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Mechanical Rotovators and Cultivators

One of the most appealing ideas to me is ‘no dig’ gardening. Unfortunately I have 250 M 2 of very heavy clay soil lying on a subsoil made of solid brown sucking clay.

This means a lot of digging to try and achieve that goal of a fine tilth for sowing and growing. The only answer to soil like this is digging in the autumn to let the frosts break down the clods and incorporating as much organic matter as you can.

A neighbour practices no dig and his land is invariably under water in winter and is becoming less productive as each year arrives.

I suppose it goes to show that different soil types need different ways to get the best from them.

The first year I reckon to have spent twice as long breaking up clods than actually digging. Even then the soil had some pretty big lumps and was hardly ideal for a seedbed. Now, I still need to dig over in autumn, but breaking up the soil is far easier since my mechanisation. I use two machines, a Mantis and my Merry Tiller which is a 30 year old machine..

First the Mantis.

These are versatile, lightweight (20lbs) machines that you can use for a number of jobs. I’ve seen similar machines by other manufacturers but I was lucky enough to get a Mantis off Ebay for just under £200. A neighbour got his for £35.00 from a house clearance auction (Grrrr). They are, I believe, American in origin and the price there is around 350 dollars against the 350 pounds they fetch here new.

Accessories

The machine has different attachments available including such wonders as a lawn aerator, crevice cleaner, lawn dethatcher, border edger and hedge trimmer that use the 2 stroke engine.

I have two attachments – the standard tines that come with it and the planter/furrower.

The standard tines have a direction and, by swapping left to right, you change it from a tiller to a cultivator. As a tiller, you can go down to about 8 inches deep, breaking up the soil finely to create that wonderful tilth those on lighter soils take for granted.

As a cultivator, the Mantis can be used as a mechanised hoe. Because it is so lightweight and easy to handle, you can avoid the crops. In fact, I’m better with the Mantis than my Dutch hoe at avoiding the plants.

The planter/furrower has been used as an easy way to create furrows for planting and to earth up potatoes.

Finally, the machine comes (at least mine did) with a very comprehensive instruction manual that includes basic servicing instructions in a way that even mechanical dullards such as me can cope with.

Highly recommended – if you see a working model going under £100.00 don’t even think about it – GRAB it! You can try it and if you don’t like it then sell it on, probably at a good profit.

The Mantis, wonderful as it is, does not do the same job as a proper rotovator – nor is it supposed to.

Mantis Tiller

I used to share a rotovator but now I have a Merry Tiller as well as the Mantis.

The first thing to say about rotovators is that you want one large enough for the job but small enough to handle. If possible, try a machine before buying. Some of the larger machines have reverse gears as well as more than one forward gear. Reports are that these features make them easier to use than their size would suggest.

Of course you need a machine large enough to cope with the job you have. Most machines here tend to have 3.5 or 5.5 hp engines. I’m told Briggs and Stratton are the best but I expect Honda and JCB would disagree. Certainly the Briggs and Stratton engines are very user serviceable.

Different machines come with different widths of tines. For larger tines you need a larger engine and, like a lawn mower, wider means you cover more land with each pass. The 15 inch models are probably too narrow to be worthwhile. The 24 inch machine I use copes well but they recommend 3 foot for 600 M2

An Aside

I remember watching in Corfu as the locals came to town sitting on trailers attached to large rotovators where the tines were replaced with wheels and the handles extended. An ecological compromise between mechanisation and labour. Singing 'Born to be wild' I thought 'I have got to get me one of those!'

Benefits of The Cultivator

Now I find that the spring breaking up of the soil ready for planting is a job of a couple of hours rather than days with the Mantis making light of preparing the seed beds.

Buying a Rotovator

When it comes to buying a rotovator you, IMHO, should really look for a second hand machine in reasonable fettle. If you want to buy new then amazingly consider a quick trip to France. I have seen some really nice machines in French supermarkets and DIY superstores going for around 340 euros – in the UK look to spend anything up to 600 pounds for similar machines. A cheap ferry crossing, good food and a few bottles of plonk will still save you on UK prices.

Drawbacks

The drawback to these machines is they lack the pleasure of most gardening tasks. Standing behind a noisy fume belcher is hardly being at one with nature. But, to me, it beats days of breaking up concrete clods of clay.

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March 2010