My new rotovator!

Just got back from picking my new toy up, its a Honda FG200.



Engine 2.5hp OHV Mini 4-stroke, its in really good condition, almost looks new!

Bearing in mind it was second hand, i paid £80 for it so a pretty good deal i think :gnthb:

Looking forward to using it on Monday, hopfully it won't be raining!

 

£80!!! for a Honda, you jammy b********!
I have had a 2.5hp Honda for a long time. Always starts first time. As I have a new large private allotment with heavy clay I splashed out on a brand new 5.5hp Honda this year and it has 6 sets of rotor blades. Expensive but i felt that the reliability was worth it. Had to buy a new trailer cause the new rotovator is so heavy I needed a new trailer with a drop tail gate.
Honda engines are superb, they just purr along.
Still keeping the little one cause it can get in spaces the big can't.

 

I take it £80 is quite a good deal then?

I will get some pictures when it stops raining!

 

Used one before?

If not a pair of industrial boots are advisable. "Not a lot of give" in those rotovator blades.

 

i havnt used one before but i will be carefull and learn slowly. Dont have indus boots, usally where my wellies!

Any advice before i use it on monday?

 

Like all machinery you need to follow instructions. I have used one but many years ago, three of us (neighbours) hired one to do our three gardens, (in the days when we grew veg).
They can have "a mind of their own" and may start moving off line, best thing to do is stop, but there can be tendency to try to manhandle it a bit and your feet can get a bit close to the blades.

 

Its not that scary, we just live in a health and safety state. Does it not have a sort of protection so ur feeet cant get to the blades whatever happens? Anyway if U strong enough Im sure you can handle it easily.
Make sure you dont have couch grass where U use it, as you will have many of them in the spring if the rotavator will cut the roots into bits.

 

I would say so, nearly £400 brand new. It is a baby tiller so ahould be lightweight and easy to manouvre. The new model with a slightly smaller engine weighs in at about 15kg. My new machine weighs 53kg dry. At that size you will just have to check how deep it will dig.
Small machines are great for producing seed beds. I have a cultivator attachment for my brush cutter and used it to make a seed bed in the polytunnel very quickly yesterday.
I also use it instead of a hoe. On my allotment I have some heavy clay that bakes hard. Instead of hoeing I pull it backwards and it rips out the weeds and churns up the surface. Hoeing would just give me blisters.

 

Thanks for the comments, seems i really have got myself a bargin.

Photos tomorrow weather permitting!

 

I think you will find it too wet.

Get some safety boots or safety wellingtons, even the cheapest will provide some protection. Screwfix or Toolstation both open on Sundays. Both can be found for less than £20. There is a Toolstation in Southampton

Start it up at home to check it out and make sure you have enough fuel. Two stroke or four stroke?

 

Its 4 stroke, just had it running in the back garden. Was quite smokey for the first 10mins but then it cleared. Guessing the oil got thrown around a bit when i took it home in the car.

Anyway, heres some pics. I'll take it down the allotment tomorrow to have a play but it's probably too wet to do any work.





having seen the actuall thing, do you think its still worth the £80 i paid?

 

Yep. Get some oil or WD40 on those blades. Makes it a darn site easier to clean up afterwards. I wash the blades down after use and then spray oil when dry. If the dirt tries on its like chipping concrete.

 

Thanks for the advice Geoff. I downloaded the instruction book today and read all 41 pages!

I didnt manage to use it today so i'll have a look at it at the end of the week. Will do an oil change and clean the air filter first, then take the tines off and give them a good clean.

 

Oh and another tip. Put some oil where the tines slide on so they easily slide on and off. I didn't on my big new rotovator and It was very very hard to slide them off again. Not nice when you have disovered a piece of nylon bailer twine rapped round the rotors and you can'get the things off and the machine seems to weigh a ton.