Bought my wife one of the little 4-stroke Hondas 2nd hand. Worked fine for a couple of years until the carb gummed up. Rather than have me look at it, she brought it to a shop who "worked on it" until it "sort of worked" and sent her a bill for $100. She never paid or picked it up. Since I only paid $45 for it, I didn't feel too bad...but I am never using that shop for anything again either. Little tiller worked good, when it worked. I liked the whole centrifugal clutch thing, don't spin the tines until the engine is making power, very intuitive to use, and small enough for my wife to handle. If I found another one on a "deal" I'd probably buy it.
Was using a friend's full size MTD for a couple years, briggs motor. Carb was gummed, pulled bowl, cleaned needle and the jet (tiny hole in bowl nut) and it would run long enough to till the garden...pretty much the same routine every year. Too big for the wife to run, which also means she wasn't tempted to mess with it. I am actively looking for one of these. I suspect one of the midsize troybilts would be about the same too.