Customer Reviews

Mantis 7250-15-02 3-Speed Electric Tiller/Cultivator with Border Edger and Kickstand

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I purchased the Mantis based on the reviews of the model without the kickstand (that one had nearly 40 reviews at the time but cost $100 more). You have to watch the prices on these as Amazon constantly changes the price (put one in your cart and the price will likely chage from day to day or week to week). From what I tell the one offered here with a kickstand and the one without are the same (except this one includes the kickstand...a nice bonus).

I'm using the Mantis to till an area where I had an above ground pool. I am well pleased that this thing performs better than I could have hoped for. At first it bounces until it gets it's teeth into the ground then it just eats down to about 9 inches pulverizing the soil and the bit of sand I couldn't remove. It chitters on rocks but the tines seem no worse for the rock contact. I've learned when it's hitting a rock and sort of let it work around the sides of the rock. Sometimes it just kicks the rock behind it.

I should mention this thing makes almost no noise. You can easily work at dawn without waking neighbors. It was also easy to put together; however, the kickstand was a bit of pain to install as the bolts are hard to get to (the main body is in the way).

I give this 5 HUGE stars. I love this thing.

I have had a Troy, a gas Mantis, a small Honda tiller, and now the electric Mantis. The electric works surprisingly well. It does tangle with long grass or weeds but the tines come off easier than my gas Mantis.
Breaks up soil quite well. When you hit a rock, just let off the trigger and remove the rock. Starting is just pulling the trigger rather than restarting a gas engine. Big plus. Once you get the rocks out, smooth tilling. When I say rock, I'm talking about fist or bigger rocks. They can jam the tiller. When the this happens, circuit breaker blows. Easy reset after removal.

This is not a replacement for a big tiller but does fine on small areas.
Allows easy cultivation. Great for raised beds. Use a weedeater or lawnmower before the tiller for the grass & weeds.

Very glad I got this.

The first day of using my tiller, the electric motor burned out. The extension cord I was using was the proper gauge according to the user's manual, but somehow the motor had burned out from not being able to draw enough power. Thankfully, a warranty service shop was nearby and after about a week without my little tiller, it was returned to me, at no cost, fully repaired. I purchased a more substantial extension cord and am now having no problems with it. If you get this tiller, I'd suggest at least a 12 gauge/50' extension cord for it.

I have spent years tilling and cultivating my tiny suburban garden, if you can call it that, with hand tools. This year, I decided to increase my garden area by a factor of ten. As I learned more about soils, weed control, and organic gardening, I realized that I needed a tiller to prepare the soil for the Spring. I purchased the Mantis Electric Tiller on Amazon. It came with a free cultivator and kickstand attachment.

Assembly: Assembly is not difficult. If you don't get the kickstand, the hardest part is connecting the handles down where they meet the body of the machine. Tighten them good so they won't work loose as you work. If you get the kickstand, the bolts to attach are in a confined area. Even a small wrench will only move through a few degrees, making tightening them slow going. After the first one, I wised up and used a small socket wrench for the second one. It took less than a minute for the second kickstand bolt. The tine assembly is straightforward, as are the tops of the handle.

First tilling: My first tilling job mirrored some of the reviews on here; the machine would stop a lot and the tines would gum up. It was very slow going. The reason was that my soil was still so wet. It wasn't sopping wet, but wet enough to stick together and gum up the tines. There is a safety breaker on the Mantis that is easy to reset. It may need about 15 seconds after the machine stops. It also doesn't necessarily pop all the way out. Just push it in and you'll hear the "click" when it's ready to go.

Lesson learned: After the soil dried out a bit, I went at it again. This time, the tiller performed completely flawlessly. I was working in huge amounts of compost into my heavy clay soil, and it cut through the grass. The Mantis did not stop once, and it easily worked down the full 9" it claims, quickly. I would say that the highest moisture level would be like a moist cake and no more. Don't waste your time! Let the soil dry out and you'll be tilling huge amounts of it faster than ever before. My soil is 100% better than I could have ever gotten it with hand tools.

Moving around: You can "walk" the tiller across the lawn from one job to the next by running it on the slow speed. Otherwise, there is a handle molded into the case which makes carrying it relatively easy.

Noise: The most incredible thing about the tiller is how QUIET it is. It's practically silent. Even if you go to YouTube and watch some videos of the Mantis electric tiller, it simply does not do the silence justice. The tines hitting the dirt make more noise than the motor itself. I can easily be out at 7am and the neighbors 20 feet away will not hear it.

Tough job: Last year I cut about 200 hundred square feet of thick zoysia sod from my backyard and put it right-side-up in a different area. This year, I want to turn that area into a wildflower garden. Once I knew the soil was relatively dry, I took the Mantis back there to chop the dead grass into the soil and work some compost in. Despite the two thick, heavy layers of grass, the Mantis chewed right into it. It was turning over huge quantities of soil, breaking the thick root system of the grass into the soil. Because of the tight root system, I made a number of passes with the tiller. But its claim of breaking through sod is now verified with me.

Ease of use: The tilling happens when you pull the tiller backwards. After doing three large areas of my yard, I really appreciate all the work the tiller saves. Still, if you're not in the greatest of shape, using it can be quite a workout. Just take your time and do small areas.

Overall: I'm very happy with the Mantis. I wish I had gotten one years ago. Now everyone sees my soil and wants to use it. A very fair deal and a great product.

I absolutely love this tiller. It's easy to maneuver and does a fantastic job of tearing up the soil into finely granulated soil. I used it aver a large area where I recently planted about 40 trees/shrubs. I have soil with a lot of rock and clay and it had no problems working thru it all. It can kick up a bit when it it first starting out, but will start to sink down into the soil in no time. I used it to loosen the soil, then used it to mix in many bags of compost and it did an amazing job. There is no way that a spade and pitchfork could ever do as good a job as this tiller does.

When it first arrived my Spouse and I were skeptics. It looked so tiny. After using it am so impressed! It does a fantastic job--- much better than the larger gas powered tiller. It is like putting the dirt in a blender.

Only compliants are that roots and any small vine like plants get wrapped around the axis of the tines very easily, because the tines spin so fast, and you need to stop and clean them out. I have the little plastic extra things that go inside of the tines for this purpose. I guess they help but I have not tried it without them, maybe it is much worse. Anyway this happens with all tillers so I don't fault the Mantis for it.

This is for a small garden. Mine is 1250 sq ft. I would not want to do much bigger. It is so light and portable to move around to flower beds around the house-- really an A+ for this. I can carry it with one hand.

Get a high capacity long electric cord. I have a 12ga 100 ft cord and can take it anywhere in my yard.

It is really a great product.

First, it was not that easy to assemble - access to various parts while assembly is difficult. After some hard work assembling (needed 2 people), we used the product on fairly loose soil with grass. It kept on entangling in the grass, requiring manual clean-up of tines every 2-3 feet. So the advice would be to actually clean and mow the grass as much as you can before tilling - kind of odd as you would want a tiller to be able to till over ordinary grass lawn. Anyway, the machine circuit breaker would go out every so often, either because of grass or a small rock, requiring resetting/manual checks and cleaning. After about 6 feet by 6 feet tilling (it works well if the land is clear and there is no grass and rocks), the unit's circuit breaker gave out on the very first day, not to recover from any resetting.

Called customer service - they were not the most helpful at first, asking us a thousand questions, putting us on hold, then the phone line getting cut off and so on. Finally, after talking to a manger (who was actually helpful) returned product for repairs (going through painful disassembly), and got the it back (they did not charge us anything for repairs so that is nice). We haven't had the courage to assemble it yet - and have worked on our garden manually - disappointing for first-time gardeners.

Best advice - check other competitive products - if you do get this one,

1. use it early so you can find out any problems (you may return it through Amazon, if needed - thankfully Amazon has excellent return policies, but we were too late in opening so could not return the defective product)

2. clean out the area of any entangling grass or vines/rocks etc. and then start tilling. Grass has to be removed manually from the tines so it is better to clean the land yourself manually if you can.

Works as advertized. Seems to be of very high quality. Minor quibbles: My 12 GA extension cord doesen't fit the built-in cord holder. I wish it came standard with the inti-weed bushings for the tines.

ChuckS

The sales brochures and videos make it look as though tilling a bed with this machine is as simple as using a vacuum cleaner. In one video, a little ol' lady is seen pushing it! The brochure also talks about using it to take out the grass and convert an area to a garden bed.

Well, as is the case with almost all marketing, the hype is somewhat overdone. This machine DOES do all that, but it's not quite as easy as it makes it seem.

First, as many people have mentioned, assembly is not all that easy and getting the kickstand on correctly is close to impossible. No wonder they're giving it away free.

Secondly, it takes a bit of strength to handle it on "virgin" ground or on grassy areas. I have to admit, I'm old, fat and out of shape, so it's more of a struggle for me than it will be for most people! Still, don't believe the shots of people cheerfully and effortlessly turning dirt into loam.

My final complaint is that certain "accessories" should be included rather than sold extra. Selling the little weed reducers and the tine detangler separately when they are nearly essential is annoying.

Still ... after all that ... I give the Mantis a solid four stars. I've used it to transform my back lawn into vegetable and flower beds and to incorporate compost into the soil at the end of the season. It may be hard for me to handle at times, and I can't go for more than an hour at a stretch, but if *I* can do it, just about anyone can. It don't go into it thinking it'll be an easy afternoon's work!

The Mantis is also very quiet -- even quieter than my Neutron battery powered lawn mower! I can easily listen to my audio books while working.

There are a number of videos at Youtube showing the Mantis at work. These are both promo type videos and real user videos.

Important tip: NEVER try to till the soil when its still too moist. It's absolutely backbreaking and the soil clumps. Also, if you're going to till up grass, scalp it as close as you can with a lawnmower first, then till it. Then wait a couple of weeks and retill what's starting to grow back. It may take two or three times to get all that stinkin' grass!

This is an absolutely amazing product. I cannot compare gas vs electric models, but my electric one is quiet, efficient and gets the job done with incredible ease. The only advise I could give is to wear the gloves when working. The blisters may occur otherwise.