Is a tiller a good investment??

[rockytopsis]

I don't think it is good enough to break ground, I only use mine after the plants have come up and the ground is still soft.

 

[Reinbeau]

Thanks for all the info!! One question for the mantis owners: does it have enough power to break up sod? I mainly want a tiller for weeding and maybe break ground for a bed or two so I was wondering if a mantis might be better than a troybilt???

I wouldn't want to dig up a 20x20' veggie garden plot out of lawn, it would be lots of back and forth passes, yes, it will work, with lots of effort on your part. Smaller beds I'd use it, no problem. It just takes more back and forth passes.

 

[patandchickens]

My m-i-l has a gas powered Mantis. It could probably break up light turf but the turf on her clay soil it is pretty much stymied by, unless you slowly nibble at it a little bit at a time. Bear in mind that a cynic might say that the reason the company can offer a lifetime warranty against tine breakage is that the motor hasn't really the POWER to break the tines <g> (It does work well for just mixing things into already-cleared soil, though) (well I wouldn't want to use it on a half-acre market garden )

Pat

 

[unclejoe]

If you have 3/4 of an acre of sod to break, a Mantis will take all summer just to prepare the ground. I cut 4400sf ( you have over 32,000) of sod last March with a 10hp BCS tiller with a 26" cut and it took me about 6 hrs to make the first pass. I did that 2 more times to make sure everything was broken up.
Something you could consider if you can only buy 1 tiller would be to buy the mantis and hire someone to break the ground for you. Maybe a local farmer would be available or, some landscape company's also provide this service. You could also check into renting a 3' wide tiller that is towed behind a lawn tractor. It will still take a while but it would be a lot easier on your body than a walk behind. Good Luck.

 

[2dream]

For me a tiller is a must. I have a Troybilt that I can operate without feeling completely and totally worked to death. DH breaks the ground with the tractor but is not always around at planting time so I have to do some of it myself. We also have a front tine tiller that he bought at Ace hardware 20 years ago but I can not handle it.
Today I had some things I wanted to plant. He was off on the tractor doing a job. In order to get what I wanted done I had to do it myself. Without that tiller I would still be waiting since when he got home he had broken on of the swing arms on the tractor.

 

[omran]

I love my tiller, it makes life so easy on me, before I had one I had to spend alot of hours cleaning the weads in my garden, but thanks God two years ago I found an old tiller which has a damaged engine and I got it for $55.00 fixed it myself and it is a blessing.

Omran

 

[Grow 4 Food]

I have 2 tillers - 1 is 72 inches wide and runs on the tractor and one is 14 inches and is self propelled. I love them both and wouldnt garden without them. i think working during the growing period helps water soaking in as well as controlling the weeds and promoting a little root growth / mixing in fert.

Just as a personal preference I like a counter rotating rear tine as opposed to the front tine or forward rotating rear tine. They seem to not work you as hard when you are working them. Another thing that I would keep in mind if you have the ability is getting one that will reverse the wheels (back up) with a lever instead or you yanking on it.

Garden Smarter Not Harder!

 

[Sylvie]

After the last tiller was beyond reasonably priced repair after only 3 years we decided that our 100'x100' garden would be tilled by a rental tiller. So for us it is $50 per year as opposed to buying a tiller for $400 and only getting 3 years out of it.

I would buy a used tiller if I found one, however.

 

[pixiechic]

After the last tiller was beyond reasonably priced repair after only 3 years we decided that our 100'x100' garden would be tilled by a rental tiller. So for us it is $50 per year as opposed to buying a tiller for $400 and only getting 3 years out of it.

I would buy a used tiller if I found one, however.

I was just wondering about this exact thing. We have a 60-foot round garden area (around 2800 square feet) that's never been tilled. The soil is clay with a layer of sand, plus about 5 years' worth of leaves, grass, and weeds. I did some digging last weekend and it was a little easier than I expected, but it's still much too big to dig by hand. I'm thinking we'll rent a tiller to turn it over the first time, but I've been wondering whether a tiller would be a good investment over time. If I had one, would I use it more than once or twice a year?

 

[vfem]

I've drawn out a total of 15 beds I want to put in that WON'T be raised beds. I'm thinking its a 3 year project.... and I'm convincing hubby its worth buying a tiller for this reason.

After looking at prices I'm thinking if I'm going to get one, I'll get one off of Craigslist used for around $250 and that should make it worth it. But how old is too old...?

And the big kicker... I have to figure out horsepower. We tilled my mom's front yard and started fresh with seeding it about 5 years ago. We rented a crappy little tiller for $75 for the day! It barely broke ground, and it broke my back to do all that work. The horse power was WAY to small for cutting through clay. The next size up tiller they wanted $130 for the day?! With prices like those, I don't think I can rationalize renting.

I guess all this tiller talk is personal preference!