Dirtmechanic
Active member
- Hardiness zone
- 8a
I was putting the bolo tines on the Stihl mm55 tonight. I wondered what if any machines you run? The mantis tiller is still popular I think. Are they electric now?
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Power Cultivators
- Thread starter Dirtmechanic
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Meadowlark
Well-known member
- Hardiness zone
- 9a
The Mantis 2cycle sucks, IMHO. It has(had) a design flaw which placed the carb and air intake near the business end. Fatal flaw.
That Stihl looks like it doesn't have that problem...however I still prefer the stirrup hoes honed to perfection on organically conditioned soils for all cultivation. I sometimes will use a wheel cultivator, but prefer the stirrup for the exercise, quality, and results.
A Kubota 2501 with disc for green manure turning and seed bed prep, compost spreading w/front end loader, and middle busters for raised rows does everything else I need.
A hoe and a small diesel tractor...life is good.
That Stihl looks like it doesn't have that problem...however I still prefer the stirrup hoes honed to perfection on organically conditioned soils for all cultivation. I sometimes will use a wheel cultivator, but prefer the stirrup for the exercise, quality, and results.
A Kubota 2501 with disc for green manure turning and seed bed prep, compost spreading w/front end loader, and middle busters for raised rows does everything else I need.
A hoe and a small diesel tractor...life is good.
Dirtmechanic
Active member
- Hardiness zone
- 8a
I bet none of that beats a wife using the mm55 but thats just an observation. I for one would like to "feel" a stirrup ho gliding through perfect soil. Just once. Just to calibrate it all.
Meadowlark
Well-known member
- Hardiness zone
- 9a
Do you run any Ethanol fuels?
Meadowlark
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- Hardiness zone
- 9a
A Kubota L2501...that is not even funny, but that's just me.
Dirtmechanic
Active member
- Hardiness zone
- 8a
I sourced my valve membranes back to the manufacturer who states in writing they are not affected by the alcohol. This however was not true of the silly cardboard gaskets that are the actual problem.
Dirtmechanic
Active member
- Hardiness zone
- 8a
If I had a 25hp tractor I would try real hard to get her to use it for me as well. I would still have to keep it running either way of course.
Yep. You can get non ethanol fuel here but the price difference does not add up.
The vinyl lines (I think) inside the tank softened and collapsed which I'm told happens. The external fuel line (rubber I think) to the carb was fine.
Meadowlark
Well-known member
- Hardiness zone
- 9a
It does when you consider cost of repairs and shortened engine life...way more than adds up.
I have a friend who owns a marine engine shop here locally that is a dealer for Honda and he demonstrated to me the effects of ethanol. He no longer accepts repair work on any engine that has had ethanol running in it
I never use ethanol based fuels in small engines, never.
I have a friend who owns a marine engine shop here locally that is a dealer for Honda and he demonstrated to me the effects of ethanol. He no longer accepts repair work on any engine that has had ethanol running in it
I never use ethanol based fuels in small engines, never.
Sandy Ground
Active member
- Location
- Sweden
It does when you consider cost of repairs and shortened engine life...way more than adds up.
I have a friend who owns a marine engine shop here locally that is a dealer for Honda and he demonstrated to me the effects of ethanol. He no longer accepts repair work on any engine that has had ethanol running in it
I never use ethanol based fuels in small engines, never.
@Meadowlark I'm with you on this. The big problem is that all fuel here has a certain amount of ethanol in it. In my area, we have three kinds. E5, E10, and E85. The numer represents the amount of ethanol in the fuel. The only way to avoid it is to use Alcylate fuel. Apart from the fact its expensive, I've needed to adjust engines where possible to use it.
I only have one of these 
A long time ago I did have one of those machines. I found it difficult to use, and not only that, it chopped up and propagated all the bindweed - so that was when I got rid of it. I've dug over acres with my trusty fork, and that doesn't require expensive fuel 
At the start of this year I bought a Troy-Bilt Super Bronco rear tine tiller. I went for a rear tine because it's easier to break up new ground with rear tines, in my experience. Trying to hold on to a front tine tiller as it attempts to climb up out of the soil and run across the top of the ground is more of a workout than I like. I'll use the rear tine again in the fall to bust up a new area for the fall garden. Then, I'll probably try to sell/trade it, next year, for one with front tines because, again in my experience, they do a better job in ground that's already loose.
Dirtmechanic
Active member
- Hardiness zone
- 8a
I have the same tiller. They come in a forward and reverse rotation. You want the reverse rotation sometimes as they do not jump like the forward rotating tines. On the forward rotation its best to set it at a shallow depth and till it 2x or 3x. One handed control that way, a walk in the garden. Even then the physicality of a machine needs to suit the user. My wife felt the need to weed and found I had not changed the cultivator blades over from dethatching. So she got the super bronco out. She did pretty good, I found some lawn grass tilled up and I lost a 4 foot section of okra plants. But she was complaining about her arm 2 days later, blaming the wrenching of the tiller. At the beginning of the season I will sharpen those blades to some degree for meeting any roots that grew across winter.
I didn't even know there were different ones. Mine is a reverse rotation. I like the way it just digs in and is easy to operate. I just need to give it a nudge every so often when it digs itself into a hole it can't get out of. This year, I set the tiller on a low depth on the first go-around. Then I just increased it a little with each additional pass until I was able to easily till the entire garden, on the deepest setting, with ease.
Dirtmechanic
Active member
- Hardiness zone
- 8a
What you might find is that the depth setting becomes irrelevant as the soil becomes fluffy and the tines sink in even though they are set at 2 inches. After a while you can bury the tines to the fender even at a 2 inch height setting if the soil is the right dryness and loam.
