MTD 20-Volt Cordless Tiller / Cultivator Price: $94.99 Shipping Options: $5 Standard Shipping Estimates: Ships in 3-5 business days (Wednesday, Apr 16 to Monday, Apr 21) + transit Condition: New
Don’t expect to do hard work with it. I have used a Mantis electric tiller and with a kill-a-watt meter it pulls maybe 400+ watts and more when lugged down. The Mantis can overheat when tilling in compost into a garden and it is adequately powerful.
The Lithium battery is around 50 watt hours or about the same as a laptop battery. If it really lasts 45 minutes for a tilling that means it’s not using much power so it’s doesn’t have much torque. Either that or it’s super efficient when tilling light soil
I have this, it doesn’t suck, but it’s not awesome either. It’s got all the advantages of electric: quiet, no fumes.
The land has to be pretty clear already to use it. It’s not too great at turning a grassy field into a garden area. My garden’s about 20ft x 20ft and just breaking up the soil takes about 2 charges. It is more thorough and easier than a shovel though.
There’s no safety on it. If the battery is in, the handle turns it on, but the battery is very easy to pull out.
does anybody know if the MTD 20-Volt battery is the same as the Black and Decker 20 volt LIon battery? They look the same. I bought the blower and weed eater package from woot last year. Might be a good reason to pick this up.
I have this and really enjoy using it. It won’t do heavy garden prep, like breaking up compacted soil, but it cultivates flower beds and existing garden space. What I use it for the most is eradicating Bermuda grass creeping across the landscape.
I’ve used a machine like this one and found it to be very useful and far easier to use than its gas burning cousin. However, owning and using an electric tiller demands that one understands and is completely aware of the machine’s practical uses and limitations.
If you wish to use this machine to aerate flower or vegetable beds at several intervals throughout the growing season, the electric is PERFECT for the task. If you want to start a flower or vegetable bed and have relatively loose soil, this machine will work like a champion.
On the other hand, if you need to till a large area of ground for the purpose of laying sod, this kind of machine IS NOT UP TO THE TASK. While it will cut through some small roots, the battery will not last very long and the machine will disappoint you. Once again, as long as you use the machine for its intended purpose (light duty work), you will not be disappointed.
We have a small raised bed (5’ x 10’ or so) that has been fallow for 2-3 years. There is grass growing in it, but not much other than that and some rocks. We’re looking for a small tiller to get it prepped for the season, I’m wondering if this would be good for getting the area ready and mixing compost in. Any comments on that? Or perhaps recommendations of an electric that would be up to a similar task? For such a small area, we don’t want a large machine.
It should be okay for a bed as small as you describe, provided there are no heavy duty roots under the surface. If there are, you may need to get in there with a pitch fork and give the machine some help. There’s a good chance that you will progress smoothly without giving the machine any assist.
Don’t forget that this machine will only cost you $100, which is about 4 times less than any gas job with a 6 to 8 hp engine. If you can get away by using this machine, you’ve saved a lot of money.
You know woot. I’ve been buying things for years from you.
It’s very disappointing when you erase half the comments because they aren’t favorable to your theoretical sales. It doesn’t go unnoticed.
The prospective buyers are able to make up their own minds based on all opinions and don’t require censorship.
Comments about electric/battery vs gas powered engines are enormously valid, and most comments even stressed when this kind of product would be best used.
Looking through the Deleted Posts backlog there doesn’t seem to be any nuked posts regarding “electric/battery vs gas powered engines” or any deletions from this thread at all.
We always encourage discussions of topics and personal experiences/reviews in the Daily threads concerning the Daily Deal and any products related to the offer.
There were at least 6 more posts here last night.
There were smaller posts agreeing with the preferred gas powered engine in yard tools.
I know this and remember it so specifically because I replied to one that is also gone.
My post agreed with his (my post and quote is also gone), commenting on the merits and pitfalls of battery powered tools, in this case one that actually requires the weight of the engine to function more effectively.
I certainly didn’t imagine it.
All gone.
The ones that remain are ones praising the item only.
I should maintain that the other deleted comments weren’t disrespectful in any way either. They simply took a different point of view. Mine even commented on the merits of a lighter tool, but also discussed why heavier is usually better for a tiller.
Yep, I completely agree with you breaddrink, I am also positive there were more comments posted on here last night. A couple of those posts made me decide against buying the Cordless tiller and going with a gas-powered or corded-version (but those comments are gone now!). Shame on you Woot! I’ve been a loyal Wooter since 2007 and it seems that the magic has disappeared since you sold out to the mega-company. Very disappointing that you are deceiving your customers by removing comments unfavorable to the product - you’re going to lose your loyal customers if you keep doing this! Never underestimate long time wooters!
I believe people are getting upset over a simple misunderstanding…
I noticed that this exact product was offered before, on May 1, 2013 and the comments section has the discussion concerning gas vs. electric, etc. (or opinions to that effect), with one being posted to that old thread as recently as yesterday. There’s a link to that past thread in Conanthelibrarian’s post close to the top of this page.
What I think happened is that somehow a few folks were looking at the old discussion thread from a year ago but today are viewing the current thread - and got upset by what appeared to be “missing” posts.
I don’t work for Woot and I’m not an apologist for Woot, but I thought I’d bring this up so that possibly any misunderstandings can be avoided.
Thanks for posting/clearing it up.
It hadn’t dawned on me either that the previously offered thread would have been viewed/mistaken for today’s.
I’m uncertain to whether any previous posts there were deleted/edited but I’m gonna check with fellow mods early in the week and inquire about it.
Like I posted earlier, we eagerly encourage normal discourse about the product/similar products to help other Wooters understand the functionality, technology and give insight for purchasing.
If you see any abnormal activity in threads we always suggest that you “Tattle” and let us know so we can help create a welcome (and less confusing) online forum.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed and posted in today’s Tools Daily thread.
Yep - sorry Woot, my bad, guess I fell for the same old posts vs. new posts as well - perhaps there can be a solution out of this misunderstanding? i.e some way to link or notify wooters when they are posting? Just brainstorming…
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