It's a hunk of junk!  It ran good the first couple years I owned it, but the past couple, it's a chore and a half just getting it to run to till the damn garden.  I don't have a big garden, it's just a backyard 2 plot set up, so I didn't need anything fancy.  It's a 2 cycle motor, pretty much a weed eater engine.  The carburetor is junk, you look at it crooked and it floods itself, you get it started and finally get it adjusted to run you better get all of your work done, cause you shut it off and it cool, it probably won't start again, and if it does you'll have to readjust the carb.

Every time I use it the more I want to set it on fire.



Planted my potatoes this morning, plot was turned up about mid march or so ago, so it was just settled by the rain.  Put some 40lb bags of compost on top, and proceeded to turn it under.  Got the tiller out, gassed it up.  Choked it, cranked and it fired, well that's a miracle  choke off, crank, fires right up, ran for about 20 seconds died.  nothing again, choke on, fired, choke off repeat.....  Adjusted some stuff on the carb, got it to idle.....  Touch throttle, it dies, ok, adjust some more......  Got it to run, but no power at high end, adjust some more..... finally after about a hour it ran good enough to till my damn garden

Shut tiller off, plant potatoes.  Got one row not planted with taters, figured I'd start up the tiller and turn it under...... No, hell no you think that hunk of shit was gonna run?? Nope.  Choked it nothing, pulled plug, flooded to all hell, dried plug, played with it some more nope, not even a fire.  I said fuck it and threw it back in the shed, before I got a sledge after it.

I hate 2 cycles for this reason, but some of them are a joy to use I have a husqvarna weed eater, I swear I never crank over 4 times.  This mantis, by the time I get it running right I need shoulder surgery

Anyone else have one of these things that runs right, or any set one on fire lately?

I try to run mine almost out of gas before winter, and add new fresh gas in spring.  IDK WTH is wrong with it.  I might just buy a new carb off ebay, they are pretty cheap.  Hell I can't hurt it

Ordered a new carb, fuel lines, gaskets, plug, fuel filter and the works from amazon.  See how it works after I put that on

15 got me a carb, plug, fuel lines, gaskets and all.  Its coming from china so......

I have a little Ryobi 4-stroke that I truly love.

It's had some issues that I believe were design flaws, but all were fixable with an adjustment to how I managed what *I* did, and those adjustments were worth it.

BUT...the carburetor does gums up really easily, and I am bad about thinking, "I'm going to use that next week to edge that last bed," then it turns cold and it sits all winter....Even with fuel additive in it,  it will gum up.

So...then I have to take it to the shop and let the guy clean it out.

Yes, I could learn to clean it myself but don't have the time for that, unfortunately.  So I could save myself some money with better discipline in how I store it.

When it runs, it runs really well.

I bought it because there was so much negative feedback about the Mantis, that I just couldn't go there.