Busting it up

Okay, so today's dilemma is how to break up the soil for the garden. In the past, my gardens were much larger and I had a tiller to do the work. It did such a great job breaking the clay up into something workable. This garden is small and I cannot justify not only spending the money for a new tiller, but having something so large for such a small space. What I am considering is a cultivator. But...

My mother owned a Mantis http://www.mantis.com/ and I never liked it because it was so loud! I also recall that it bounced around a lot unless I had already done the shovel work before began using it. At The Home Depot this week I found another unit by Ryobi and I am considering it since it has a sand reservoir that adds weight and may minimize the bouncing.... But I will still be dealing with that 2-cycle engine noise.

What to do?

I am seriously considering doing this the old fashioned way and using my shovel and hoe. Hey, that's how my grandparents did it and they grew some great vegetables and flowers.