[Fleecewife]

Our first Mantis was a two stroke, which seized and was a write-off the first time one of my sons used it and ran it out of fuel.  They don't make those any more.  We were refunded no probs, and bought a four stroke.  Great at first but I was lazy and left it in the polytunnel most of the year. It got way too hot with summer temps sometimes up to the 90s, which did weird things to the fuel and carburation.  Mr F has worked on it on and off for the past couple of years, replacing everything which could possibly be replaced - each time he got it running it lasted about a minute before dying. He soon lost patience so I was left with no mechanical help inside the polytunnel, or for inter-row work outside.  As I am a bit limited in how much I can do physically, the whole veg production system has been fairly hopeless.
So, I decided $0@ it, I'm going to buy a new one and really look after it this time.  They're not cheap, but they are sooo useful.
New Mantis arrived yesterday and we put it together.  Today we both did some of the soil prep inside the tunnel.  What would have taken us hours and left us both with sore backs, took just a few minutes and did a much better job.  We rotavated a largish patch, sprinkled on wood ash and seaweed meal, then chopped up some really well rotted sheep manure (from inside field shelters) and rotavated it all with just one pass. I planted out enough shallots to last us all next winter, and there is plenty of space left in the cultivated bit to sow some early salad crops.
I'm so pleased we decided to replace the Mantis.  We have a tractor driven rotavator and a smaller walk behind, but the Mantis is the only thing suitable for use inside the tunnel.  This sounds like an advert but isn't meant to be.  I'm just so pleased to be able to get on with growing veggies, which I love.

Here's to  .  Spring is on its way 


Have you-all started getting to grips with your veggie plots?

[cloddopper]

Due to the changes in petrol formula & the removal of lead from it over the years the keeping quality of fuel in the tank & storage cans has reduced tremendously .

There is a fuel additive that you can use to stop the fuel in the machine oxidizing & losing it's volatile qualities , It's mainly added to the tanks of machines that will stand for a  couple of months at a time.

It could be worth your while to look up " Briggs & Stratton fuel saver additive"  and pick some of the online machinery repairers/merchants to find a sensible price for a litre .   

You could try soaking the dismantled carb off the old mantis in a lidded can of treated petrol for a week or so , then use a 12v tyre pump with the smallest air jet on it to blow out all the drillings ,  for it seems that the fuel has gone to a form of to a glue residue  as it has evaporated.
 
Another  thing that's often advised for such small machinery is to run the machine dry till it stops at the end of each session unless you're going to use it in the next three or so.

Once it has stopped gently & slowly pull the start cord to bring the engine up to the compression stroke and leave it in this mode .
Putting the engine on to the compression stroke will see all the valves closed so you don't get rust/ crud  from silencer falling back inside the cylinder nor do you get rust on the valve seats which can stop the machine running well . 

[Fleecewife]

Thanks cloddopper, I'll pass the tips on to Mr F; I know he'll be interested.  We are very aware of the changes in fuel since ethanol was added, in the rush towards using biofuels.  We run many older vehicles including motorbikes, which really don't like modern petrol.  I'm not sure we have tried the additive yet with 4 star petrol still being available in certain places, but we have decided to run the machine out of fuel before storage.  I don't think it would be practical to do it every day or I would simply not use it as being too much bother (lazy I know), just when we won't be using it for a while.
Meantime the old tiller is destined for spares.

[HesterF]

I bought one a couple of years ago. It does save time but I end up cursing it every time I use it - I'm rubbish at starting it, it jams with every decent sized stone (and my soil is lovely - goodness only knows what happens in stony soil) and it doesn't get as deep down as I would with a fork. I wouldn't bother if I had smaller areas but it would take me days to dig it all otherwise.

As for planting, I'm hoping spring stays away. Still trying to get on top of the weeding before they start growing in earnest again!

[cloddopper]

The second tiller may actually rejuvenate if you soak the carb & blow it out as suggested . Adding about 1/5 of  " Plus Gas " liquid to the cleaning mix is also very effective in un gumming drilling's and jets in the carbs.

If you like you can send me the carb & I'll clean it out , check that everything appears OK  and give it a basic running setting as well .
( My trade for nearly 30 years was an electro-mechanical engineer & industrial test & servicing electronic engineer before I got crippled  )

 If you know what I mean by the checking the compression pressure ... I have a strong hunch  it should be around 16 to 18 psi dry and 20 or more if checked using the spoon of clean engine  in the cylinder test . , do both tests the dry one first .. that way you should be able to deduce as to if the barrel & piston are wrecked .

[cloddopper]

I bought one a couple of years ago. It does save time but I end up cursing it every time I use it - I'm rubbish at starting it, it jams with every decent sized stone (and my soil is lovely - goodness only knows what happens in stony soil) and it doesn't get as deep down as I would with a fork. I wouldn't bother if I had smaller areas but it would take me days to dig it all otherwise.

As for planting, I'm hoping spring stays away. Still trying to get on top of the weeding before they start growing in earnest again!

 What tines do you have on your Mantis ?
 I have a two doubles set, put on the machine so that they dig deep pulling away from me .
I rarely got any stuck stones , though I did make a long handled hook for the off chance of having to hook out any stones stuck in between the double tines.
 
In the back garden  I've cleaned up well over 2 tonnes of brick rubble out of an 18 x 15 foot  strip of ground with a  ladies border fork on a pitch fork shaft, initially to take out the real big lumps to about two forks depth 18 " approx , then used my electric Mantis.  Getting down to about 15 inches deep as I turned in a couple of tonnes of 7 yr old composted stable muck.  I did however get caught up some bloody binder band , that made me cuss and swear, for i didn't see it when I first put the manure on the garden ,
My front garden & lawn is a bit bigger but there was less crud in it.
In both gardens once I'd got it friable & drying the stones & bit of brick came out easily enough at mid speed range for me to pick up with a disabled persons aid which is a long handled two finger picker up.

[moomaa]

Hello
Lots of advice about petrol and carburetor cleaning, and I agree this is probably the cause of the problems.There is a solution long term.
 I run a garden machinery business (part time smallhoding). We experience lots of problems where pump petrol is going stale quickly and the addition of ethanol in pump petrol which absorbs water this creates numerous problems for small engined machies that are stood idle for long periods.
Although these machines are good business for the workshop, they all arrive at the same time - Spring. So we have started selling petrol - Alkylate petrol - trade name Aspen. No ethanol which means no water, no solvents and it stays fresh for up to 5 years. We now have lots of happy customers who can start their machines easily each year. Highly recommended for small engine machines that are stood idle for long periods.
http://www.aspenfuel.co.uk/

[Fleecewife]

The second tiller may actually rejuvenate if you soak the carb & blow it out as suggested . Adding about 1/5 of  " Plus Gas " liquid to the cleaning mix is also very effective in un gumming drilling's and jets in the carbs.

If you like you can send me the carb & I'll clean it out , check that everything appears OK  and give it a basic running setting as well .
( My trade for nearly 30 years was an electro-mechanical engineer & industrial test & servicing electronic engineer before I got crippled  )

 If you know what I mean by the checking the compression pressure ... I have a strong hunch  it should be around 16 to 18 psi dry and 20 or more if checked using the spoon of clean engine  in the cylinder test . , do both tests the dry one first .. that way you should be able to deduce as to if the barrel & piston are wrecked .

That is so kind of you to offer Cloddopper.  We'll see what Mr F can do, following your advice, then maybe come back if it isn't sorted.  At the moment trying to get some hedging done so no spare time.

[HesterF]

I'm not sure how you describe the tines but probably the same as you have - a double layer either side. The stones jam between the inner set and the fixed centre bit so I have to pull the tines off from the outside to release the stone if it's properly jammed. I always feel like it's gone deep but when I come to plant, I realise it's only turned over the top section - certainly nowhere near 18 inches!

[Fleecewife]

The manufacturers claim is 9" or 10", certainly not 18"  When our soil us fairly dry and friable (ie when it doesn't need any further prep  ) then we can Mantis it to that depth but not deeper.
I do worry about relying too heavily on rotavators, of all sizes, as there is always the risk of causing a hard pan  at the deepest point the machine will reach.  You can deal with this by loosening the lower bits with a fork.
The other thing about using rotavators is that they wreck the soil structure.  It looks lovely and crumby, but a natural soil has worm holes throughout it and a more settled nature.  What we attempt to do is to use the rotavators until we have made headway against the weeds, then try to deal with them by using occlusive mulches, which feed the soil underneath as they rot, while shading out the weeds.

Having to keep stopping to pull out stones is one of the infuriating aspects of the Mantis, as you have to turn the whole thing off, then restart using that horrible pull start, and jambing you fingers against the metal strip which braces the handle bars.  It tends to be stones of a middling size which get stuck.  We have a broken fork tine which is perfect for knocking out the stones, or you can use it to leaver the 'D' clip which holds the tines in place.

[HesterF]

That's exactly the problem with the stones - they push outwards so the D clip is really hard to shift, and they're really hard to knock out too. That's what really annoys me the most! Re. soil structure, presumably hand digging also messes that up?

[Fleecewife]

Apparently it does but if you're dealing with perennial weeds digging is the quickest way to deal with them.  A slower way which loses you a year is to cover with something which keeps the light out, and the soil when you take the cover off is wonderful.  My ultimate aim is to establish a no-dig garden so the soil structure, with all its microfauna, can really establish itself.  Meanwhile, it's rotavating and digging (which I can no longer do  ) until we don't have so many thistles, dockens and couch grass.

[cloddopper]

On my electric Mantis I have three speed controls,  I can dig very deep on the slow speed simply by gently pressing down on the back stay .
 When i cleared our rubble filled lawn areas I did a gentle run all over to about three inches deep , taking out any stones brick or rubble etc as I found it. Then added lots of aged composted stable muck & the composted wood pulp that was used for the bedding along with some dairy farm milking parlour fairly dry slurry scrapings ,& composted aged byre cow muck & associated  straw beddings ..the worms soon got going in to that .

By the time I'd done the back garden and the front one the worms were well established in the back garden . I then started to till deeper  continually adding more of my mixed composts till again the back and front gardens were done . I did this another five time the last two times adding generous doses of out of date but still powdered plaster /gypsum .
and four one tonne bags of sharp sand to help break th blue clay up  that crumbed everything up very nicely put a lot of air inthe soil so made tilling deeper much easier .

 I then gave things a final tilling adding more sand and plaster still having to take out big lumps of rubble and concrete and got down as deep as the clamp that holds the motor on the frame .

  Afert almost a year after doing this I tripple dug down both the front and the back in trenches with a ladies border fork and a ladies border spade also  on a pitch fork shaft , dug the floor of the third trench and then added lots of composted cow slurry as i began to fill the trenches .. there was zillions of worms both muck worms and six inchb lob worms . I still found some rubble & concrete but nothing like the  7 mtr long x 1 mtr high  windrow I'd had a year earlier.
   I then spent the next couple of months lightly tilling the areas again  , removing any stone or bit of crud bigger than 1/2" levelling and grading to a very fine tilth ready for sowing two lawns. 

I now have two really good deep built lawn beds that will only need a gentle liquid manure feed twice a year .
The areas of lawn that were dug over and turned into mother earth flowerbeds or places for dwarf fruit trees are great little beds in their own right , these have got a simple well composted manure dressing in autumn and a dried blood & fish meal dressing each mid Feb .