The Earthquake MC33 Mini Cultivator is a valuable tool for ensuring your soil is in prime condition for planting season. It's an older model, but has stood the test of time, and remains a good buy today. It’s a gas-powered tiller, which means you don't have to rely on an extension cord to reach your garden, and it cuts into soil to create trenches that are six inches deep and ten inches wide. While this isn't as deep or wide as other models featured in our lineup of the best tillers, it should still meet the needs of those with a small garden. There is a setting for six-inch wide trenches too, if you're looking to cultivate.
As with all the rototillers featured in our buying guide, you must assemble this unit first before you can use it. It's a relatively simple affair if you follow the instructions properly. The user manual provides easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions on how to put it together. There are no special tools required because you can attach and tighten the bolts and wing nuts by hand.
At 33 pounds, this is one of the heavier rototillers on our lineup. However, its weight is offset by the machine’s two-cycle Viper engine. This powerful engine makes it easy to push this garden tiller through the soil.
It's important to note this garden cultivator does more than just turn dirt. It also allows you to weed your garden, aerate the soil, and easily add and work in fertilizer directly with the dirt. Tilling your garden soil not only provides fresh earth for newly planted seeds that helps your plants grow to their fullest potential, but it helps water reach plants' roots more easily.
The tiller features a gas-powered engine, so you don't need an extension cable to plug it into an electrical outlet, but it is noisier. Gas-powered tillers can also be a good option if your garden is located far away from a power supply because you're not tethered to a cord that stretches all the way to the closest electrical outlet. However, with the Earthquake Mini Cultivator, you do have to use the right kind of oil and gasoline (and the correct ratio), which you can learn about in the product's user manual.
Unlike most of the garden tillers we've featured, the Earthquake Mini Cultivator has a recoil starting system rather than an electric starter. This means that you'll have to pull a cord to start it, much like a lawn mower. It's not a huge problem, but you may have to pull the cord multiple times to get it started – especially as the machine ages.
Should you buy the Earthquake MC33?
Earthquake tillers are generally very reliable and produce excellent results for furrowing your garden. While this one doesn't cut as deep and wide as some of its rivals, it makes tilling very easy and the fact that it's gas powered does increase the range. However, as it's suitable for smaller gardens, due to the smaller trenches it creates, you may want to consider a cheaper electrical tiller, as the length of the extension cable will likely be less of an issue.
