I don't know about the rest of it, but the engine is an Echo 21cc unit.

 

The Echo tiller is almost as good......some Mantis units have a straight 4 stroke engine and they are pretty heavy and expensive but they are darn good. Why not use a trimmer to cut the weeds down then blow them out and spray and put down a pre-m ...it is a lot faster.

 

The Mantis is a very tough machine, but also very light. It works well, and those aggressive tines dig up the ground. They will bounce around a bit in root areas, but they are very good machines. I agree with ed2hess about the Mantis with Honda engine, very heavy and not worth the extra price in my opinion.

Mike

 

Why not use a trimmer to cut the weeds down then blow them out and spray and put down a pre-m ...it is a lot faster.

I don't have a pesticide license.

 

I have been using one to help remove a large Ivy patch......it is working great after the foliage is cut out. I use my Mantis a ton...... great machine....

 

I agree i use a mantis on severaly of mu customers with small gardens like me to till them up befor they plant in them and the mantis is nearly perfect i have had it for about 5 yr maybe 4 i cant remember but i have used it alot and not a single problem with it. Sounds like it would do exactly what your are needing done

 

Well you sure as hell don't want to be tilling those weeds either. You will be creating a mess 100x worse for your client should you choose to do that. Most weeds ripped apart by a tiller make a new weed with every little scrap. Mantis is a great little tiller, but tilling weeds to clean a bed is bad practice. Get in there and hoe um and pull um and dig um out. A shuffle hoe such as a Hula Hoe does this work quickly and easily.

 

...but tilling weeds to clean a bed is bad practice. Get in there and hoe um and pull um and dig um out.

She, doesn't hoeing leave some root in the ground? Covering the tilled or hoed soil with 3" of mulch will prevent anything from growing anyway right? That has been my experience and given that tilling is easier than hoeing I am leaning that way.

 

It depends on the weed, some weeds propagate by roots. It seems that seeds are the weeds preferred method of reproduction.

 

I diamond headed hoe is even better..than the hula hoe....

just my opinion of course

 

With all this talk about hoes is it Christmas time?

 

She, doesn't hoeing leave some root in the ground? Covering the tilled or hoed soil with 3" of mulch will prevent anything from growing anyway right? That has been my experience and given that tilling is easier than hoeing I am leaning that way.

No it will not, you are propagating weeds that way, trust me on this, if a hoe is used right it will get the weeds root. Of course it is easier, just not better. Some tasks are just not easy in this business and you have to work hard to attain the best results. Understand what I am saying here?

 

I have use the mantis and the stihl and both work great but the still bounces around less. Not sure which one is cheaper.

 

Right now, they are the same price. Stihl and Mantis $299.99

Mike

 

She, doesn't hoeing leave some root in the ground? Covering the tilled or hoed soil with 3" of mulch will prevent anything from growing anyway right? That has been my experience and given that tilling is easier than hoeing I am leaning that way.

The tilling or hoeing will not prevent weeds/grasses from coming back up in the bed. Get youself a guy that can treat the bed with roundup and a liquid pre-m and be done with it. Then you can lay you mulch and be reasonably assured that weeds won't come up. I take care of many many beds on commercial properties that are mulched twice a year and we need to treat weeds constantly....especially nut grass which comes in the mulch.

 

I own both the Mantis 2 stroke and the Honda FG110AT. Up to this point I have been almost exclusively been doing tilling and cultivating. The Mantis tines are better at digging and the Honda FG110AT is more of a modified bolo tine design. Both types of designs have their merit. I would not want to be without either tiller.

I did a similar type of job a month ago and I string trimmed all the weeds down as far down as I can then used a combination of the Mantis & FG110. If you don't chop down the weeds 1st you will be stopping far too frequently pulling weeds out of tines. Honestly I use the FG110 70% of the time. Since the Mantis is lighter that makes it better for grandma to use but not for me. I will be buying a Honda powered Mantis for next years tilling season. The extra 4 pounds I believe should help. The Honda FG110AT seemed a tad underpowered when new however it seems to be broken in now and produces a bit more power. I run mine at wide open most of the time. Same exact Engine on the Mantis power Honda. GX25 Older Mantis tillers powered by Honda had a GX31.

You might check with a rental place and just rent for this job.

You can buy a factory return 2 stroke Mantis for under $300 from the factory with a 1 year factory return policy. There are no returned Honda powered Mantis tillers . . . Yes - I've checked. Honda powered Mantis can be found online for $350 with free shipping Northwest Power Tools. FG110AT will run around $350 or higher in your local area.

You can spray round up to kill the weeds before hand - then till or not. Really depends what your customer would be happy with.

 

I like the 4 stroke hands down, the Honda 4 stroke Is a breeze to start and run. There are all kinds of uses that will save you enormous amounts of time on different landscape tasks, it’s great for flower beds and weeding tight garden areas, it is a real work horse for such a small tiller. I use it often to install 1 to 2 gallon plants, I also use it for flower displays . It is one of the most productive and useful machines I own.