Lidl rotavator, any good?

Leif

I saw they had some in stick for £60 a pop. A Google suggests they are okay, mostly good feedback. Does anyone use one? I want to rotavate a lawn, after I've applied glyphosate, ~250 square meters area, with a stony clay rich soil. Anyone know if the Lidl is suitable, and how long it'd take to do the business?

Oops: corrected the price to £60.

forgotmyname

I think it may struggle with a mass of grass and roots. You may need to break the soil a bit 1st.

They dont have a lot of power in them.

I used a petrol one and its amazing how often the roots get tangled around the blades and shaft. No problem for the petrol one. It was big and powerful enough to break them up and keep going.

Small electric motor would bog down or even stop.

Stony and clay also. Not sure how it will cope with that.

Been tempted to get one myself. But had the same thoughts. Is it any good.

Maybe only good for beds that have been dug already?

Leif

I decided to buy one, the only way to find out is to try, and since it costs no more than hiring a 'proper' one, I won't lose much.

DaftyDuck

I have one (not Lidl, Elho?)... I use it for breaking soil up into a fine tilth, for weeding the surface of the veg patch, mixing in compost and mulch, and for spraying soil all over the place!

I couldn't get it through grass here, but it's pretty clayey soil. It just jams up. Getting it to bite down, rather than bouncing (it doesn't have the weight of a petrol one!) is also a problem.

But... it does make a fine tilth. And a very fine mess. Mind the cable...

Edit... maybe Einhell... have a cold, so not going out to look... achoo !}

Leif

In case others are interested, I dug a 7m by 1m bed today, going down ~20cm. Stripped the turf, then rotovated. I have compacted heavy clay rich soil full of flints, and it took an hour or two. It does take a while to cut through clay, but this tool is brilliant.Flints sometimes got stuck, requiring a whack with a chisel and hammer. The cord is not a problem. Assembly is easy peasy. Why pay £60 to hire one for a day when you can buy one for the same price.