Comments regarding Vortine™ High Performance Mini Tiller

I purchased a Vortine tiller last Aug. (2004) with the understanding that I could return it within one year if I was not satisfied. I used it last fall and fell in love with it. It started on the first pull every time. It has a honda 4 cycle engine which is great, not mixing of fuel and oil. It did a great job of tilling up new ground. I have a small to medium size garden. This spring I started using the tiller again. It started on the first pull after sitting in the garage all winter. Now the bad part. After about two weeks of use this spring, the gears started to slip and after a few more uses, they slipped all the time. The tines just would not turn. I am 1/4 through with my garden and now the tiller doesn't work at all. I was sick. I called the company and they said just send it back and they would refund my money. No questions asked. They didn't offer to fix it or send me another one. I think they have a problem with the fiber gears. They really should last longer than one season. If they fixed this problem it would be a great tiller, a lot better than the Mantis, which I use to own. I might consider purchasing their bigger version. I'm now waitng for them to credit my money back to me on my credit card. Will let you know how things turn out. The person I spoke with on the phone was very pleasant. I would have thought that they would have wanted to know why I was sending it back, and try to get me another one.
When it was working, it did a great job.

Respectfully submitted;
Richard J. Bomgren