can anyone recommend a rotovator

Legacy_user

got an uneven large garden ive been looking at a rotovator in argos for £70 or theres a ryobi one that takes different attatchments ?

Farway

Years ago when I was looking around, one bit of advice I always got was get one with a Briggs & Stratton engine, this was for spares, repairs etc

Seems they are the "Ford" of engines, in as much as everyone can repair / service & maintain them without extra special equipment

Lotus-eater

If you get a cheap one and expect it to dig up grass, you will be in for a shock.
What do you need it for and do you want electric or petrol?

If you have an uneven large garden and you just want to even it out once, you will be far far better off hiring a good one and using that. Rotovators can be a PITA to use and not the miracle worker you may think it is.

~Chameleon~

I agree, best to hire a decent one from a tool centre as the ones you're looking at won't be up to the job if you're planning to turn over the whole garden.

Farway

Agree on the hiring, years ago when I got my allotment I actually found it cheaper to pay someone to do the job using their own rotovator versus me hiring for the weeken & doing it myself with all that entails

You never know, cash is king as always

ScratchandSniff-->[X]

CHRISSYG wrote: »

got an uneven large garden ive been looking at a rotovator in argos for £70 or theres a ryobi one that takes different attatchments ?

The one in Argos looks more like an electronic hoe that will be unlikely to take on uncultivated or solid ground with any degree of success and just shred your perennial weeds into lots more perennial weeds.

If you want to dig uncultivated land with a rotavator, I'd clear it with glyphosate first and then go for a slow powerful (>5HP, forget electric it's not powerful enough) cultivator which will lift and break the soil for six to eight inches rather than cosmetically shred the top inch or so. Best thing is to hire one in or grab someone who's already got one, but only when the ground is dry. Rotavators won't work well in wet soil, clays, ground full of long subsurface spreading weeds or poorly decomposed hay/straw etc as the tines will ball up. Something that size is also more expensive - probably around £400 new - so again another reason for using someone else's.

If you are buying one of the cultivators, then work out where you will keep it, transport it, lift it etc.

I use a JCB C50A myself. (http://www.albaplc.com/html/IBs/JCB/JCB_User_Guides_Garden.htm) which I bought having hired ones previously for £50 a weekend previously.

foreign_correspondent

Rotivators are very hard work physically, but worth using if you need to dig over a large area.

I would advise you to hire a decent petrol one for a weekend if you need it for a biggish one off job, very few people need to use a rotivator on a regular basis, and as some have said, the argos one looks quite small and may not be effective if you are tyring to dig over quite a compacted area (eg. old lawn) or have heavy soil.

Also, if you do hire one you will find it helpful if you have someone to help, as your arms and shoulders get tired quite quickly from it, if there are tow of you, you can take turns and keep using it, which is important if you only have it for a day or two.