Got the Mantis tiller this week. Couldn't use it until today because of a heavy work schedule.

Finally got to use it and it worked great! On the heaviest soil it did bounce around but since the tiller only weighs about 30 lbs, was easy to control. It's quieter than my lawnmower and even my neighbor's electric table saw. The tines bound up three times, twice from long fibrous mulch wrapping the tines up and once from a large rock. No damage, just had to turn it off, untangle and restart. Restarted with one pull. In heaviest clay, it took several passes to reach full depth but that didn't take much time.

Any way, got the area by the fence tilled all the way up to the first garden rows. Good size area, at least 400 sq ft. Then planted broccoli, cilantro, dill, red cabbage and lots of spinach. Soil was so loose raking wasn't necessary. All shallow seeds, so just watered heavily.

It will take quite a bit of time and work to till the whole front and back yards but doing it in stages. Some areas will have to be tilled multiple times to kill off weeds. That's where a function of the Mantis comes in handy. Blades can be reversed and used to cultivate. Basically tilling only 1-2" of soil. That would leave the deeper soil untouched after initial tilling. Can also be used for weeding between rows next year.

Maybe rationalizing but think this was a good investment.

Only found two squash bugs in the past few days but some of the plants had already suffered enough damage that they still died off. However, still have a number which are looking really good. New flowers every day and have 4-5 pumpkins now growing.

Got cool in the last few days. Afraid of the tomatoes going dormant now. May have to dig up the ones in the garden and bring them in sooner than anticipated. But still lots of fruit on the vines right now. Got the Mantis tiller this week. Couldn't use it until today because of a heavy work schedule.

Finally got to use it and it worked great! On the heaviest soil it did bounce around but since the tiller only weighs about 30 lbs, was easy to control. It's quieter than my lawnmower and even my neighbor's electric table saw. The tines bound up three times, twice from long fibrous mulch wrapping the tines up and once from a large rock. No damage, just had to turn it off, untangle and restart. Restarted with one pull. In heaviest clay, it took several passes to reach full depth but that didn't take much time.

Any way, got the area by the fence tilled all the way up to the first garden rows. Good size area, at least 400 sq ft. Then planted broccoli, cilantro, dill, red cabbage and lots of spinach. Soil was so loose raking wasn't necessary. All shallow seeds, so just watered heavily.

It will take quite a bit of time and work to till the whole front and back yards but doing it in stages. Some areas will have to be tilled multiple times to kill off weeds. That's where a function of the Mantis comes in handy. Blades can be reversed and used to cultivate. Basically tilling only 1-2" of soil. That would leave the deeper soil untouched after initial tilling. Can also be used for weeding between rows next year.

Maybe rationalizing but think this was a good investment.

Only found two squash bugs in the past few days but some of the plants had already suffered enough damage that they still died off. However, still have a number which are looking really good. New flowers every day and have 4-5 pumpkins now growing.

Got cool in the last few days. Afraid of the tomatoes going dormant now. May have to dig up the ones in the garden and bring them in sooner than anticipated. But still lots of fruit on the vines right now.