A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 Tillin'...

Kinda like "chillin'...

I have been tilling up the yard all day! I have monster plans...and seem to want it ALL done today..before it rains! I want to get my roses set around the new flagpole...so, I started on that project and then ended up with 3 more!UGH!!! So I seperated the hostas and HAVE to get the lambs ear seperated...it is taking over the place and still have stuff in containers to get planted and on and on and on and on and on....

but...I said all that to say that I LOVE my Mantis tiller

I have a little Ryobi and I love that puppy!!!
And the feelin' of just going to it and starting
it is the end all for me... I like workin' all the tools, weedwhacker, etc.. but to be able to start them all on my own is the thrill of it...
AND NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL SOMEONE COMES AND :p :p DOES IT FOR ME!!!!

Weezie

Have you ever seen that attachment that goes on the hubbies' drill and it digs holes for you...???

we have a snapper tiller but it's rusted up and doesn't look to bad but it hasn't been used in 2 years or more. and it doesn't start so we have to figure out what is wrong with it so for now it's just me,a shovel,and a hoe. :rolleyes: :p

my first thought was to clean and then regap the spark plug. Second question did you leave gas in it? If so you take it to the lawn tool doctor and get him to clean up the gummed up carborator. Of course this only works on gasoline engine powered stuff. lol

Miss Jamie...that is the JOY of being YOUNG!!! I would die if I had to shovel!!! It wouldn't get done! I wish I could though...I really do like the manual labor..but I have a chronic muscle disorder that prevents me from doing it!

AND NO CINDY...it's not my brain muscle that has the disorder!!! Thought I would just nip that in the bud right off!

I'm itching to do some tilling too. I've been mulching for the past 2 weeks. Finally finished my pile today. I had 24 yards of mulch!

I have a Mantis too, but I think I'll crank up my 8hp Troy-Bilt first. Not tomorrow though, I have to mow grass.

Obywan...the force is going to HAVE to be with me...to get all my monster projects done!
Sounds like you have been equally as busy...but aint it fun!!!

I wish I had a tiller but then I'd have no lawn left. Dh asked what I was doing the other day because I was shovelling again in the back yard. I'm making a new garden patch and have to move the top layer of sod by hand. Sometimes I think it's just easier to buy veggies from the farmer up the road.

hmmmm, now i know what i want for mother's day!

Got my BIG tillin project done today...around the new flagpole! Planted red & white rose bushes, red petunias, red& white striped petunias, blue salvia and filled the rest in with bokoos of lambs ear...it is gonna be beaytimous! Tomorrow (if it doesn't rain...going to finish splitting up my lambs ear and plant them around the dynamite red crepe myrtles...I will be glad to get it done...I am in GREAT pain tonight!!!!!!!!!!

Vanessa, I bet that will be gorgeous! Please make sure to post pictures when you are finished. I wanna seeeeee!

Dianna

well I think he cleaned the spark plug but I don't know. Yeap there was gas that had been in there for about 2 years or maybe more. yea he was thinking of getting it put in the shop but we don't have the green stuff($$$) right now for it so that'll have to wait.

Well if you have a fellow and he is handy. There is some stuff you can buy. Take the carborator off and stick it in a bucket of the cleaner stuff and then use a brush to clear away the accumulated sticky stuff. Pay special attention to the valve. Once it's cleaned up real good make sure you drain the fuel and add new with the what is it 2 stroke oil mixed in with the gas I think. Please check that before doing it. Then prime the carborator and give it a try. It's elbow grease rather than dollars. Dad never took anything to the mechanic and was forever leaving his equipment out in the weather so I've seen alot of this stuff done. He just wouldn't let a girl help or I'd know more.

I have been hoping to purchase a used tiller, but so far haven't seen any advertised. I see the mantis gets a thumbs up here but would it really be good for starting a new garden (breaking sod and such)? Any recomendations or stay away froms? I was looking at yardworks but they only have a so so recomendations.


Also how hard is tilling on the body? I am looking at a 6.5 HP rear tine machine.

Suzee,
The little one I have isn't so great when first trying to break ground on untouched ground...
I first put some big sheets of cardboard down..
*like refrigerater and washer/dryer boxes..*
*but you can use any card board stuff really,
just takes more and you have to make sure you get all the cracks filled or covered so no ground/grass can poke thru the cracks*

When you put the cardboard down, make sure you water it good or let it rain on it.. that gets it all wet, and moist and lays flat on the ground better and soon, the worms will come and do alot of your work for the little tillers...

I wait a while, actually, if I want to start a new place I usually do it in the fall time, then it's got all winter time to get that area soft..

I like the little tiller, cause I can handle it..
*we do have a big Troy Built Tiller too, but it's too big for me to pull the rip cord on and manure. *I'm only 5' on a good hair day*

As for how hard it is on your body, well, that could depend on you and your physical stance....
If you're a couch potato, I'd say you'd get a good work out!!
If you're active and already do alot of gardening, I'd say it would be fine..
I can still man~handle that tiller with NO PROBLEM!!

Weezie

P.S. Welcome to The Garden Helper's Forum by the way, we're very glad to have you!!!

Suzee...I would definately recomend the Mantis...and yes, it is WONDERFUL for breaking up new gardens! I'm a "get it done today" kinda gal...Weezie has much more patience than I do...I wouldn't be able to do the cardboard thing...I want to rip through it NOW. I have a low part of my yard that stays very wet and the soil is just a hard clay goey stuff....I tilled up a 30 ft row with the Mantis and planted cannas. I can't handle the rip cord on other things very well either..but I can on this bad boy! It only weighs about 20lbs so I can handle it with out HELP! I'm a die hard Mantis fan now! I actually bought it for hubby...but I am always using it so he doesn't get to very often. The tines have a lifetime warrenty on them, even if something happens and it is your fault...they will replace them. I get rocks & roots stuck in it all of the time..but I just keep on rippin through stuff!

I just got done with my tilling of the bigger beds. I have a troy built edge/tiller. I love it. it is small enough for me to handle, goes where I want it to, not where it wants to,lol.
I have raised beds, both about 22 feet long, both are about 4 feet wide with a cynder block walk way so no one steps in the dirt.
Weird though, the right side was so soft, the left was more compacted. Lifes little mysteries. but not now,lol. both are so fluffy it will be a piece of cake putting in the assorted stuff.
Now to start lookin at the fence line,,, I love it.

Can I step in for a short? Been looking for 4Rudy to let you know I found out about the Gardenia problem. Turns out the warm and cold/freeze we had in AR burned the plants. Had a landscaper on channel 11 (Little Rock) this week that explained it. Said to cut them back and they will come out, but no blooms this year. I had already done mine and there are small leaves at the base.

Tiller problem? What does the fuel smell like? Is it really stinky? I mean make you sick stinky?Shouldn't be to awful at two years. Drain the tank and properly dispose of the old fuel. The engine on the Snapper is most likely a Briggs or Tescumse (sp). Briggs is better and easier to work on. If the carb has a fuel bowl on the bottom of the carb, you can probably get it loose with a cresent wrench. Be sure not to tear out the gasket and you can reuse it. If there is no varnish in the bowl, it's not likely the carburator is gummed. If it's gummed, then a little carb cleaner will cut it and spray out the carburator. I ue O'Reilly brand here. Cheap, but good.

Put a little fresh fuel in the tank. Take the spark plug out and spin it over a few times with the cord. You can pou a little alcohol in the plug hole to flush it. Next drip a little alcohol into the plug hole and reinstall the plug. Choke and try to crank the tiller. If you get it to spit, your about there. Even if it runs for a second or two.

If it tries to run, go get a can of Seafoam from an auto parts store. O'Reillies carries it. Pour about 1-2 oz to about a pint of fuel. Try to crank it again and again a few times to get the mix into the carburator. Every time you go by the tiller crank it. The Seafoam cleans a carburator better than anything I've ever used along with the valves and cylinder head. If its cranking at all it should be fine in a few days. Once it's running, adjust the cab if you can. Run the screw in and out a little but be sure to count the turns so you get it back where it was.

BE sure to check the oil. If it's been sitting outside, there my be water in the crankcase. Good engines have been ruined becasue water with a little oil on top fooled owners into thinking it was OK. You can change the oil with 1 1/4 quarts. Small investment.

If the tines aren't worn out, the engine is probably good. My tiller is a 1974 Troy Bilt rear tine I found in 1993 that had been sitting for 10 years. I've got a good tiller and I've put some miles on it.

Tomatoe...thanks for tracking me down! I'm usually not too difficult to find around here. Thanks for the info on the gardenia...mine is looking PRETTY DARN PITIFUL!!! So, do you think it is to late for me to cut mine back? I had even thought about moving it...don't want to kill it, I just don't know if this is a bad time to do that or not! Thaks for letting me know!

I have a 5hp Troy-Bilt Pony model, one of the older models before Troy-Bilt sold out to MTD.
It works good!! It has forward rotating tines which I like better than counter rotating tines.

Once the ground is broken I can walk along beside it, and let it do all the work for me.

Briggs and Straton use a diafram in the carb that acts as a fuel pump. In the 3 hp motors it is between the carb and the tank. On the bigger motors it is under a cover on the side of the carb. You may want to replace this, be careful there is a spring located under the diafram.

B&S uses a 2 section fuel tank the bottom is where the fuel is stored, and the diafram pumps the fuel into the top section and the carb uses the fuel from there. On the bottom of the carb will be 2 tubes, one long one and one short one. Make sure both of these are not plugged.

Also if it has been stored out in the rain you may want to remove the starter cover and sand the magnet on the flywheel. If rust builds up there it can affect the magneto.

Weezie thanks for the info on how hard it is on the body - the reason i ask is hubby had a heart attack in jan and well I am the over protective wife that grits her teeth everytime he says but I can do this and that. Someone had told me he shouldn't play with the tiller at all.

I am still hopeful I can buy a used machine. Sure would like to put all that extra money into the yard itself. I am tempted to get a mantis, but think I'll end up with both a small and large tiller. I like the idea of weeding with the small tiller and using it to mix in composts etc. Oh and thanks for the welcome

Suzee,
My own personal opinion on the tillers is,
the newer models of the bigger ones are the way to go..
My dad used to have *and this is 30/25 years ago*
the front tine tillers, and they were murder on a person.. really bouncy and wow, took alot of arm and back power to work...

I'd have to say, the littler one's are harder than say a big Troy~built... we have one of those, and other than the rip~cord to start it,
my husband can walk behind it, off to the side, with one hand on it.. it's that smooth of a tiller..*it's back tine tiller*
The little Ryobi I have, really bounces when you encounter a big rock or a hard pan area or clay..

I can understand how you feel with having your husband and having him do things that can cause him more harm, my dad had a heart attack..
and a friend of ours had to have open heart surgery twice and another time before for a funky valve thingie.. but, for him, he's right back doing all the stuff he did before, *he's early middle 40's and he says he feels fine..
*my dad still worked the tiller up until about 2 years before he passed *from cancer actually*
so, I'd say, alot depends on your husband and how outdoorsy and active he is..
If he's a couch potato, I'd say NO..

I just can't say enough about mine..

If you're looking for something that your hubby can use with out hurting himself, put you still want to till the land, ***and actually these things are supposed to be better than using rototillers is a BROADFORK I've read that using them is better because it doesn't break up the soil's structure like a rototiller does..we love rototillers because the dirt/soil looks so nice and broken up and incorporated, and it's visually appealing to us..
But when using the broadfork, it leaves the basic structure of the dirt, and the worm tunnels and air pockets, and parts of the dirt that were breaking down mode~intact... and produces healthier dirt.. I would love one for my vegetable gardens, but can't afford them, they're aren't all that bad, usually around $100 but that's not in my $$ right now..

Hope some of this info helps!!!

Weezie