Topic: Mantis Diggers

[rooty]

Hello All

Have decided to get a petrol type digger/cultivator to help with the allotment.  From reading on here and a few other places the Mantis seems to fit the bill.

My question is which one to get.  There is one called the XP which has a 16in blade, that seems too big as I may/probably want to do small patches.  That leaves the Classic (7263) and the Delux (7265) if I have read the blurb correctly.  There dosnt seem to be a lot of difference between the two, apart from the handles.  Would anyone who owns one of these machines give me an opinion as to which is better.  I am assuming the delux has more features but I have found that often more features can mean more faffing around, on the other hand sometimes a feature can be v useful ????    Thanks for any replies and anything else you think is significant about them.

Thanks very much

[MervF]

I have had one of these http://mantis.uk.com/4stroke_tiller.asp for the past 6 years or so and have been really pleased with it.   Before this I had some bigger rotavators but they upset my arthritis in my hands so changed to the Mantis.   It will not dig into wet or sticky ground or do "the winter dig" but when the ground dries out a bit, will make you a good seed bed or just break the ground up.   The attachments are quite useful as well.   It will also fold up and fit into virtually any car boot.   If and when mine "gets past it's sell by date", I would not hesitate to buy another.

[gazza1960]

Another vote for the same model,served us well,on our allotment for 4 years and since moving to Dorset where the soil is a tad heavier it's equally up to the task .
Transports easily in the boot,when folded in half,starts every time and is avert reliable unit.
Proper tuff little engine for its size.

Gazza

[MervF]

I forgot to say that this year I used the Planter attachment and earthed my spuds up a bit by working backwards with the Mantis - about 4 rows done very quickly with hardly any effort.

[kGarden]

I have the four-stroke Mantis, wouldn't be without it. On my heavy soil it isn't suitable for digging virgin ground, but it does an excellent job of my vegetable beds, mixing the 50:50 compost & manure that I spread in the greenhouse beds each Autumn, and chewing up the "finished" compost heap to get it into something manageable for shovelling into a barrow.

Not sure that the lawn edger (I now use a Flymo "contour") or the detatcher thingie are much cop, so if "Deluxe" includes them then perhaps skip those.  The Stand is useful (hinged and sprung and when "out" acts as a hind-leg tripod-style so that the mantis stands up) - dunno if the Stand is standard.

[rooty]

Thank you all for replying,

From your replies it seems you all have the standard model, so that would seem the way to go.   One think that concerns me which Merv noted, is that its not much good on wet and sticky ground.  Now while I do not plan to use it on undug ground, I did hope to use it to dig on ground that was a bit wet and claggy.    Oh dear, derisions derisions :-)  perhaps I need to look some more.

Once again thank you all very much for your replies  -  rooty

[goodlife]

Now while I do not plan to use it on undug ground, I did hope to use it to dig on ground that was a bit wet and claggy.

I hope you don't mind me 'jumping in', and apologies for coming lecture (I just can't help it...)....not matter what rotavator/cultivator, when the ground is in that condition, rotavating it when wet doesn't do any favours for it...you can make the ground even worst. It is always better to wait to situation to improve a bit. 'Glaggy' means it will stick to the blades and can even damage the engine if the work gets too heavy for it. Small 'cultivator' type machines blades are too close together and are meant to make the soil fine structured rather than roughly turning it over.
To speed the ground 'improvement' while you wait it to dry..you could fork it..get the tines deep in and just lightly raising the surface to let some air gaps in there. You don't want to 'mess with wet soil' as worms tunnels will help the drainage and they will keep the soil from going stagnant. Rotavating wet soil just destroy that structure...and if good amount more rain should follow...the activity in soil already being slow, it would just mean even wetter and glaggier soil....and the plants (other than rice ) won't like it neither.

 

[kGarden]

its not much good on wet and sticky ground.

I used to hire a rotavator once a year, in Spring.  It always rained and was a Right Mess.

Now that I have the Mantis in the shed I can do it whenever the ground is perfect, and I have time available :)

You definitely don't want to be considering do it when the ground is wet ... if you have a problem in that regard (which persists well into Spring) then personally I would put in drainage, or raised beds, as they revolutionise the soil and how well things grow.  I have heavy clay here, and the whole garden is flat (Suffolk) so rain tends to collect and the lawn is soggy, or worse, for a week after Winter rain ... but the beds we have which have French drains grow much better plants than the ones that don't, and the raised (only by a few inches) beds in my Veg patch drain well and are easy to work - but I still wouldn't attempt to get on them in the Winter.

An alternative is to cover (tarpaulin or the like) for a period prior to the intended date for rotavating - particularly if Work and Free Time means that the free time might not coincide with perfect weather :)

[rooty]

Thanks once again GL and KG.  Am actually retired, so I do have a fair amount of time to spend in the allotment.  The allotment itself is reasonably well drained, never gets standing water, and the soil is also a mixture of sand, clay, organics,  although not an expert I would say good growing soil.  My purpose in buying a digging machine was to take some of the arduous work out of the “digging” as I get older. 

GL, I had not realised there were different spacings on the blades of cultivators.  It makes perfect sense now you have mentioned it.  I did not intend to cultivate the ground when it was wet and turn it into porridge  :-)  I was thinking more to just turn it over etc. much as you suggest with the fork, except having the machine do it.

I suppose I was thinking that the Mantis would be a magic tool that would solve all my digging problems.  I am reasonably neat and having decided what to do like to “get on with it”.  I will just have to temper my impatience and work with nature more, rather than against it.  Thanks for bringing me back to earth, I suspect I was getting a bit carried away reading all the sales gumf  :-)

Best Regards   -   R

[goodlife]

I don't have mantis..but have two different other brand of rotavators. One is bigger and make rough job of the ground unless going over the same patch several times...other one is smaller version, though that too need couple of passings to make finer tilth. What I've seen from fellow plot holders, their Mantis make the soil to 'seed bed' tilth...very very well churned..leaving me with impression that Mantis does need reasonably good soil conditions to work.
I don't put my 'rough horse' on the soil until well into spring...and even then not every year..if the soil is not walked on directly, it doesn't compact much..that little bit of digging gets sorted while planting.
I would consider trialling/borrowing/hiring one at first to see if you would need one on permanent basis...not everybody has need for these machines..I don't and others seem to use mine more than me, but better to use them than having them standing still for ages.

[chriscross1966]

THere's a chap on our site (we have fairly light soil) with a Mantis and although it takes a bit longer than my Howard 400 (basically a half-width Gem) it does make a good job of it and it doesn't seem to be excessive effort either..... personally I like rear-tine rotavators and if I need a cultivator then I have a Howard 200 (which might look like a rear-tine rotavator, but is only really a cultivator in fancy dress)... for little bits of weeding and seed-bed prep etc I have one of those cultivator heads you put on a strimmer power, my one is a Ryobi, and as long as you are aware it is for light duties only it does the job perfectly happily.... I guess that between them the two Howards adn the Ryobi cost me about as much as a good second-hand Mantis, and there is certainly more involvement in the looking after side..... I guess it's whatever works best for you... I love my Howards, but they are not everyone's cup of tea, you wouldn't get a 400 in a normal car very easily (nto hard with my van though)

Whatever you go with the most important accessory is the potato ridger, you will be amazed at how quickly you can plant potatoes if a machine is moving the earth for you....

chrisc

[johhnyco15]

ive got the standard mantis works a treat on my sandy soil i have bad arthritis yet can handle it with ease it really is a boon to my plot

[bionear2]

I have had standard model mantis tillers for many years, and they are a tough and capable little machine. One thing that no-one has mentioned (I think), is that to get a mantis to dig deep, you have to pull it towards you. This is fine in small amounts, but can be very tiring to do for a long time, so they are really not suitable for cultivating  whole areas.
Even after a session of digging potato rows, I can sometimes tie my shoes without bending down!