Customer Reviews

Sun Joe TJ600E Tiller Joe Garden 14-Inch 6.5 amp Electric Tiller/Cultivator

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Pros:
Lightweight, you can just pick it up and pack it around instead of dragging it
POWERFUL! I wasn't expecting it at all and had a very relaxed grip when I first turned it on, it almost zoomed out of my hands.
Easy Assembly, 2 screws and two bolts with wingnuts, then you just "press in" the cord a couple places where required.
about double the tine span the mantis tillers have, at less than half the price.

Cons:
Maybe a little too light weight, it didn't till very deep while walking a steady slow pace.

As for the fact that it doesn't till very deep, I believe just re-tilling the area would do the job, which I would have done today but was in a hurry to get my strawberry plants in the ground before they died. I tilled a 10x10 patch of packed down soil, in under 10 minutes with no signs of overheating, so really, it's not a bad machine for people with small to medium gardens (like me!) but I wouldn't recommend it for a large garden.
I was actually going to buy a Mantis tiller too, had the order form filled out and the check ready to go in the mail when I found this Sun Joe tiller, and was nervous to try it, because of the fact that there were no user reviews on any of the sites I researched them on, but decided to take the chance and save a lot of money. No regrets. Keep in mind too, this tiller only costs about as much as it would to rent one for 3 days, not a bad investment.

EDIT: Day Two of tiller use and I like it even more, I started tilling my future vegie patch this morning and worked out the machine's quirks, first off, hold it back, and follow it very slowly, second, definitely retill the soil after the first tilling, it really digs in and tills well the second time, The only thing that stopped me today was when a bunch of synthetic twine that was buried in our back yard completely wrapped up the tines and had to be cut out, the machine stopped itself. After removing the twine I started it up and there had been no damage.

EDIT2: Used the tiller again, and have upgraded my rating from 4 stars to 5. While tilling, a massive chunk of buried concrete about 8x8 inches, by 2.5 inches thick became jammed in between the tines and the motor, and I do mean jammed, the tines had literally dug into the concrete about half an inch. The motor stopped itself, and after 20 minutes of pounding on the concrete from different angles with a mallet it finally wrenched free, I assumed it would be destroyed but the tines hadn't even been bent, I plugged it in and started up without a hitch, used it for another half an hour. SO impressed!

Length:: 1:24 Mins

As you can see, this little unit tries hard but doesn't get very deep, even into soft soil. It seems durable and was easy to put together. My garden is pretty small (10x12) and it made quick work of the top bit of soil. I'm happy with my purchase but would be wary of using it for a job with hard topsoil.

It does the job pretty well. It did take me a while to get through some sod since I didn't want to take the time to cut it out with a shovel like I did last time. It is light so you have to hold it back and let it dig for a while to get it tilled down as deep as you want, but overall for the money and the lack of maintenance needed since it is electric, it is a good deal and helpful tool.

I bought this tiller so that I would not have to drag out the big gas-powered tiller just to do a small section at a time. It's powerful enough to do this and light enough to lift into a small space. It actually does a pretty good job for my purposes.

That said, this thing flings dirt everywhere except upward. It's really hard to keep dirt out of adjacent mulched or graveled areas. If I lay it down low, I can limit the dirt-flinging to the front and sides.

This machine could really benefit from some better fenders to envelope the front, rear, and sides. Failing that, a lower speed selection might help a bit.

So I got the tiller and immediately assembled it... first thing I noted was the handles attach with some VERY tiny screws... I can't see this thing lasting for very long, and imagine if you try to torque the thing down you'll end up snapping it. Also, the holes are kind of a pain to align since they don't go all the way through, and I ended up grinding one of the screws against the metal bar so hard it dented and bar and flattened the screw... I then used a bright light behind the plastic so I could see the holes and align the screws, which worked much better.

Got it setup and we were cruising - my yard was unkempt and loaded with crab grass which just ended up clogging the blades (not enough power and too dull to cut through it). So I got out the garden fork and cleared out my whole lawn. Came back with the tiller and the damn thing died on me... it would only start for about 5 seconds before shutting off. I left it to cool down for a few hours, in case the engine was overheated, but the damn thing was dead after less than an hour of work.

I've returned it to Amazon and expect to get the new one in a day or two... hopefully I just got a bad unit the first time around - I'll update the review if I have a more positive experience the second time around.

UPDATE:

After returning my Sun Joe tiller due to a defective motor, I received my replacement promptly (Amazon rules!). I opened the box, and noticed the box containing the tiller (not the shipping box, the actual product box) looked like it had been through hell and back. After opening it up, I immediately could tell this was a refurbished unit - the handles were scratched up and the metal support bars had giant chunks gouged out of them. Still, I didn't really care what it looked like - if it did the job, I'd keep it. On the first use, it did a decent job... then on the second use two of the four bolts securing the blades to the housing sheared off. I'm just glad it didn't come flying back at my feet!

Second return... this time for a refund - I highly recommend NOT buying this product. Thankfully I ordered this through Amazon, and they've been nothing short of great to deal with.

As I said in the title.It gets the job done.
IT definetly did more then I expected,for a electric tiller.
I have a small garden,and didn't try to muscle it the first time.
I just made a couple of attempts back and forth and it did grab hold and dug in.
I was totally satisfied with the results.
Now my neighbor wants to borrow it.

I purchased the Sun Joe from Amazon last week and I chose the free shipping. The Tiller was delivered three days later by Fed Ex which was a wonderful surprise! The minor assembly was easy, just take your time with the plastic handle piece that mounts under the hand grips. A small screw is inserted into each side into a pre-drilled hole. A clamp is snapped on the right handle to hold the cord out of the way. A belt clip is also included to better manage the electric cord and reduce the chance of pulling the plug from the extension cord. I cultivated an area in my back yard that was used as a garden in years past and was now covered in weeds and grass. In about a half an hour my small garden was ready to plant. We plant about 20 items, tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. The Sun Joe operates very predictably and is just the right weight. I ran into at least a dozen chunks of cement in the yard. I mention this because the larger gas cultivators that I used to rent did not go as deep as this little electric wonder. I got the best results by going forward and then pulling it back over the tilled ground which allowed it to go deeper. Weeds and grass wound around the tines and I unplugged it to clean it once or twice but nothing slowed it down. The motor was only mildly warm after the job was done. I expected the motor to be hot. I hate paying $60.00 to rent a tiller for four hours and dealing with the mess of hauling it back and forth to the hardware store. Clean-up was easy and the heavy duty tines still look like new. I applied a little oil to the steel parts to prevent rust. Other cultivators may include wheels, but wheels are not needed. The Sun Joe is very well made and is guaranteed for two years. I hope this review adds to the other reviews on this excellent product and I highly recommend it.

I live in north Florida and most of my property is sandy loam. This tiller makes short work of tilling my 2000 sq. ft. of garden beds.

I'm disabled (degenertive spondolysis) and as I expanded the veggie beds the tilling became problematic. Not to mention the row weeding. This SunJoe made it all very possible.

With the SunJoe, I could till over most of the 1500 sq.ft. in existance. And the ability to plow in the rabbit and chicken manure was just short of exhillariting.

Gardens with lots of rocks or clay might be too much for this "wee" tiller. But that is not my problem.

I do have a few shoulder bruises from kick back, but... whoo boy, the new expansion is formidiabile.=-

The garden rows will be planted to accomodate the 16" width so that I can maintain them with the SunJoe. Sure beats hand cultivation.

Can't wait to work the new "orchard" on the front acre where I want to add 6-8 more fruit trees.

I bought it locally, but would urge anyone serious about sustainability to invest in this tiller.

Faith Carr
Gainesville Florida

I had seen the reviews for this little tiller and thought I would take a chance with it. Wow! I'm sure glad I did. It's a solid little unit with a strong motor and tines. The gear box is set up so it has great power and when you hit a rock or a big root it stops the motor (don't keep trying to make it go), you clear the blockage with a hammer and crowbar or whatever, and it takes right off again.

I had everything from dirt that hadn't been turned in years to grass and this little beauty chewed through it all. You have to be patient with grass or really hard dirt. Let it out and slowly pull it toward you and it gets the job done. I think the instructions say you can get about seven inches deep and I believe it.

I gave this unit five stars because it has it all. Low price, built tough and does a great job. I plan to have this unit for many years to come.

Used the Tiller Joe on existing beds--about 6 x 12 each, 3 of them--with no trouble. Needed to do a double pass in order to get any depth, but expected that, given the design. (it has no 'rudder blade' as most other tillers do)

Main reason I bought it, though, was to make a new bed from part of the lawn. This one to be about 8' x 16'. Slow going, as expected, chewing up the sod. Got 2/3 done in two sessions, then...

Something must have glitched. If the machine hasn't been used for 6 or more hours, it'll go for 10 maybe 15 minutes, then goes to 'overload shutoff'--and the motor/driveshaft is bloody HOT at that point. Let it cool for an hour and it'll run for maybe 3 min before auto shutoff.

I'm thinking there's a problem and will look at RMA/sending for repair/replacement. I bought it before the last price drop and even for the $159 I paid, it's an excellent value--when it isn't overheating.

Summary: good value if nothing goes south.

Addendum to above
Called Snowjoe, explained problem. Arleen got my serial #, and shipped a replacement, which came Friday. I'll be sending the defective one back on Monday.
I'm very favorably impressed with SnowJoe's customer service.