Rotavator!!

[Biscombe]

I've turned over my last bit of rock hard Spanish terrain by hand!! The OH says I can go out and buy myself a rotavator!! Do you know a good one to buy? or any pitfalls to look out for?? I´m soOO excited!!!

[Biscombe]

[tim]

I've had 4 over the years &, for a ladyperson, assuming that you've broken the back of it - without doing yours in - I would go for the Honda 201.

Light enough to be easily moved around but enough punch to do a good job.

[Ted_H]

How about hiring one first. It does seem a bit of an expense for something that gets used once or twice a year.
Also make sure you havent got couch grass, we turned over a small patch with a rotorvator and all it did was to chop it up into bits and made clearing it harder.

[tim]

Nice thought.  But, how many hires=one roto?

Couch? They do say that:
a. If you continually cut it at 4", it will give up. Whether before you or not I know not!
b. And if you keep the roots on the move, with no chlorophyll, same thing.

[OliveOil]

OH just bougth me a mantis 4 stroke - with honda engine. Not used it yet so can't comment. But I chose it on various reviews and recommendations.  Tim's Honda sounds excellent but I think it is a bit more pricey than the mantis so was out of my budget range

[cambourne7]

congrats

I have always wanted one but i cant see that i would use it enough to justify the cost.

I have my beds managable now that they should not need rotivation more than one every 3 years so i have decided to save for a decent fruit cage instead.

[ruffmeister]

i am one definitly for rotorvators, they make work so much easier, just remember to pick the couch out as you go, check my website http://lottieblogs.co.uk/gallery.aspx for some pictures of our beauty we got on ebay for 0.99p  8)

[dtw]

What was the postage?  ;D

[Bryan]

Looks like my Mountfield i also got off ebay, not for 99p though.
Bet there was no postage, local pick up only i suspect.
Probably only got it for 99p, as no one else lives in such a remote area, that no one wanted to bid any higher, let alone travel miles to pick it up.

[dtw]

There was a word game on TV a couple of days ago that said rotavator was the longest palindrome,

Some people spell it rotovator, even ebay.  :o
Is that the American way of spelling it?

[Bryan]

I would have thought it was the american way of spelling it.
We all know that a palindrome is a word that is spelt the same backwards, dont we???
The yanks have to be different! ::)

[ruffmeister]

no it came on ebay as i found it as a mis spelling and thus i got in there, it was a non starter however a tweak here and there and works like a beauty all for 99p love it

postage was free - local pick up from solihul

[Two Choices]

Chap on the plot next to mine has a Mantis and reckons it's the dogs do dahs.  I was given a Ryobi petrol strimmer as a leaving present last year and my daughters bought me the tiller head for Christmas.  Whilst this would not be ideal for large areas, it will be great for tilling down small areas requiring that 'little bit extra' and I get to keep the grass short too!. Let us know what you decide.TC

[KevTetley]

Im new to the allotment scene.  I have just got my first plot and hope to start digging at the weekend.
It hasnt been cultivated for 2 years, but the previous old fella had great results there.
The patch is covered in clumpy grass about 8inches high.  Any ideas about how to takle it?   Stim?  Rotavate?  Thanks

[Fork]

With a new patch i would dig by hand and weed as much as possible....then rotovate in the spring......Far too wet at the moment,well it is here in My litle area of Derbyshire.