Large Ryobi One

What is the best mini tiller/rotovator for an allotment?

I have an allotment which I am looking to get a mini tiller for. I have a large 5hp merry tiller that was used to break up the compacted earth and now I am selling that to get a mini one. However I can decide on the best one to get and whether 2-stroke/4-stroke is best. Mantis seem to be the market leader and priciest but I also see Honda and a few others about, even ryobi have a strimmer with tiller attachment. So any recommendations welcome

I have had a Honda for several years and it is extremely reliable and robust. It was recommended to me by the owner of a garden machinery store we have used for many years, and he was right. I can get it into the front seat space in the car (if I first remove the pin holding the leg at the back of the machine) and it's sturdy but not too heavy to carry to my plot (though I believe you can get a wheels attachment.) Runs on ordinary petrol, so no problems filling up.

However, I don't use it as much as I thought I would when I took over my plot. I do find that, on the heavy soil where I work, the best way to prepare the ground is to give it a good dig over with a fork, especially as the plot has quite a lot of endemic marestail and bindweed, and the best way to keep on top of these is to remove the roots by hand when digging. Rotavating cuts up the running roots of weeds like these and spreads them so they just grow as hundreds of little cuttings, so I have to do the digging first, after which I don't need to use the tiller. On lighter soil, without these weed problems, I'd probably use it more often. As it is, I find the soil conditions have to be right or it gets bogged down and stuck in. This would happen with any make, I think, it's not to do with my machine particularly, but what I'm trying to say is, be sure you really need a different one before you buy, because a lighter version won't be able to get stuck in under difficult conditions in early Spring as well as a heavier version, if your soil is like mine.
You might try asking if your local garden machinery business has a reconditioned secondhand one, you could save quite a bit if you didn't mind the paint being a bit scratched maybe! Or perhaps they'd do a part-exchange for your Merry tiller.


Problem with Ryobi S430 Weed Whacker

Large Ryobi One

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