I am really getting tired of this, you know.

[xs11jack]

Neighbor gave me a Mantis Tiller several years ago and this week I decide to check it out and use it a bit. I touched the gas bulb you use to prime the carburetor and it broke into a dozen pieces. Went to the Mantis website and right there one page in is the bulb I need. looks like they fail a lot. So I see it is $8.95 and I go to the order page and it costs $9.95 to ship the dang thing. I bet that thing doesn't weigh 1/4 of an ounce. Shipping costs like that really do make me tired.
Ole Jack

[Hamish]

Hit the weed eater repair area in your local Rural King/Farm & Fleet/Tractor Supply.

[osteodoc08]

Perhaps if you determine the carb manufacturer you can determine a work around rather than ordering direct from the Mantis dealer

[Half Dog]

I feel your pain. There has been several times where the shipping costs exceed the price of the part that I needed. Needless to say, my to-do list is not going down quickly.

[kodiak1]

Napa had them here when I needed one last summer.

[jcren]

For what it is worth, modern ethanol blended fuels attack those vinyl bulbs and fuel lines. Look for 100% gas, premium usually is.

[Fishman]

Ace hardware has several different ones in stock.

[Outer Rondacker]

I understand what your pissed about. Its not the fact that it broke but that the shipping is so dang high. Even with gas down shipping is nuts. My area is still charging a fuel surcharge for cement.

How is this one for you, I ordered a few parts from amazon. Paid for 5 day shipping. That was Sunday. I called today and they informed me that shipping will take five days but packaging it might take up to two weeks. LOL

I used to have this kinda issue with my small engine stuff then I stopped using ethanol gas and all was good. Good luck.

[MaryB]

Premium in MN is 10% ethanol, mandated.

[Mk42gunner]

If you don't need the part in the next day or so, you may be able to get it at your local small engine repair shop.

My local guy will order parts without charging extra for shipping, as long as they come in on his normal delivery. Some times it is a buck or two more than the internet price, sometimes it is less.

The local shop probably has one in stock anyway.

Robert

[leeggen]

Just saying here, you are complaining about $20.00 for a free mantis tiller? Yip it is just one of those things you have to tollerate. But $20 bucks is not bad for a tiller.
CD

[fryboy]

Ethanol is great for drinking ( who can't get behind a good corn likker ? ) but not so great for many fuel systems ,if in the future you must use it buy a few spares as well as lines ,those BTW sometimes come in what they call ethanol safe ( but they lie )
This may help ,if not some places sell premixed gas that while not for the tiller works well for other small two cycle engines
http://www.pure-gas.org/

[nvbirdman]

Go to your nearest auto parts store. Buy a spray can of starter fluid. One shot, it'll probably start on the first pull.
This is the voice of experience, a friend of mine bought a brand new lawnmower and his dog chewed up the primer bulb. He gave it to me and I tried that. It worked.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

as others mentioned, if you have an Ace Hdwe or Napa near you, if they don't stock the part, they'll generally order you one with no shipping costs, if it comes from their normal warehouse.

[Outer Rondacker]

Premium in MN is 10% ethanol, mandated. Is this just for auto gas? Can you get it from the atv, small engine, marina, or race shop without it.

[Tackleberry41]

Its unlikely its a special proprietary part exclusive to mantis. The primer bulb went bad on a chainsaw I had, just went and got one, snapped it in. Pretty common thing to go bad.

But yea it is a bit steep for the shipping and handling to be more than the part, but thats how they make their money.

Most people dont have a choice when it comes to ethanol blend gas. They have that horribly overpriced stuff I have seen at lowes, where they charge 3 times the price for simply not putting something in the gas. Where I live ethanol free is really common, most places carry it. But we have alot of farming.

[4rdwhln]

One word for small engine parts............NAPA...... 13 years on the counter sold a boxcar load of small engine parts to the local High schools. A primer bulb is a wear item and costs about $2.00. Most have accounts with the schools and sell at a very good price..Hope you have a Napa close.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

for those of you with small engines that need non ethanol gas but your state or county prohibits it's sale

they have cans of small engine fuel http://www.homedepot.com/p/TruSouth-TruFuel-50-1-Pre-Oil-Mix-6525606/205913129?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-202532877-_-205913129-_-N

most of the home stores and hardware stores , walmart are carrying it now it ranges from about 5-7 dollars a quart but if you weed eater needs 1 or 2 quarts of fuel a year it is a lot cheaper than the carburetor work or new fuel lines every or every other year.

my dad lives in a county along lake Michigan that is Ethanol gas only , he uses a can of this stuff a year in is gas trimmer we bring him a gas can of 91 octane no ethanol or he buys it when he visits us for is lawn mower.

but the pre-mix small engine fuel stores very well

[Handloader109]

Well, I got my mantis out Sunday afternoon. Hadn't been started for almost 2 yrs.. Can you say oops?
Let some cr@p gas in it and it had turned to not jelly or varnish like gasoline should, but algea.... Started to remove the gas tank and broken main fuel line. Two were hard as a rock, lines to and from the carb. The vent line was flexible and fine... Looked at the fuel prime bulb too and it is still OK. So I go to auto parts and get a $3 package of fuel line... About a foot. Got it cleaned up, btw, carb cleaner blows the algae off easily. Put back together, put some new fuel mix in it and pull cord a half dozen times and she fired right up. Good little tillers. I am pretty sure that the bulb is close to generic.

[Handloader109]

I usually use plain cheap regular,, but I am going to start using premium that is Ethanol free not worth the work to keep replacing parts

[William Yanda]

Just yesterday I encountered something similar. My daughter had no hot water. Natural Gas heater, bad thermocouple. Got the universal replacement at Lowes-$7 and change. Attempted installation. Grrrr right hand threads-left hand required. None available in 3 counties including the store where the heater was purchased. Tried the Manufacturer-$33 and change, plus $30 overnight shipping. Considering that the unit was about 10 years old,
she got a new water heater.

[DerekP Houston]

for those of you with small engines that need non ethanol gas but your state or county prohibits it's sale

they have cans of small engine fuel http://www.homedepot.com/p/TruSouth-TruFuel-50-1-Pre-Oil-Mix-6525606/205913129?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-202532877-_-205913129-_-N

most of the home stores and hardware stores , walmart are carrying it now it ranges from about 5-7 dollars a quart but if you weed eater needs 1 or 2 quarts of fuel a year it is a lot cheaper than the carburetor work or new fuel lines every or every other year.

my dad lives in a county along lake Michigan that is Ethanol gas only , he uses a can of this stuff a year in is gas trimmer we bring him a gas can of 91 octane no ethanol or he buys it when he visits us for is lawn mower.

but the pre-mix small engine fuel stores very well

After 2 weedeaters and rebuild on the mower I have switched to the same red can of "tru fuel" and I run the mower down to empty before storing it.

No issues since then, leaf blower/weed eater both start right up still. Ridiculously overpriced to get real gas, but it was an easy fix.

[rancher5]

For what it is worth, modern ethanol blended fuels attack those vinyl bulbs and fuel lines. Look for 100% gas, premium usually is.
Ya you end up buying the 10 dollers a gallon can of fuel in the gas power tool department, unfortunately it's worth burnings at the end of the season,fuel pump gas is really bad for small engines,even if you think you drained it out it still damages carbs,gaskets fuel lines, But we're saving the environment LOL,No were supporting ethanol lobbyists and more throw away junk running with junk.My bad for ranting [emoji79]

Ethanol is great for drinking ( who can't get behind a good corn likker ? ) but not so great for many fuel systems ,if in the future you must use it buy a few spares as well as lines ,those BTW sometimes come in what they call ethanol safe ( but they lie )
This may help ,if not some places sell premixed gas that while not for the tiller works well for other small two cycle engines
http://www.pure-gas.org/

[woodbutcher]

:bigsmyl2: We have a Wiegels convienience store here(LaFollette,Tn)that sells alky free gasoline.About $2.00 a gallon.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[skeeter2]

You can buy non-oxygenated no ethanol fuel at fleet farm both in Brainerd and Waite Park. I also buy it in a small town on the way up to my land. I use it in all small engines and my Farmall super c. You just have to look around MN.

[xs11jack]

Lot of good info here. When or maybe if I get this thing running I will run the gas out of it when I store it this fall. I live 40 miles west of St.Louis and can't find plain, no alcohol gas anywhere. Maybe draining everything this fall will help. As for a twenty dollar tiller, I haven't got it running yet so I don't know what the final bill will be. Might be really high and I will end up selling it for parts. Thanks, guys for all your advise.
Ole Jack

[Lead Fred]

Its a Walbro carb, go to any small engine shop and ask to buy a core carb.
most of the time they will give you one.

[jonp]

you can get replacements at most small engine shops to fit that. I'll tell you what, though. I had a girlfriend several years ago that bought one and being how light it was I didn't expect much but that thing dug some dirt. I was very impressed with it

[Light attack]

Aviation fuel is 100LL ( 100 Octane Low Lead ) It is no alcohol.

[leadman]

I use Sta-Bil in my outboard and other small engines. Now they make a product for ethanol gas also.

[mozeppa]

only reason they put REAL gas in ethanol ...is to keep you from drinking it.

[xs11jack]

Lead Fred, thanks for the name of the carb. That will help alot.
Ole Jack

[dragon813gt]

Another option is VP Racing Fuels. They make small engine specific fuel. But I use their fuel that I run in one of my VWs. It's not cheap but can be bought five gallons at a time instead of quarts.

[Andy]

check ebay or pm me your model number/machine info and I can search for you if you want a hand, there aren't too many sizes of bulbs so lots of cross compatibility once you know what you need

ebay is the place for one/two small engine parts, most of these things ship for $2-3 on ebay and $7-10 from a parts place. Do that unless you need enough parts at one time to pay for shipping from a small engine place, then they will usually beat ebay prices by a good bit.

Just checked and you can get an item called "mantis tiller primer bulb" in a 10 pack for $6 shipped on current listings, for example. Would need more info to know if this fits yours, but this is how to buy this part, not through the manufacturer.

[thxmrgarand]

Seriously, we all have to work hard to get a Republican in the White House. No guarantees but if we can have a Republican in the White House with this Congress maybe we can roll back the stupid laws that do no good for the environment or the economy but put us through Hell every day. Here in this part of Alaska when anyone is building a house or remodeling a bathroom they buy the plumbing stuff in Canada to avoid plumbing that doesn't work. When you are going to ship certain things like a new fuel filter for a boat both the parts supplier and the airline wink and nod, and label the thing anything but something for fuel (even though it is new and never had fuel in it whatsoever) because of the red tape required if the box has the word fuel on it. Like a 3rd World country, everyone is in on the fix but government puts us through a little dance. And the government people are completely inexperienced with the real world, and maybe stupid. Bribes cannot be far off. Maybe we can roll some of this back. Yes, the fuel is terrible; everyone knows it but we accept it. Many similarities in health care laws, firearms and ammunition laws, etc. etc. Marine guys and commercial aviation guys argue over who is beset the worst by stupid laws. If you live in a swing state (my state will go to the Republican no matter what) please start knocking on doors.

[xs11jack]

Well I got the bulb and installed it. I got it to run for 10 to about 25 seconds at a time. Fiddled with it for about a hour and quit for the nite. yesterday I pulled the choke and with about 3 pulls it took right off and runs like a champ. Took it out and worked a small plot and it runs and tills great. Thank one and all for the good advice.
Ole Jack

[TXGunNut]

Good Job! What are you planting?

[MaryB]

My little Honda tiller fired on the third pull today! Tilled 1/3 of the garden so I can start getting greens in tomorrow. Craving that first salad of spring greens!

[frkelly74]

Is it that little clear derby hat looking thing? I have some in he shop if you need one. Shipping and handling $.47. Seriously, if you need one let me know and get me you address.

[xs11jack]

I am tilling up some of the grass/weeds in my lawn, it has gotten out of hand, so I am going to rip it up and put down fertilizer and grass seed. It's slow going with a nasy back ache trying to stop me. I am going to be 74 in a month or so and I guess that 74 isn't going to be anybetter than 73 was so I better get it done.
Ole Jack

[Geezer in NH]

Mantis had a great following in the greenies it seems but sorry their units blew.

The shop connected to my old gun shop loved them as they would make 50-60 bucks a year making them run again.

The shop sold an alterative from Stihl that did other tasks including the little tiller. They did not let on to the Mantis owners wanting repair however as the profit was way better for the cult.