I think the Merry Tiller was one of the best and most useful tillers ever made. The solid construction and heavy tines churn through the heaviest soil. And if you hit a large rock, it bounces off and carries on, tines unbent.
It used to be loved by smallholders and market gardeners who couldn’t justify or fit a tractor but needed some mechanical help. Add in the range of accessories, from grass rakes to a plough, finger-bar mower to potato lifter, weeding harrows and even drive wheels so it could pull a trailer, a robust and versatile piece of kit.
Well, the world changes and production finally ended around 1990. However, my 1976 machine is good for another 50 years, so long as the Briggs and Stratton engine can be kept running. Famous last words!
Sadly, the engine wouldn’t start and so it was off to the repair shop. Turned out to need some parts replacing which involved them stripping the engine right down to get to them. It’s going brilliantly now, and I’m sure I could have sorted it myself. If I had any clue about motors and mechanics, which I don’t. I missed the engineering gene when they were issued!
My Merry Tiller
The Merry Tiller Rotavator
Mantis Tiller
Running the Mantis back in 2010! Time flies …
The small Mantis tiller, however, started easily enough. Fantastic, the investment in expensive petrol that doesn’t deteriorate and clog the carburettor paid off. I’d reached the point where I dreaded trying to start the Mantis, and it was costing a fortune in the shop. Mind you, the special petrol ain’t cheap – £3.66 a litre. Then again, the way petrol prices are at the moment … Still cheaper than getting it fixed at the repair shop.
Anyway, all was good until I put a load on it. The tines just stopped turning despite working fine when not in the soil. So, back to the repair shop who sorted it out. They explained what they’d done, or maybe it was the finer points of nuclear fusion. I’m not really sure, it was over my head. So I nodded sagely, said thank you and paid the bill.
New Hosepipe
It always comes in threes, so I checked the lawn mower which seems to be fine. Hopefully the third thing will turn out to be my long hosepipe, which has transformed into a long sprinkler over winter. I could keep chopping out the leaky sections and joining the good sections but that’s a stopgap that only works for a bit as the pipe gets shorter and shorter.
Decided to get a new hosepipe. I could get a cheap one from eBay, saving about a third on the Hozelock kit I went for. Question is how long the cheap ones will last. The replacement is UV stabilised with a 20-year guarantee. Hozelock hosepipe set.
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