Anyone got one of these? Does it `do what it says on the tin`, if not any
other recommendations for lady allotment holder with backache?

Doreen Taylor wrote:
Anyone got one of these? Does it `do what it says on the tin`, if
not any other recommendations for lady allotment holder with
backache?

If you have well cultivated soil which simply needs the top 4 to 6
inches to be rotovated, then, yes it will do the job.
If you are looking to break up a compacted surface, then you may well
find that the vibration and physical (wo)man handling of the machine
may well cause you more backache than doing the job manually.
I would recommend that you hire one for a day to see how you get on
with it before buying.
I'm not familiar with the Mantis. If it has electric starting, that
won't be a problem. But some of the pull cord starters can be very
temperamental and could aggravate your back condition.

--
ned

"Doreen Taylor" wrote in message
...
Anyone got one of these? Does it `do what it says on the tin`, if not any
other recommendations for lady allotment holder with backache?


If you go to www.google.co.uk and search for mantis tiller in groups rather
than web, youll find lots of relevant newsgroup postings.

If you add jrbuk to your search you'll find one I posted last year. If you
have a back problem then any petrol powered cultivator may not be a good
idea, I feel.

On Wed, 29 Jan 2003 19:50:58 -0000, "jrbuk" wrote:


"Doreen Taylor" wrote in message
...
Anyone got one of these? Does it `do what it says on the tin`, if not any
other recommendations for lady allotment holder with backache?


If you go to www.google.co.uk and search for mantis tiller in groups rather
than web, youll find lots of relevant newsgroup postings.

If you add jrbuk to your search you'll find one I posted last year. If you
have a back problem then any petrol powered cultivator may not be a good
idea, I feel.



I have a back problem and for that reason about 10 years ago bought a
rotavator with power drive to the wheels and steering clutches. It
cost more than the Mantis, but the money spent has never been
regretted.

We also have a petrol engined strimmer with a split boom. Various
attachments can be substituted for the strimmer head. One of these
attachments is a rotavator head similar to the Mantis. Only really
useful (IMHO) for tickling around the flower beds to keep weeds at
bay. It can be very severe on the back as not only is one fighting
against its inclination to drag itself forward by pulling it backwards
but one is also constantly applying downward pressure as it is too
light in itself to dig down .


Paul Mc Cann