Sun Joe TJ604E – Product review

At just over $100 it will be hard to beat the Sun Joe TJ604E

Before you read any other reviews, first, ask yourself… “Self, what problem am I trying to solve?” If your answer falls into the categories of, I’ve got to turn over those flower beds, or tear up a section of lawn, or get my vegetable garden plot or allotment ready for planting, keep reading.  If your answer falls into the category of, I need to plow my 10 acre corn field, you might need something a little bigger.

Let’s start off with a general product description. The Sun Joe TJ604E is an electric garden cultivator with a very strong 13.5 amp motor geared for high torque to a 16 inch deck containing 6 spring steel cultivating blades. It weighs a little over 30 pounds and is very easy and straightforward to use.  It has a wheel height adjustment to allow for variable depth of cultivating.

Where to buy

Whelp these days it’s hard not to say Amazon. If you follow this link (or the product links below) you can get the Amazon Prime special price, free shipping, and if you sign up for the Amazon Rewards Visa card, they’ll knock $50 off the total price.

 Sun Joe TJ604E – the good stuff

• As with any electric power tool, an electric rototiller uses no gasoline and the engine will never be a point of failure.
• The 30ish pound weight is easy to maneuver and you can use it all day without wearing yourself out
• The strong 13.5 amp motor paired with its high torque gearing means the cultivating blades can chew through:
  • grass
  • weeds
  • vines
  • power cords (careful)
• The spring steel blades mean they don’t bend when you hit a rock
• All the main parts are replaceable, so if you break something, no problem

Sun Joe TJ604E – the less than perfect stuff

There’s no such thing as a perfect product. Everything comes with some downsides. Here’s what we found out in our experience.

If you’re cutting up a lawn to replace a garden, figure on making 2 – 3 passes. Getting through the grass as part 1, and then mulching that grass into the soil as part 2 and maybe 3 depending on your soil composition.

If you have rocks in your soil (like we do) anything potato sized will get caught between the blades and the deck. Since the tines are geared for torque, you won’t be able to spin it out by hand, so you will either have to take the blade off (1/2 socket or wrench will work) or pound it out with a hammer. After the third rock we just stuck the hammer in our back pocket as a standard course of action.

Be extra careful of the power cord. Even if it looks like it’s 2-3 inches away, forget it, it’s going to get sucked into the tines and wound around the axle… guaranteed… Fortunately the blades are not sharp so the likelihood of cutting the cord is low… trust us, after the fourth time, we learned our lesson.

We’re fortunate enough to have a small property where extension cords can reach nearly every corner, but that’s not true for everyone. If you have a portable generator that can make 1500 watts continuous, this will work out just fine. If not, you might want to think about a gas powered rototiller

Sun Joe TJ604E – final thoughts

Based on our experience with the product we’d definitely recommend it to family and friends with a similar use case. We don’t mind working hard, but cutting in a 375 square foot garden bed in our back yard manually with a spade would have taken a lot longer, and this was really fun to use.  Even getting rocks jammed in the machine and running over the cord didn’t take too much away from the experience. If you’ve got electric in your garden, and need a cultivator, buy this one.