Tränkenwärmer

[Egluntyne]

Have just ordered one of these

 

Am hoping it will be the answer to my prayers!!

 

Have gone for the light medium version.

[Cinnamon]

That looks good!

 

The Hubby loves to tinker with stuff & has rigged up a sort of hand held petrol rotivator for me

It has a little engine, a long handle & 3 metal prongs on the end, & works really well (if it is a bit loud )

 

I like my Garden Claw as well - it makes for much easier work

[Helly Welly]

These are meant to be really good Egluntine

 

I talked OH into a Mantis

[Egluntyne]

These are meant to be really good Egluntine

 

I talked OH into a Mantis

I've just looked at the website....Looks impressive. How do you rate it Helly Welly?

[Helly Welly]

Thus far i have only had a quick go in the back garden to loosen up the soil ready for re-seeding the lawn (can you guess why i'd need to re-seed the lawn )

 

We have hard clay soil which had had no rain for three weeks and it just ate it up!

 

It took a few goes to learn how to control it and i'm going to have a better go at the allotment at the weekend, i'll let you know how it goes.

 

Its not cheap but they let you return it within a year if you don't like it. It does seem to be a high quality machine.

[Egluntyne]

We have really heavy clay soil and it took me 2 hours on Sunday to clear a patch less that 1m square. I haven't that sort of time to spare....but I do want to sort the garden out. I'd be glad of your opinion. From the video clip it looked as easy as hoovering...I particularly liked the lady gardening in a skirt. How elegant. I've sent for the DVD...hoping to con Him Indoors to pay for it....if not I'll buy it myself!

[Helly Welly]

I got OH to put the spuds in, it nearly broke him so he was easy to persuade

[The Dogmother]

Have just ordered one of these

 

Am hoping it will be the answer to my prayers!!

 

Have gone for the light medium version.

 

So that's what they're called! I've got an ancient one in the shed, belonged to my great gramps. I've used it lots, but didn't know the name.

[Lesley]

is it a better version of a mattock? - all the people using it seem to be hacking at the ground with it but talking about digging

[Christian]

Lesley, I have just used a mattock to dig over my veggie plot. Even with a bad back it chewed up the soil really well! It cost about £20 from Wickes. Well worth it!

 

(Next door neighbour used it to dig up my old licac stump - only took him 25 mins)!

[Egluntyne]

Well it's arrived. It looked ever so funny, with the blade wrapped in cardboard with half a dozen stamps stuck on.

 

The postman said I feel like the bl**dy Grim Reaper stood standing here with this in my hand!

 

Anyway....popped out the back to have a go and its fab.

 

Cleared metre sq in 5 minutes flat to a depth of about 4". (Solid clay soil, overgrown).

 

Could feel the stomach muscles working!

 

I suspect it will have to be little and often until I have built up my strength.

 

Am still pondering about a Mantis too.

[Lesley]

 

That sounds good Egluntine - keep up the good work. I bet you made the postman's day?

[Helly Welly]

That sounds really good Egluntine and matches what i'd heard about them too. Just don't tell OH as i imagine it was a bit cheaper than a Mantis

[Egluntyne]

It was £26.00 and worth every penny. But I ordered a Mantis anyway (All your fault Helly Welly...If you hadn't mentioned them I wouldn't have looked at the website and been tempted! .

 

The Azada will break up the surface clods and I'm hoping the Mantis will do the rest. At least I can get my money back if it doesn't work to my satisfaction....

[Helly Welly]

I put the Mantis to good use yesterday at the allotment. Hard clay soil was reduced to a fine tilth very quickly. Today though, my arms are a bit sore. The Mantis does vibrate and bounce around a bit and at first i didn't go deep enough so i had to make a second pass. It really was very effective though, i think it will be easier with practice. One thing which was a bit irratating was that every now and then the Mantis would hit a stone and bounce to the extent that my thumb knuckle hit the on/off switch and turned it off. I would still reccommend the Mantis though, especially for people who want to rotovate without the rotovator!