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Qualcast 700W Electric Rotovator
Paullypaul
Posts: 54
I have been quite pleasantly surprised with this little thing. Doesn't turn over soil very deep but it certainly chugs away. £75 from Homebase with free delivery. One of my better buys recently!
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Haha. Yep Edd. I can last a bit longer with the rotovator though
Given the loose stones flying around, I think I would be wearing some eye protection.....eyesight is very precious & can be lost in a trice.
Btw, I have a Mantis tiller with a Honda 4 stroke engine.
I wouldn't call it 'hard work'. but they aren't suitable for ground that hasn't already been worked. I use mine mainly for keeping weeds down between rows....even then it leaps around a lot.
Just noticed an article that basically says that Qualcast branded products from Homebase & B&Q may not in fact be anything to do with Qualcast as the stores have a license to use the name on their own products, misleading or what?
Digging and clearing overgrown land is really hard work, but a 'tiller' is no good for that job, as it would either keep jamming or, if it succeeded at all, would chop up perennial weed roots and spread them everywhere, making more work for the future.
Lightly digging already cultivated soil is a pleasure for chilly mornings when some acivity is needed to keep warm. Why spoil it by having a noisy machine that wants to cut your toes off, so you have to wear steel toe-capped boots?
Buttercupdays - my thoughts exactly. And I speak as someone whose partner borrowed a cultivator for me to use on our allotment (many years ago). After half an hour of struggle it went back in the shed for the kind person who lent it to collect, and I carried on forking over the allotment with the robin and blackbirds at my feet tugging on worms. It was a long time ago but I remember that time spent digging so clearly.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I agree with both and with the benefit of hindsight I probably wouldn't have bought mine.
With its narrow blade width of around 9 inches it is quite useful for weeding/hoeing between rows and is also very lightweight....having said that, I would rather have the (almost) £400 purchase cost.
Nothing compares with peace & tranquillity when using my trusty old spade & fork.
I agree Dave and Buttercup. I am mainly using this thing to churn in the leaf and shreddings material that I need to get the soil ready for my Dahlias. It struggles with heavier undug soil, but it does produce a nice tilth.
Oh and by the way, the stones flying around? That was me going through the tops of some Peony tubers. Ouch!!
I'd love a big petrol driven model, but I suspect it might be quite addictive. I would very likely just start touring the garden looking for things to rotovate