January is the month of broken resolutions and the headaches which seem to cut in when credit card bills thud on to the mat.
Many a dry January resolution has already been tested by the ‘just one glass in the evening won’t hurt’ phrase and resolves have been tested when approaching the bar and somehow you end up with a pint in your hand instead of an elderflower cordial.
One sure way of getting fit is to tackle the vegetable plot or allotment, as now is an ideal time to turn the soil, bury weeds and prepare for the growing season.
After all you can plant the first lettuce seeds at the end of the next month and the soil will benefit from winter frosts to kill off the bugs and break down the clods.
If you don’t fancy wielding a garden fork a tiller will do the job for you – many a back has been tweaked at this time of year when digging the allotment.
So here are ten top tillers which will make the job much easier, from small lightweight machines for those of more advanced years to professional ones suited to large areas and professional use.
The first is light and easy to use, and it’s the Handy THET-A Electric Tiller / Cultivator.
It has a tilling width of 30cm and will work down to 20cm and is also ideal for flower beds as you can easily work round established plants.
It has an 800W motor and four revolving tines and weighs only 7.5kg and is supplied with 10 metres of cable.
‘Product itself perfect for what I wanted – to break up compacted topsoil. Much easier and lighter than many tillers, would recommend. Thanks.’
It costs £99, has a one year warranty and is delivered FREE OF CHARGE the next working day.
This one from a top garden machinery company uses the latest battery technology.
The Stiga SRC48AE Cordless Tiller has four steel cultivating rotors an a working width of 26cm.
It has two wheels at the front making it easy to move around the garden and weighs only 12kg.
This is a great little machine for turning over the vegetable patch put also tilling between rows of crops in the summer to keep the weeds down and working around flower beds as well.
This tiller is pictured above and costs £159, £20 off the recommended price and it has a two-year warranty and FREE DELIVERY the next working day.
Remember this price is for the machine itself, you will need to buy the charger and battery separately but these will also fit other machinery in the Stiga range.
If you are looking for a mini tiller but prefer petrol power the Cobra T24C Petrol Mini-Tiller is one for the shortlist.
This has a 43cc two-stroke engine developing 1.7hp and a tilling width of 23.5cm.
Transport wheels make it easy to move from shed to garden and it has a throttle control so you can set the working pace.
It weighs in at 16.2kg and costs £169 with FREE DELIVERYand a two-year warranty.
From a leading German engineering company, the WOLF-Garten C30E Electric Tiller/Cultivator has a 30cm working width ideal for vegetables plots and smaller allotments.
It has a 1400W electric and 20 metres of power cable.
Four self-sharpening tines break up the soil – even compacted soil – and weighing just 13kg it is not tiring to use for longer periods.
It has transport wheels at the front and has a built-in carrying handle.
The price is £199, £20 below the RRP and it has a three-year warranty and FREE DELIVERY the next working day.
The next one is from a popular brand and has been a best-seller for some time.
The Mountfield Manor Compact 36 Cultivator is powered by a 100cc four-stroke engine which drives 24.5cm rotors using a belt.
This means that if you hit something really solid the belt will come off or snap and this is far cheaper to rectify than a bent crankshaft.
The working width is 36cm and it has adjustable skids so you can adjust the working depth. The handlebars are also adjustable.
A transport wheel makes it easy to move around.
‘I bought this as a replacement and was very happy with it as it cultivates very well, even in the clay soil on my allotment. It made the job in hand very easy and I would recommend this to anyone,’ said one customer.
It costs £249, £30 less than the recommended price and has a two-year warrant. Delivery is FREE within two to three working days.
This is another great tiller and new machines are arriving soon having previously sold out.
Exclusive to MowDirect the Oleo-Mac MH175RK Front-Tine Tiller with Reverse Drive has nine tines and the power to tackle compacted clay,
An Emak 183cc engine gives the power and has been designed to keep noise, vibrations and emissions to a minimum.
It also has a reverse gear so you can back out if the machines becomes ‘dug in’ and it has a belt drive to protect the engine and a transport wheel at the front. The handlebars can be adjusted to suit the user.
And it has two tilling widths – 80cm when dealing with larges areas and 60cm for tilling between the rows of crops.
‘Easily assembled and operated, started with 2nd pull on the allotment and produced a fine tilth. Mulit position handles makes it easy for any operator,’ said one customer.
It costs £399, a dull £200 off the recommended price and it has a five-year warranty, and a FREE DELIVERY within two to three working days.
This is another really sturdy machine suitable for larger allotments.
The MTD t245 Front Tine Tiller has a 66cm tilling width and is powered by a ThorX 55 173cc four-stroke engine, reliable and easy to start and engineered for a long life.
It also has worm-gear transmission to deliver maximum torque to the tines.
One customer commended ‘With its power and weight it cultivates even the heavy clays at home with ease, whilst on the lighter soils at the allotment it cultivated very weedy abandoned ground in one pass.’
The tiller costs £469, £90 off the recommended price and we deliver it FREE OF CHARGE within three to five working days. It has a one-year warranty.
And this is a machine for people who have large vegetable gardens or allotments to take care of.
The MD Loncin Petrol Cultivator with Reverse Drive has a really wide 85cm tilling width and a 196ccengine developing 5.5bhp.
With iron casing and a steel crankshaft it is built for a long a challenging life and has a 3.6-litre fuel tank so you can keep working longer.
This one has a reverse gear should you find it digging in and this also makes it easier to turn round at the end of rows. And it has crop protection discs for use when tilling between rows.
This tiller has plenty of power when it comes to digging through heavy clay or for use in the summer when the soil becomes baked hard.
The recommended price is £599, but we have it for sale for £529 with FREE DELIVERY the next working day and a one-year warranty.
This machine built in Sweden has a large engine designed for the toughest tasks and is one for those who run professional smallholdings.
The Stiga Silex 103B Cultivator has a Briggs & Stratton 205cc engine with two forward and one reverse gears and has a handlebar with three positions to make it comfortable to use.
At the business end there are six 32cm rotors to deal with the most compacted soils and leave a smooth tilth.
Delivered FREE within two to three working days it costs £1049, £100 off the recommended price and it has a two-year warranty.
And finally, here’s a machine which has been a favourite with market gardeners, the Bertolini BT403 Two-Wheel Rotary Cultivator (Honda Engine).
Suitable for heavy, sustained use it has a 196cc Honda engine designed to be reliable with a steel crankshaft and dual air filter and it has two forward and one reverse gears.
With this machine you can set the working widths to 35cm, 50cm and 60cm allowing you to till between rows without damaging crops. The working depth is also adjustable
The handlebars are adjustable and other accessories can be fitted thanks to the company’s QuickFit coupling.
This is a really robust tiler built for the rigours of professional life and has a two-year warranty.
We deliver it FEE within three to five working days of receiving your order and it costs £2299, £400 off the recommended price.
These last machines in our list are made for professional gardeners or those who have large allotments, but there are tillers for every type of garden.
The first which we have selected are fine for tilling on small patches or just aerating the soil on flower beds.
And both can save an injured back through too much digging and forking when cold winds blow through even the thickest sweaters.
If you’re still not sure which machine is right for you then please give us a ring on 020 3026 8712 and ask for our advice.
Our full list of garden tillers and rotovators is on these pages and our complete range of garden machinery can be seen here.
