mantis tiller

YAY I got mine ordered!!! It should be here Monday/Tuesday we ordered straight from Mantis, we got the plow attatchemnt and maintenance kit too total came to 399.00 hopefully next weekend will be plowing some beds!!!


Katrina

Woah ~ what's the plow attachment do?

It digs furrows for planting... Perfect for the backyard gardener... or so mantis says hahah my mom wants a pretty good size garden this year thats why we got it!


Katrina

I would think that will do the job! Good for you :) I'll bet your mom will one happy camper this year.

Plants, I intend to get that attachment also. I haven't really done any vegatable gardening before but I have a cousin that is the largest corn grower in Tn. Maybe I will have that kind of success.

Wow I wish you the best on your goals :) hehehe have fun plowing :)


Katrina

I mean he grows a lot of corn not that is big in size. LOL
I don't think I will have that much success. Thanks for the encouragement though.

Hahhah I knew what you meant!!! I was just wishing ya luck in having lots of something doesn't have to be corn... Hmm maybe you can be a gourd grower or cucumbers heheheh :)And of course their is always cut flowers :)

Katrina

I'll have an excuse when everything fails. I can say I was trying to grow flowers and the birds dropped a few veggie seeds here and there and there wasn't enough to grow a lot and then the few veggies rooted out the flowers. Think anyone will believe that?

Hahhahaha just blame it all on the critters, say they at it all :) Say man you wouldn't believe 2 weeks ago I had the most beautiful crops of veggies over there and cut flowers over here and I don't know what could have done it!

Katrina

I'll blame it on Waldo. http://davesgarden.com/t/65332/

Hey Jim, That's what I use for an excuse, Only it's not really an excuse, It really happens all the time, Things just pop out everywhere!! LOL!
I have the mantis tiller also ( gas) And as much as I do love it, I have to say that it doesn't do well in my soil, It's great here for my beds and soil that has already been dug. But not for soil that hasn't been touched. ( I use a large troybuilt for that)
Of course, the soil here is 'very hard' It's hard to even stab a pitch fork in it! Love having the Mantis for all the easy spots though!

Plantsdirect:
Hi:
where on e-bay did you find the tiller?
I looked at a Honda today gas powered anmd a local dealer.
He'll let me have it for 299..
Four strokes?????NOT CERTAIN
sandy

I just did a search on ebay's front page for mantis, but i ended up buying direct from mantis, I called their 800 number, they have the tiller by itself for 299 and you can pay in four monthly installments through them which is nice!


Katrina

Iris, what's your soil have in it? Mine is clay, clay, clay. Okay, with some scatterd rocks for fun :) I'll definitely be adding gypsum when I till in addition to the manure.

Mine is compacted hard clay soil with rocks , Anytime I want to make a flower bed, I have to dig a patch all up and work amendments in/ Or make a raised bed! My mantis is great for working in the amendments and beds that have already been done, But, Not for starting new ones.

Well, that's what I have, too, I guess. I'll let you know how it goes. You've got me a little worried, but at least I should be able to till my lasagne part pretty easily.

Can you imagine the farmers having to break this soil several hundred years ago without the automatic equipment available today????

Morph, I didn't have any equipment in the beginning either, And what a job it was to try and make beds the first several years!!! LOL!! Kept me in good shape though!
Not trying to worry you about the mantis, Just trying to be honest.
I'd love to know how it works out for you in your soil.

Another thread for others who are thinking about the pros & cons :)

http://davesgarden.com/t/385514/

I have mine but have yet to use it because of the broken arm. I do have three beds that my son broke up for me and he liked it enough to borrow and keep at his house. He planted a small veg. gaden. I'll be getting it back soon.
Jim

I'm going to be spending the weekend (again!) removing sod by hand to make a new planting bed, sure wish I had a tiller! My boss has a Nyobi, I borrowed it and all it did was make a lot of noise and bounce around like a superball, my soil isn't even rocky, it's actually pretty good soil....so I assumed all the small tillers weren't strong enough or heavy enough to really dig in. I might rent a mantis to give it a test run.