Mantis stands behind their machines, they've been in business for a long time, and the machines seem to hold up. The flip side to no gas/oil mixing is oil to change. Pick your poison. As well as the Mantis starts, I pick the no oil to change.

Good points. I'm a little bothered by the fact that when I called Mantis today to ask a few questions, the woman knew absolutely nothing about the product. She was just there to take credit card numbers, and very obviously despised her job.

But from everything I can find, it seems the Mantis is a solid machine. It placed 7th in Consumer Reports (Honda placed 1st), but the Mantis received "Good" in all categories.

I'm goin' for it.

I enjoy Consumer Reports and for many things they are useful. Seems like when they test products I know about, though, they're really shallow and useless. I've bought some things that were top rated by them, some of which are good, others of which were the worst examples of junk I've ever had. They turn out to be just another opinion, but that's my opinion.

Yes Mantis does make a good product. However I do not like the noisy two stroke engine.

So I bought the Honda Harmony....great machine...very, very quiet.

Cannot comment specifically on the Troybilt but I would strongly recommend the 4 stroke engine.

I bought the Mantis based on this forum. And, well, I like it, but it's not what I thought it would be. They shipped it almost immediately. It is made in USA (I think?!) and it is lightweight. But, it won't really break up sod, like I thought it would. If you have a small yard garden or just want it to do flower beds or ground is previously broken up, it's fine. Beyond that, well.... I'm not 100% convinced I'm going to keep it yet.

I picked up a Honda FG-100 last year at Home Depot for $299. It works great,starts on first pull,and is well built. Norton

Try alamia.com they have the Mantis for $279 and free shipping. They will probably answer your questions about the unit also.

Get the Mantis with the 4-stroke Honda engine! You can't go wrong. Starts easily and very quiet. I love mine.

I bought my Mantis from Alamia and they were great to deal with. Most assuridly get the 4 cycle engine. You won't regret it. It's a very nice little Honda engine. I agree that it is not something that you would want to break sod with but if you just want to till your garden and have good workable soil it is very handy at that. If you let it go forward about an arms length and then pull it back letting it dig as you pull it back towards you it works very well.

I couldn't find any mention of a 4 cycle engine on their website:
http://mantisgardentools.com/

I am in the midst of determining the mixup Honda seems to have in their literature on the FG100 and FG110. The tine RPMs are stated differently in different places [catalog errors and website mixups]. I bought the 100 because I can't see how the 1.1 HP of the 110 will do the same job as the 1.5 HP of the 100, but I plan to call Honda tomorrow for an explanation. (FYI: 770/497-6400] ... Consumer Reports forwarded my e-mail to "the appropriate staff members" but are very busy and may not reply for a while.... Hearing that the 110 does not do sod very well, and CU said the 100 was superb for this I'm thinking that I made a good decision to buy the 100 [for $299]. I'm not opening the box until I get this resolved more conclusivly because I can return it and pay an extra $50 for the 110. The dealer said they have had only about [2] returned for gearbox failures in ~ 6 years. One was actually in his shop this afternoon and was used by a contractor for ~ one year and it really looked beat-up and dirty.... probably after 50 times the work mine will ever see.... and with no TLC... I'll keep you posted. THIS is exactly what a good forum is for !!!!

[[Get the Mantis with the 4-stroke Honda engine! You can't go wrong. Starts easily and very quiet. I love mine.]]
I called Mantis last week to get some information on the Mantis Tiller with Honda engine and was told that the Honda motor was no longer being used at this time?

Mitch,

"I am looking to purchase a Mantis, or a similar Troy-Bilt...I couldn't find any mention of a 4 cycle engine on their [Mantis] website..."

Have you taken a look at the Red Ox tiller? You have to fill out a form to find out their current "sale" price. But it looks like a definite cut above the Mantis class tillers and has a 4-cycle Honda engine, while being much smaller and easier to handle than larger tillers.

MM

Nice looking tiller. Not sure why they make you fill out a form to get the price.

The Red Ox tiller retails at $449 US. I phoned their toll-free number to find out; also to see if they ship to western Canada. It looks impressive, but it is coming from Pennsylvania and is about 10 lbs. heavier than the Mantis, which is available from Vessey's Seeds in eastern Canada. I have been reading up on the Mantis and Honda tillers; both have excellent reviews at epinions.com, but the Mantis has a much longer history.

What I want to know is, why does Red Ox list the price for the tiller accessories on the website, but not the tiller itself?

Chocklit,

"What I want to know is, why does Red Ox list the price for the tiller accessories on the website, but not the tiller itself?"

Good question. I guess the Red Ox people would have to answer that.

MM

I have a Mantis and think it's a great little machine, emphasis on little. It does exactly what I needed though. It will break sod, but very slowly...as will any small tiller. They are designed to mix up dirt.

I live not too far from the Mantis factory (yes, they are made in the USA) and bought mine there. The saleswoman was very helpful and clearly knew the product. I subsequently bought a kickstand from mayberrys.com with no problems (just put it on last night).

The person at Mantis told me the Honda engined machines are great but parts for the engine, should you need them, are kind of expensive and hard to come by. I bought the 2-cycle unit, a refurbished one for less and it looked brand new when I took it out of the box.

It is a workhorse and the little Echo engine starts easliy and is very strong. It does vibrate a LOT though.

I was very impressed with the Mantis and chose it over the Honda for two reasons; (1) a friend's recommendation who's had one for more than fifteen years and had to put about $3.00 into it over that time (primer bulb), and (2) the two-year warranty and one year unconditional satisfaction guarantee.

Needless to say, I am very happy with mine.

LL

This question looks very much like the one I'm trying to make. Canadian Tire has the mini Troy Built. Another reliable Canadian source has the Mantis 2-cycle engine tiller.

Troy Built Says 5" tilling depth.
Mantis says digs down 10"

What is 'special' about Mantis tines?

Can you point me in the direction of a url for the 4 cycle engine with the Mantis?
Is the machine still 20-lb. with the 4-cycle engine???

In a nutshell my vegetable garden is 3,200 sq. ft. external. I garden organically. Lately, I've been renting a tiller. Booking etc., is quite the process. So, with a little tiller of my own maybe I can get things ready by stages.

Target date for putting seed in the ground, June 15.

:)

.

Well, I ended up going with the Mantis (2-stroke).
It's great for me! I planted the garden last week. I tilled one row at a time. Till the row, plant, next row, etc.

I can also use it to till in my beds, and till up all the weeds before putting down mulch.

I think it's really handy. Tomorrow I will turns the tines around to "cultivation" position, and till the weeds between my garden rows.

Re: Breaking sod with a small tiller>
On that subject, i wonder how many novice gardeners (Flowers) have been taken in by the "Garden Claw"!
The slick commercials show somebody using the Claw to break up supposedly hard ground, but a shrewd person can tell that it is fine, loose dirt! (Even me, an auto body man by profession, who never turned a spade of earth in relation to having a garden, can see past the obvious!)
This subject is the same thing to consider when purchasing a small tiller--it takes lots of jumping around by the small machine to finally break up un-tilled soil! so, beware, you novice planters--get a bigger machine to break sod or hard ground!
by: Rustyj

The Mantis tiller with the Honda engine is still available.

I'm purchasing a Mantis Tiller 4 cycle today. The cheapest I've found is from an authorized distributor (so the warranty is intact) for $359. This price includes shipping and the border edger.

http://www.mownsnow.com/mantishonda.html

Ask for a non-paypal receipt in case Mantis wants to see that it indeed did come from an authorized dealer.

Here's a description of the Mantis current models, from one of their reps -

Here are the differences between Models 7210 to 7225 to 7261:

1. Model 7225-02-03 is an unassembled Mantis Tiller; it includes a free Border Edger attachment and is avail at $329.00 for delivery anywhere w/in the continental USA. Check it out @ www.mantisgardentools.com . The 21.22 cc engine is rated @ 9/10 hp.240 RPMS. The weight after assembled is 20lbs. This 2-cycle engine tiller is were you mixing the 2-cycle engine oil and the gas together. The gas tank holds approximately a pint of gas at a time. Your factory-direct purchase has a one-year money-back guarantee.

2) Model 7210-15-03 is a fully assembled Mantis Tiller; it includes a Kickstand as well as a free Border Edger attachment and is avail at $359.00 for delivery anywhere w/in the continental USA. Check it out @ www.mantisgardentools.com . The
21.22 cc engine is rated @ 9/10 hp. 240 RPMS. The weight when assembled is 23 lbs. This 2-cycle engine tiller is were you mixing the 2-cycle engine oil and the gas together. The gas tank holds approximately a pint of gas at a time your factory-direct purchase has a one-year money-back guarantee.

3) Model 7261-02-03 is an unassembled Honda Engine Tiller; it includes a free Border Edger attachment and is avail at $425.95 for delivery anywhere w/in the continental USA. Check it out @ www.littlewonder.com
. The 1 horsepower. 240 RPMS. The weight after assembled is 25 lbs. This has a separate place for the 4-cycle engine oil and the gas. The gas tank holds approximately a pint of gas at a time. Your factory-direct purchase has a one-year money-back guarantee.

Karen Riegel-Thompson
Customer Service Representative
Mantis and Little Wonder and Classen

Here is a link that might be useful: MowNSnow - authorized Mantis Dist