TJ600E

I've had this for a few months now and have tilled my entire back yard in prep for reseeding for a new lawn. First, let's be honest about the kind of tiller you rent from a garden supply store, a gas powered tiller, and an electric tiller-cultivator. The first kind will not only pull out sprinkler systems but destroy them. It will also eat right through hard, dry dirt and turn everything into soft powder. But it's also $60 just to rent where I am. The smaller gas powered ones - either 2 stroke or 4 stroke - are pretty strong, too, from what I understand. But you get the whole gas thing and not everyone is into that. I am not (I have all kinds of electric garden tools). The electric ones like this one are usually tiller/cultivators, as they are not designed to go much more than 3-4" deep and often are to just mix in some amendments. As electric motors, they do not have the sheer power to run for hours and hours into dry dirt. I killed a Troy-Bilt unit working too long on dry dirt. Having said all of that...provided I've given the lawn a good sprinkling (10 minutes?) overnight, I can churn that 3-4 (if not up to 6" down without much trouble. Half of my yard isn't that big - maybe 30x30 or so. But I can get through all of that in a single pass with this guy, especially with it being fairly wide. I have more than enough depth to be able to create a very smooth grade for the entire yard, and seeding the yard has been very easy. I can also work easily around sprinkler lines (mine are very shallow for some reason) - just stop immediately when I see the white of the PVC. I can also dig in deep so I can run new lines. I am redoing a rather illogical setup in that part of the lawn and this guy is doing a great job. After I do the initial tilling and pull up all of the sprinkler lines, I throw down some soil amendments so the grass will grow faster, cultivate that in, then dig out and put back in the sprinkler lines, then just rake the dirt around and I'm pretty set. It's a lot more tiller than one would think. The only hard part is that to keep one's finger on the "trigger" the tiller is held at a somewhat-odd angle. Feels a bit off. The lack of wheels isn't a problem, but my finger slips off the trigger now and then. Cord management is very nice.

I purchased this tiller last summer to till a bed approximately 50' x 10' and was very impressed with how easily and efficiently I was able to turn this rough and rocky ground. One small issue is that large rocks, of which I had many, wedge in the tines, shutting it down, and have to be removed. However, for such a lightweight tiller that did such a good job, I was OK with removing the rocks. As I worked it, I perfected rocking the tiller back and forth and tossed out many of the rocks, preventing shutdown. The tiller also shuts down when it gets over heated, but within a minute or so it's back up and running. This summer, when turning a deep bed and just as I completed the job, the times stopped turning, though the motor was running. I emailed Sun Joe and was impressed by how quickly they responded. Not only did they reply promptly, someone contacted me by phone every day that week. When I first spoke to John, the service rep, and he explained what to look for, due to my schedule, I couldn't get to my part of the investigation for a couple of days. John checked in with me daily. When I determined that he was correct in his assessment of the likely broken part, he had a part in the mail for me immediately. That entire actually process took exactly 6 days, from initial email to receipt of part. Due to an error in the shipping, though, the wrong part was delivered. Again, John, as well as another rep who's name I didn't get, stayed with me until I had the correct part (maybe another week) and my Tiller Joe was back up and running fine. In fact, I'm turning a new bed with it, now. Kudos to John and the excellent Sun Joe Customer Service Department for going beyond minimum expectations to resolve my problem.

This tiller is very light weight which makes digging deep difficult. Set-up was easy and a breeze. I was tilling within 30 minutes of having the tiller delivered. The tiller worked great until it suddenly stopped working. After registering the tiller, I contacted Sun Joe's customer service through e-mail. I sent the e-mail late at night and I had a relatively quick reply (within a few hours) from customer service. After a few e-mail exchanges (we need your address; your tiller is out of stock and we want to send you a slightly nicer tiller; etc.), they confirmed that they will be sending me a new tiller. I wanted to give this item five stars since it was a great little tiller (when it worked) and their customer service was exceptional. However, I have to dock one star since the tiller did break within a few months of purchasing.

Awesome little tiller! I killed my 2nd mantis in 13 years and because of the ethanol gas you get now days I decided to try an electric tiller. Not knowing anything about them I did LOTS of research. I mean Lots of research. It is light and very easy to carry around and maneuver. I have used it a few times now on hard ground that has not previously been tilled. I did water the area I was going to till a couple days before mainly just to keep the dust down. I am very impressed. It is powerful enough to till hard and soft ground. I tilled down about 10 inches and had no problem. I give it five stars because it works well, handles good and easy to use. Appears to be built quite well. The ONLY NEGATIVE thing I can find is, I wish it had some kind of kickstand but I will figure out one myself. Come to think of it I think the kid down the street has one on his bike that would work. JK. Overall a super little machine. If that should change I will most certainly update my review. Really fast shipping too and the price was right. By the way, I USE my equipment I don't baby it but I do take care of it. Updated Review! June 2014 Well, here it is June 2014 & I'm thinking this tiller might outlast me. Plenty of power, still going strong and no worse for the wear. Like I said before, I USE my equipment I don't baby it but I DO take care of it. UPDATE: Well here it is June of 2022 and this mighty little tiller is still going strong. I was just kidding in my 2014 review update about this tiller outlasting me but now I'm not kidding I think it is going to outlast me. Absolutely zero problems or issues with this mighty little machine.

I needed a tiller for my garden and yard but hate dealing with gas and heavy equipment. This tiller works perfectly for me as it can be lifted with one hand and runs on electricity so I don't have to worry about having gas on hand especially if I just have a small job to do. The soil in my garden gets pretty hard but this tiller cuts right through it and chops up any weeds that get in the way. It tills to a depth of about 6 inches give or take which is great for my needs. I used it to till up 5 rows for corn this year and then mixed in bagged garden soil to amend the tired soil there. I plan to till up the soil next to my house for a flower bed and where ever else I need to break up the ground. It's not a super heavy duty machine but if you apply common sense and use it accordingly, it should serve you for years. I read too many reviews where people buy a small unit and expect it to keep up with a commercial one. I just find that to be another case of "you need to be smarter than the device you are using." Some people just seem to try to see how easy it is to break something (especially if it's not theirs) then complain about how cheap it is. Know what I mean? All in all this is a great little tiller and I'd recommend it to anyone with a smaller area to deal with and the convenience of an electrical device.

I purchased the Sun Joe from Amazon last week and I chose the free shipping. The Tiller was delivered three days later by Fed Ex which was a wonderful surprise! The minor assembly was easy, just take your time with the plastic handle piece that mounts under the hand grips. A small screw is inserted into each side into a pre-drilled hole. A clamp is snapped on the right handle to hold the cord out of the way. A belt clip is also included to better manage the electric cord and reduce the chance of pulling the plug from the extension cord. I cultivated an area in my back yard that was used as a garden in years past and was now covered in weeds and grass. In about a half an hour my small garden was ready to plant. We plant about 20 items, tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. The Sun Joe operates very predictably and is just the right weight. I ran into at least a dozen chunks of cement in the yard. I mention this because the larger gas cultivators that I used to rent did not go as deep as this little electric wonder. I got the best results by going forward and then pulling it back over the tilled ground which allowed it to go deeper. Weeds and grass wound around the tines and I unplugged it to clean it once or twice but nothing slowed it down. The motor was only mildly warm after the job was done. I expected the motor to be hot. I hate paying $60.00 to rent a tiller for four hours and dealing with the mess of hauling it back and forth to the hardware store. Clean-up was easy and the heavy duty tines still look like new. I applied a little oil to the steel parts to prevent rust. Other cultivators may include wheels, but wheels are not needed. The Sun Joe is very well made and is guaranteed for two years. I hope this review adds to the other reviews on this excellent product and I highly recommend it.

I purchased this several years ago--I'm horrible at always leaving reviews. But--I can say now after 4 years of use that this little tiller has held up just fine for me! Unlike gas motors that need a supply of gas, need to be choked, cleaned out, winterized and often just plain old don't start--this little electric tiller will work as long as you have power! The downside is of course that you have a cord attached, but I have a 50' outdoor extension cord so it goes anywhere I need it to. Never tried it on a generator. I bought a used Mantis from our local lawn and garden sales and it was back to them more than I had it for 3 months, and then I just insisted they take it back. It rarely started easily, but this one does! This small tiller is not intended for breaking fresh sod into a garden planting ready state. It works great for fluffing up an existing garden bed in the spring, tilling between rows, and I especially use it for turning shredded leaves and compost into my vegetable deep beds. It's not real light weight, but I'm a retired lady and can easily move it in and out of the beds and storage. I've been VERY happy with it. Nothing has broken or cracked on it and it just runs like a champ. It would be nice to have a speed control on it as it turns pretty fast, but for what I do it works great. My soil is heavily amended sandy soil with some rocks, but it would work equally well on already cultivated loam. Heavy clay soil probably would not be as easy with it, but I'm not saying it wouldn't work in it at all. Large rocks would be a problem, but then they stop my large rototiller too. The only issue I've ever had with it from day one--and it's only because I have very short fingers, small hands and a lot of arthritis in them--is that the safety button that has to be pushed in and held while pushing the lever to make it turn is hard for me. I've been using equipment for years and have no children around so I just taped the safety button down and only have to work the start lever, but that's just my personal choice. I don't think anyone else with larger hands would have an issue.

When I first bought this cultivator ($75 used/refurbished) I was initially a little disappointed that it would not dig deep like a full sized gas tiller. It just bounces on top of the soil and shoots dirt around. But after using it for a couple of seasons, I have learned a technique that actually makes it work as good or better than even a full size gas tiller. I had very good success at tilling up soil and very thick, mature sod with this small machine using the following technique. (sod/soil needs to be somewhat moist for this to work, bone dry dirt, you’re out of luck). Start by grinding away a slightly arc shaped trench about 2-3 feet wide and the width of the tines, (pull the machine side to side one arm at a time). It will take a while. Once the trench is 3-4” deep, start working the machine side to side slowly backwards, eating away at the sod in 1” strips 2-3 feet wide, like a little caterpillar eating a leaf. It’s a really good forearm workout. Make sure you don’t back into the cord and till it up. Doing this, I mulched/tilled up/cleared away about 1000 sqft of dense, thick sod in about 2-hours. That’s faster than I have been able to do this using a much larger gas tiller. Although the sweeping/pulling motion eventually broke the left handle. No matter, I just grab on the bar now. This motion is also much easier on the motor than regular cultivating so it won’t overheat as fast. Also with a pulling motion your hand will naturally keep the trigger power lever/switch closed so you won’t fall of the switch as easy. What it won’t do: It won’t handle the load of pulling deep soil backwards while simultaneously tilling (using it as a rake and tiller). You have to tilt it back so the tines are not as deep before pulling soil back. It won’t run for more than ½ hour at a time without overheating. Just let it rest for 10 minutes (clear off the blades and vent holes or wrest your forearms while you wait). Update 3/27/2017: After 2 seasons the handles broke off (happened the first season) and bearing on the motor seized up. The bearings are non-serviceable and you have to replace the entire motor assembly. Lame!