green, I have a craftsman 17"rear tine tiller that I bought 3 or 4 years ago for $599 or close to it. Now it depends on how big your garden will be as to if it will be good for you or not.
My gardens are 35'x20' and 50'x25' approximately.I would recommend tilling as deep as you can on your first pass because if a second pass is required you won't have the traction you need because your now tilling over loose soil. My opinion on the craftsman at this point is it doesn't have enough weight to get the traction needed for an easy second pass.Now when tilling that much not that its alot just that it wants to spin the tires and to keep it moving you must gently lift up on the handle to put more weight on the tires more than on the tiller so it will keep pulling through,Also make sure you get the one with the largest tires to aid in traction.
If your going to do a major garden you may want to spend the $2200. for a bolens or something bigger and heavier.
Mine is plenty good for what I do but if I had a huge garden I would buy a tiller for my tractor for $1200 or so and save the 17" for cultivating or planting flowers for the wife /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif