Tiny Tillers

[Alan L.]

My wife is 4' 11" and wanted a little tiller for her flower beds and small garden. I did some research on Epinions and other places and ended up getting the Honda 1.5 HP 4-stroke tiller. This thing was a little pricey at $300, but the quality is obvious, and it is a mean little machine. My small wife is able to start it with ease. It came with transport wheels, but it is so light they aren't even needed.

She has taken it to my Mother's and tilled a flower bed, and to my sister-in-law's house and tilled some stuff. Its highly portable, no oil/gas to mix, and will run an hour on a cupfull of gas.

All of the tilling was done on ground that had not previously been tilled or broken up - there was grass and other plants that she had to till through - no problem.

It tends ot hop around a little on hard ground, but you learn how to handle it so it digs in and the hopping stops.

 

[Slamfire]

My wife got a Mantis about 7 years ago. It tills fine, although it does bounce around in hardpan. It will head for low earth orbit if it gets on a rock. It started good until this spring, and I found a diaphragm in the carb was torn. I've been waiting 2 weeks now for a rebuild kit. I'm sure glad we didn't need it for planting, and hope it gets fixed before time to cultivate. Next one I get will be a four stroke with a real carburator that has a float instead of a diaphragm.

 

[patrickg]

Alan,I dated a girl who was 5'2" and used to suffer separation anxiety, looking all around, wondering where I lost her in a crowd only to find her standing right against my side just below my line of sight. I'm not THAT tall, just 6'2" + western boots. I do thank you for supplying the wife size data as I can use that for leverage when my 5'7" wife complains about tilling/cultivating.

Anyway, about the cute little (I mean compact) Honda Harmony tiller. I drove over a hundred miles round trip to get one yesterday evening and got home in time to put it together and fire it up. Gave it one sorta "just testing" kind of pull and then gave a moderate yank to see what would happen. Fired right up. Switched off the choke and went to work. It is way too quiet to require the operator to wear muffs. Even at full throttle it isn't very loud or obnoxious.

The crank case holds about a thimble and a half of oil (Bottle of oil supplied in box). The supplied wheels work well on pavement or smooth ground but to go across a yard or traverse a span of soft dirt, just run at an intermediate throttle position, enough to engage the clutch but not so fast you have to run with it to keep if from digging. If you keep up with it it rolls along on the tines with no worries.

I'm sure the Mantis is a fine machine even if noisy. I think I like the wheels, 4 stroke low emissions motor, and the real quiet running of this Honda. My wife isn't a rock but her tripple major in Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology didn't do much to equip her to deal with machines. I would always worry that she would fuel a 2 stroke with straight gas and burn it up. She managed to put gas in her diesel Mercedes once and another time took the advice of a guy who said, "its ok to drive while holding the key in the start position since you only have a few miles to go." Ballast resistor burned out in my Sunbeam Tiger while she was using it. It would start but die when you let key return to run position. She made almost half a mile before the starter melted.

Gotta go till the garden.

Patrick

 

[patrickg]

Carl, I probably paid more than required to get a tiller. There are a lot of them in pawn shops. Home Depot carries the "yard Machine" brand for $179 but I went to get the Honda and I came back with the Honda. It wold have to be electric to be quieter and the extension cord would be a killer. Mantis does sell an electric.

Patrick

 

[Carl_NH]

Patrick,

Sounds like you like your honda tiller. Also had a few laughs reading your previous post on Sunbeams and MB. I have MB diesel and always fill it up myself insure that doesn't happen,
as my wife, dear as she is, seems to be somewhere else some of the time.

Happy tilling,

Carl

 

[fishman]

Patrickg,

Check out this link on Ebay for a new Honda tiller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2024460218&ssPageName=ADME:B:RECO:US:3

 

[patrickg]

Fishman, Thanks for the lead. I'm not a real savy ebay kinda guy but I went there and saw a tiller with a real low price but (reserve not met yet - buy it now for $305). I bought one a couple weeks back and it is a good unit. Starts easy, 4 stroke (no gas-oil mixing), real quiet running - ear protection not required unless maybe if you really thrash it at full throtle for an extended time, tilled (culltivated, already tractor tilled) a 45X180 garden about 3 times on a tank of gas (quart?) and didn't run out yet. Easy carry handle but for greater distances I just tilt it forward and feather the throttle and let it walk on its tines, a fast walk but manageable. Can go over hoses and soakers like this with no problems. It doesn't completely eliminate hand work with a hoe but it cuts it way WAY W__A__Y back.

I have never used a Mantis but it would have to be a mechanical miracle to be better. I know from reputation the Mantis is a quality unit but its two stroke is a noisy beast and only a couple pounds lighter so I went for the Honda Harmony. They stock them at the Orange Box (Home Depot) cheaper than I found them on-line except for maybe eBay which seemed iffy. Low prices posted on eBay but (RESERVE NOT MET!!) plus shipping and handling and more difficulty if you have a problem.

I am quite pleased with the Honda. A tiller can only be so good without requiring ESP interface and computer control and I suspect the Honda and Mantis to be essentially functionally equivalent except the Honda is a couple pounds heavier and many many dB quieter and you don't have to mix the gas and oil. I already have two different mixes required for a weed eater and a chainsaw and don't want to have to store a third blend. But even if gas considerations were removed I'd go Honda for the q u i e t.

Patrick

 

[Ozarker]

I have the Electric Ryobi quick disconnect system. The cultivator works well for working between plants in formerly tilled soil.

 

[patrickg]

Ozarker, Well that sure is another way to avoid having to have yet another gas/oil mix around the place to go stale or get used in the wrong machine. I bet it is even quieter than the cute lil Honda too. That wasn't much of an alternative for us as it would have required over 300 ft of extension cord to get to the far end of the garden. Course, if I were really hot for it, I could get some direct burrial cable and put an outlet down by the garden. Still would need over 100 ft of extension cord and a helper to help manipulate it to avoid mowing down plants with the cord. There are cordless too but... I'm happy with the Honda. It is plenty "GREEN" as it meets the new C.A.R.B. and E.P.A. requirements.

I like the multi-use philosophy, especially when successfuly done with few poor compromises. Maybe I could remove the tines on the Honda harmony and run a pully belt off the shaft to power other items like a paddle boat for the larger of my ponds, add power assist to one of our mountain bikes, run a blender when away from electric power but you want a beverage requiring a blender for proper manufacture (think shake or slushie, I don't do many Marguritas). There is an outfit selling a recoil starter gas engine powered blender for tailgate parties. I think it uses a weed eater type motor. Saw it a couple places, one was TDR ("Turbo Diesel Review", a really good quarterly publication for Cummins diesel powered Dodge trucks).

Patrick

 

[Inspector507]

patrick,
I know what you mean about the different cans of mixed fuels. I labeled my containers with a permanent marker AND marked the fuel tank of each unit to help me in my old age /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Egon]

Patrick:

add power assist to one of our mountain bikes

Thats what those power bars and gator aid are for. But then there is also the case when a bear comes up behind and some unknown afterburner effect takes place as the bike accelerates of it's own violation.

Egon

 

[patrickg]

Egon, Wash your mouth out with lye soap... Power Bars? Gatoraid???? I truly disllike the taste of gatoraid. Even after over 3 decades off and on in Southern California I still eschew trendy crap.

I think adrenilin would be sufficient to make a fair difference but a griz can hit 40 MPH for a while and that is a strain on most surfaces that aren't tilted way down and that old wives tale about how bears can't run downhill, forget it, its BS.

A mountain biker from the lab where I worked had a close encounter with a puma. He dismounted and put the bike between him and the cat. Everytime he thought he could mount up and split the cat got argumentative again. Standoff went for nearly an hour and covered a considerable distance. This was real close geographically and temporally to the incident where the puma literally ate the lady jogger. Incidently on a favorite trail near a favorite camping spot of ours.

Now had he had a gas poered tiller he could have fended off the cat even better.

Patrick

 

[Egon]

Patrick:

Don't use gator aid or power bars either. Find fruit juice and all the food I can possibly stuff in work best.

Used to be able to maintain 40 MPH on the level and no wind for about a mile but coundn't do it anymore.

My worst experience on a mountain bike involved a stationary 2 ft. dia. tree that didn't want to move.

Egon

 

[Alan L.]

I'd like to give a follow up report on the little Honda tiller, but my wife won't turn loose of it. She considers this HER tool, and she does all the tilling with it. Of course it could be because I don't have a FLOWER bed.

Anyway, she loves it. She has become so confident, she even tackled my Stihl FS85 brush cutter / trimmer today. She claims it was too long. Did I mention she's 4'11"?


When I was finishing up on the tractor today, after disking and planting and disking and boxblading, and being wore out. I looked over and she was backing my truck with trailer up to store the trailer, disconnect the pickup and park it in the shop (garage), because she knew I was worn out.

Later this evening I asked her what she did with the ramps, figuring she just backed the trailer up with them on the back. But she said she took them off and put them on the trailer. They are so heavy I even strain with them. Did I mention she's only 4'11"?

 

[patrickg]

Egon, I had the Air Police (USAF military police) after me once when I was riding my 10 spd downwind at Minot AFB ND. Don't know how fast I was going but I was pedaling as fast as possible in top gear. So fast that if you should ever stop pedaling you can't catch up again until the bike slows down (of its own volition) narrowly missing a violation. First I had to catch up to the wind then go as much faster than it as I could. I had such a head start on them that by the time they pulled out of their speed trap hidy hole and gave chase I was turning into Base Ops and took the bike inside the building. A bear wold probably been slower than they but possibly more persistent.

I don't think I could have got much help from the Honda. Lateer that day I had to walk back pushing the bike as the wind was too strong to pedal into it even in granny.

Patrick