The Garden Of Oz

To rent or to buy...that is the question.

Clearly, there are advantages and disadvantages to both renting and buying equipment, and tillers are no exception. If you have a good rental store near you, you may be tempted to rent a tiller, especially if you’re new to gardening or if you’re significantly expanding your garden this year.

I hope that the following list of advantages and disadvantages will be helpful to you if you’re trying to decide whether to rent or buy a tiller.

Advantages of Renting a Large or Medium Size Power Tiller

You may save money, both in the short term and the long term, especially if you only plan to use a large or medium size tiller once every couple of years. Of course, I recommend tilling both in the spring and the fall, so I use mine at least twice a year; but, your gardening behavior might be different.

You don’t need to dedicate space to storing the tiller.

You don’t need to maintain the tiller.

You can “test drive” a tiller before buying one, assuming that you can rent the one that you’re considering buying.

Disadvantages to Renting a Large or Medium Size Tiller

The tiller you want to rent may not be available on the day that you want it.

You will probably need to own or borrow a pick-up truck to haul the tiller to your garden.

You may feel pressured to get the job done quickly, especially if your rental is for a half day or less.

The weather may not cooperate on the day that you plan or commit to renting a tiller.

You may underestimate the time required to do the job at hand, resulting in either an incomplete job or a second trip to the rental store.

Advantages of Renting a Small Tiller

You may save money if you only have a small “one time” job to do.

You don’t have to store or maintain the tiller.

You get to “drive before buying” if you can rent the small tiller that you’re considering buying.

They’re easy to transport, because they easily fit into the trunk of a car or into any SUV or minivan.

Disadvantages of Renting a Small Tiller

The tiller you want to rent may not be available on the day that you want it.

You may feel pressured to get the job done quickly, especially if your rental is for a half day or less.

The weather may not cooperate on the day that you plan or commit to renting a tiller.

You may underestimate the time required to do the job at hand, resulting in either an incomplete job or a second trip to the rental store.

You won’t have the tiller on hand when you want to cultivate a small area later in the growing season. (I use my Mantis tiller so frequently throughout the season that renting one would cost me more than ownership; plus, I’d spent a lot of time running back to the rental shop!)

If you have any comments, I’d really like to hear from you.

OZ Gardener
The Garden Of Oz

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September 15, 2009

By: bob

just bought my second mantis 2 cycle, last one died after 8 years was like afish out of water all summer without my mantis soo much easier to garden with it

May 4, 2009

By: Greg

Thank you!! You solved my dilemma and probably saved me about 300 - 400 I'm renting a small tiller to redo a small garden by my house but I probably won't need this every year.

Thanks again!