Thinking about getting one of these mail-order light weight mantis tillers.  Any one have one and like it or hate it?  I'll mainly be using it for raised beds and to till a few rows in the old big garden for tomatoes.  The old garden was worked for four years with a full size tiller that I don't have anymore so I figure the mantis would work in that soil.  

Will work like a charm in your raised beds.

OTOH, tilling new soil, it'll beat you up depending on the soil conditions.  Better off going with the full-size tiller.

Ckokey is right on. My dad owns a lawn and garden dealership and these have come in before. In our opinion the company should be more truthful and call them cultivators not tillers. In worked (tilled) soil they are fine but if you have rocky un-worked soil dont bother, the machine will be beat to death. BTW, they say they have a lifetime warranty against tine breakage. They can say that because in rocky soil they will bend far before you could break them. They do have some neat accessories for them too.

BrenLover