Mantis. My mantis might be used more if it were not so hard to start ( two cycle). The horse is so heavy that it is hard to use because of my bad arm. The Poulan got a new engine a few week ago after many years of hard use, it is the only tiller I have, that I can operate with one hand. I just came in from tilling a large flower bed with the Poulan, the other two tillers have sit in the shop for a year or two.

I have a mantis but paid way less than 300 for it at a yard sale.

I have not used it much but plan to this year to get in between the pepper plants. They do get to frog hopping and hard to control if your ground is hard. Plus ,they do rev up pretty fast and it can be hard to keep the speed the same in the frog hopping mode. In my opinion they work good for fairly loose ground and reworking flower beds.

I don't know how old your troy built tiller is but I have one of the real old ones that you snap it in gear and hang on. I absolutely hate that old tiller.

Larry, it sounds like you have a carburetor problem if it is hard to start.

I have had my Mantis for about 5 years and love it. It is the only cultivator we've ever had (we had a Troy-Bilt cultivator before the Mantis and a Sears Craftsman prior to that) that has been worth the money we spent for it. When we broke the ground for the new back garden a couple of years ago, I used it extensively on the sandy part of the new garden, but got Tim to drag out the big Troybilt tiller for the clay part of that back garden. Well the big Troybilt just bounced off the compacted clay soil and Tim was very frustrated. I decided to try the Mantis, and even though I had to go really slow and steady, it broke up the clay better than the big Troybilt tiller. I think this was because it was smaller and was only breaking up the clay in little bites instead of big ones like the big Troybilt, so it could dig in and work the soil instead of bouncing off of it. Since then, I've only used the Mantis, and the Troybilt has sat in the corner gathering dust.

We do drain the gas in winter before storing it, and we change or clean the air filter regularly, and put in a new spark plug as needed. Tim has replaced a couple of minor parts as needed without any trouble. Sometimes it is a little hard to start on the first day you take it out of the garage in late winter or early spring, but so are other gas-powered machines that have been sitting in there all winter.

I haven't used it on rocky soil, so don't know how it would handle that kind of soil. When we bought it, I expected to use it to cultivate soil that already was well-amended and that just needed some organic matter added to it annually. I never really planned to break up virgin soil with it, but it also works great for that. I love, love, love my Mantis and don't understand why it gets negative 1-star or 2-star reviews on some websites. It is easy to start and doesn't give me nearly as much trouble starting the engine as the lawn mower does.

It was well worth every penny we spent for it and if the time ever comes when it dies and cannot be repaired, we'll buy another one in a heartbeat. The two other brands of soil cultivators that we had before are just pieces of junk compared to this machine. Your mileage may vary.

I second everything that Dawn said. We got our a few years back and paid a bit more than $300. It was a 4 payment/no interest offer than came in our Dixondale onion order. Even though we paid a little bit more, it's still worth every penny. My DH is 6'3', I'm 5'2". We can both use it with ease. We also drain the gas in the winter but it starts right back up every spring. Even with the occasional carburetor expense issue, I would think it worth the investment. I have friends that are using her parents old Mantis. They've only had to rebuild the carburetor once and it's still going strong.

Hi all - I'm not from Oklahoma but my dad was a Sooner back in the Bud Wilkinson days and I do have a Mantis. I just purchased mine this spring and so far I love it. I got the 4 stroke Honda engine so I didn't have to mix gas and hopefully not have to rebuild the carb like I do on my 2 stroke equipment. Stabil added to the gas has helped a lot in minimizing carb rebuilds the last few years since I started using it. The 4 stroke costs a little more but it is also much quieter.

I have a 5 horse front tine tiller also that I still use on my larger in-ground beds because it can cover more ground faster, but I still use the Mantis to do the final seed bed tilling and it does a great job on that especially if the soil has just the right moisture content. It has made bed shaping much easier because the soil particles are smaller and more evenly sized and easier to rake and level. The main reason I bought it was so I could cultivate my raised beds without having to bring out ramps to get the big tiller into them or drag my teenage son out of bed so he could help me lift it in. Mine also came with a furrow attachment that I used in the potato bed and a new Gus patch. It can actually till deeper than the big tiller if I rock it from side to side. When I first used it I was getting the frog hopping a little but found that if I kept even pressure pulling backwards that it did not hop.

Hi Paula! Glad to see you're up and about and online. I've been outside with Chris cleaning out the oversized garage all morning and he dragged out the old Troybilt cultivator from a back corner, which made me snicker. I hated that thing and haven't even looked at it since we bought the Mantis. We made an obvious pile of trash (loaded into the back of the truck to go to the dump), and then there is a section of stuff to keep and put back into the garage when we get it all cleaned up, and there's that middle pile of stuff that may stay or may go. The Troy-bilt cultivator is in that middle pile and I'd put in in the trash pile, but I bet Tim, who is a pack rat, will want to keep it (though I do not know why).

Dawn

My first Mantis lasted about 11 years and I loved it. We bought a new one last year and it is heavier and a little harder to carry, but works wonderfully. I mostly have my garden to the "no till" method now, but I use the Mantis to fluff things up before I plant potatoes, and will use it again for some small irrigation ditches that I usually put in if the summer is dry. We used the new one at my son's house last year on new ground that had been gone over once with the tractor. It was just huge chucks until we hit it with the Mantis. Yes, you pull it instead of pushing it, and it really digs in. Worth every penny.

thanks my ground is sandy loam I thought it would work well in my blackberries. and also where rows grow together some times and do not leave room for the big tiller. the horse was made in 1976 put new motor on it works great. If i need to i get tractor and plow and disk garden in fall. I am adding organics and trying to work in last years mulch rather than turning under
I had not thought about the 4 cycle but i will look into it

We just got a two stroke Mantis this spring. Our ground is somewhat rocky. If I go slow with it, it works well. Had a front tine tiller for some years and absolutely loathed using it. The Mantis is much more to my liking. One of the great things I've observed is that it is designed so that clearing the tines is a snap. With our old tiller that was a really hard job. Now I can just pull two pins, remove the tines, clean them and be back up and running in only minutes.

George
Tahlequah, OK

I agree...Love the Mantis I bought last summer. Oldbusy, you were lucky to find one at a yard sale. No such luck here, but I would spend the money again in a second! I have used my mantis to dig up lawn to make garden beds, and it has worked like a dream...A powerful little machine for its size, and easy for me to use and clean! Would recommend to anyone who is looking for a great little tiller that is a real workhorse (which is what I was looking for). It works well digging deep holes for my clematis :) and of course, working the soil to plant other plants!

I have the earthwise electric tiller in the same size. It's awesome. Don't have to mess with the gas either. My beds are all near plugs though so it's no big deal.

I have had two gas powered Mantis tillers over the last 20 years and they were a #itch to use. I had to wait until my husband was home to start it and he'd be two miles down the road and they would quit. Ugh!! THEN I took my two old tillers to Smith Garden in OKC where I had bought them and traded them in for an electric Mantis Tiller. Best thing I ever did. I've had it for about four years now and it's wonderful. Sure I have to be careful with the cord, but being able to plug it in and BAMB! off I go is worth it. Same thing with an edger. We'd had a gas powered one for 25 years, but got an electric one several years ago. Now I'm looking at an electric chipper/shredder

I have been switching to electric tools also because my old body told me to. I have an electric start generator that I can lift into my pickup with the tractor, or just scoop it up into the bucket and take it to where it is needed. When I was a young man I thought Gas power was the only way to go, but old worn out bodies don't like hand start engines.

Amen.