Earthquake 12802 MC440 Mini Cultivator with 40cc 4-Cycle Viper Engine

3.0 out of 5 stars

By Casper - Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2018

Mini Cultivator

Pros; Easy to assembly and starts easy. 4 cycle engine so no mixing oil with gas. Fairly light, making it easy to handle and maneuver. Cons; Cannot check oil in upright position, you must lean it forward on the gas tank. Not enough power to keep tines turning in heavy grass. Tines also clog up easy with grass aiding in the problem with the tines not turning. In a garden and between rows where only light weeds is what you are going to use this for may work fine. For my use around trees and shrubbery it is not doing the job for me. I will be returning it for a refund. ***Update*** I used the online form to contact the company. They emailed me back and offered to repair it under warranty. Being concerned that if after repair it was not better that my window to return it to Amazon would be closed. I called Amazon CS and was offered a replacement and to pick up the original. I will see if the replacement works better and then update my review again. This mini cultivator has the potential to be a very useful garden tool. But if all it will do is turn loose dirt and quits turning the tines when it hits grass it is of no use to me.

3.0 out of 5 stars

By Eugene F. Ramatowski - Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2017

Great performer, but

I'm 74 years old, and needed a tiller easy to start and easy to use. It is easy and great to use. Not too easy to start - too much pulling on starter road. It a great tiller. Very unique! The till must be tilted on it gas tax to gingerly get to the oil fill cap and get it out and back in. Not easy, Manual and actual oil level need clarification my manufacturers. Not as easy to start as expected. It does perform outstandingly once I get it started and in the garden. I do like the way it handles - tills. Phone call to customer service was great, but the email response to my questions was too standard, off the shelf answers, not really addressing my questions. These are the facts.

1.0 out of 5 stars

By Jim 32 - Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2018

it leaks oil into the combustion chamber every time you let it sit upright for more than a few hours

when it leaks oil into the combustion chamber it seizes up.then you get to take the spark plug out and drain the oil off the top of the piston and clean out the chamber. then you get to add more oil and clean the spark plug.customer service tells me that's because I didn't lay it on it's side as soon as I was finished using it.the manual doesn't say anything about it and it also says if you are not going to use it for over a month stand it on it's nose (not it's side)) also I worked at a gm dealership for 25 years on 4 stroke cars and I thought that's why they have oil rings on the pistions (to keep the oil out of the combustion chamber.also when I did clean everthing out it started on the first pull and idled great,however when I gave it some gas I couldn't see my wife because of all the oil smoke coning out of the muffler.i shut it down and the dipstick was dry.therefore i'm not too impressed.it has a total of maybe 2hours 2 times.i'm goimg to try to either get a replacement or a refund.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Paul Jacks - Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2019

Outstanding Value

I had originally ordered a mini-tiller from another company. After waiting more than two weeks for a "prime delivery," I cancelled that order and ended up ordering this mini-tiller from Earthquake, which arrived in two days. It took me about 10 minutes (or less) to assemble the unit. I added the can of oil that came with the unit and gassed it up. I pulled the cord and had a little trouble starting it, but then I remembered that I hadn't primed it. I pumped the priming bulb a couple of times until I could see the gas in the gas line, gave the cord a pull, and it started right up. I moved the tiller to the bed that I wanted to test it on. I had layered a 3-4 inch layer of mushroom compost on top of the bed, which measured about 25 feet by 6 feet. The tiller worked perfectly. Within minutes I had a nice even mix of compost and soil. I raised the rear wheel and made another pass and it really did an excellent job softening the ground up to a depth about 6 inches or so. Clearly, this is the kind of tilling this machine is made to do. I don't think it, or any mini-tiller would work all that well if the ground was unprepped or really hard. Anyway, I am very happy with the results and I am looking forward to using the tiller at my community garden plot, which is 20 feet by 20 feet. Also, by buying it on Amazon, I saved $20-$30 from the price at my local big box stores.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By R. Groom - Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2015

I have been very pleased with it so far

I needed a small tiller to cultivate in the vegetable garden where I needed to get into tight spots. I had used a friends Mantis but found it very cumbersome to use. After doing some research, I found the Earthquake mini cultivator and decided to give the MC440 four stroke a try. I have been very pleased with it so far. I only have about six hours of use on it but it has performed extremely well. It digs and tills much better than the Mantis and doesn't jump all over the place. I was concerned about the handles being a little flimsy but they turned out not to be an issue. The wheels work great but it gets rather cumbersome trying to adjust the height, a minor issue, but should be improved. The engine starts much easier than the Mantis and is very quiet. Over all, a great mini tiller for a good price.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Biggs - Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2019

Light maneuverable and does the job for me.

Finally got to use this little machine, end result - love it! Easy to start and maneuver, way easier than my full size. The weeds were out of control...this came to the rescue. Took about an hour to till between plants (20x18) garden, it has been rainy here so this was my first chance to get this dirty. Very light weight and easily to guide around my tomato cages. The ground , of course should be relative soft...this chopped the ground nicely. Well worth the cost, no substitute for the big one I have, but great for shallow tilling 3-5 inches. Look at the pics (before and after) to get an idea of the weeds!

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Mik Ponder - Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2018

You'll appreciate the relative quiet of the 4 cycle engine!

Loving this so far, and it seems sturdy and well built. The 4 cycle engine is noticeably quieter than a 2 cycle clanky rattler! Digs in and gets down deep if the soil is not heavily compacted. You would probably need to break open the surface if there is any turf, but for a garden bed, that has been worked in the past, this delivered a nice soil, ready for planting after running once over in perpendicular directions.

1.0 out of 5 stars

By Warren Jansen - Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020

Waste of money

Sure it fired up easy after putting together but after the first 1 hour max use it has been nothing but a headache fuel lines cracked after just a couple months and then after the secound use it will not start. I'm a ford master tech so I have the knowledge on how this thing works and its garbage