Starting from square 1 on implements for food plotting

[Chainsaw]

Regardless of deer density, I think for those who want to shoot mature deer, you are barking up the right tree. To be more specific, I think drawing mature deer to your property specifically during hunting season is the key. The most important part of that is security. If mature deer eat on food plots on one parcel every night and bed in the thicket on the adjoining parcel every day, I want to own them both. If I can't, I want the thicket. Folks with a few hundred acres can create both on their land in most cases.

Having said that, not everyone has the same goals or or blend of goals. Making a smaller property a better hunting location is a very achievable goal for most folks.

I agree Jack. That's where apples come into play for us in our location. We get to watch deer bed and feed on and off all day most days from our sunroom. The first place they go to feed upon waking up in the afternoon is to our productive apple trees. After that they go to the smaller food plots and after that they go off running around town getting their pictures taken during the dark of night. In the morning just before or just after daylight they are back, they visit the apples again and then they retreat to their beds. So owning the food they visit first in the evening and last in the morning along with the bedding area is key for us.

 

[Maddog66]

I spoke again with the farmer who’s been leasing my Ag land for many years. He has grown corn and beans in the past very successfully on my fields but the last 10 years, just hay for his beef cattle.

Anyway, great minds must think alike because he said I should slow down a little bit and offered to help. We discussed the following in exchange for the 2 crops of hay (minus the hay he would have got from the plots of course.

1. As soon as I can, I’ll mow my plots short and hit them with glyphosate.
2. I’ll have my fert/lime buggy dropped off at the land and he will spread it for me.
3. He’ll break open the ground with his large disc
4. He’ll drop off his drag and cultipacker at my land
5. I drag, plant, and cultipack with my tractor.... ( all clover)
6. Later in the summer / early fall.....he will disc some strips in the clover for me
7. So I can plant fall annuals on my own....again, borrowing his stuff.

He also offered to buy my fertilizer and seed through his Co-op at his discount and clued me in on the Great Plains drill our local county rents out for $75/day........in case I want to go that route instead of him doing tillage. He said he’ll come over and teach me to use it too.


So with this plan, I could have nice plots this year, I get to actually see a bunch of my ground (rocks?) and I can continue to research equipment and shop. Seems like I’ve heard this before somewhere?? :)

I haven’t made any decisions yet though.

Sidebar : I don’t know about anywhere else, but the equipment dealers recently are all telling me 2 things. First, anything they need to order is a crap shoot. One told me that the equipment he’s usually having delivered right now, is delayed until June with only 2 weeks notice! Not just one manufacturer either.

Second, they believe that with the stimulus checks coming, they’re going to get wiped out of the equipment in inventory. It might be BS on both counts, but it was enough to get me to pull the trigger on a new rotary mower..... which I need regardless of planting equipment.

 

[Chainsaw]

I spoke again with the farmer who’s been leasing my Ag land for many years. He has grown corn and beans in the past very successfully on my fields but the last 10 years, just hay for his beef cattle.

Anyway, great minds must think alike because he said I should slow down a little bit and offered to help. We discussed the following in exchange for the 2 crops of hay (minus the hay he would have got from the plots of course.

1. As soon as I can, I’ll mow my plots short and hit them with glyphosate.
2. I’ll have my fert/lime buggy dropped off at the land and he will spread it for me.
3. He’ll break open the ground with his large disc
4. He’ll drop off his drag and cultipacker at my land
5. I drag, plant, and cultipack with my tractor.... ( all clover)
6. Later in the summer / early fall.....he will disc some strips in the clover for me
7. So I can plant fall annuals on my own....again, borrowing his stuff.

He also offered to buy my fertilizer and seed through his Co-op at his discount and clued me in on the Great Plains drill our local county rents out for $75/day........in case I want to go that route instead of him doing tillage. He said he’ll come over and teach me to use it too.


So with this plan, I could have nice plots this year, I get to actually see a bunch of my ground (rocks?) and I can continue to research equipment and shop. Seems like I’ve heard this before somewhere?? :)

I haven’t made any decisions yet though.

Sidebar : I don’t know about anywhere else, but the equipment dealers recently are all telling me 2 things. First, anything they need to order is a crap shoot. One told me that the equipment he’s usually having delivered right now, is delayed until June with only 2 weeks notice! Not just one manufacturer either.

Second, they believe that with the stimulus checks coming, they’re going to get wiped out of the equipment in inventory. It might be BS on both counts, but it was enough to get me to pull the trigger on a new rotary mower..... which I need regardless of planting equipment.

A single day ($75) will do all of your plots. That is a great deal. On the first try, with help or not the tendency is to go thru more seed than planned so having extra seed on hand is a good move.

 

[DavidHunter2001]

I highly recommend the drill if you can. Disking will just bring up more rocks and destroy the soil. One thing you will find with renting a drill is that everyone will want to rent it when the weather is just right. So if you go that route you may want to try and get it early or it may be hard to get. I would contact them right away and see if there is a waiting list.

 

[swat1018]

I spoke again with the farmer who’s been leasing my Ag land for many years. He has grown corn and beans in the past very successfully on my fields but the last 10 years, just hay for his beef cattle.

Anyway, great minds must think alike because he said I should slow down a little bit and offered to help. We discussed the following in exchange for the 2 crops of hay (minus the hay he would have got from the plots of course.

1. As soon as I can, I’ll mow my plots short and hit them with glyphosate.
2. I’ll have my fert/lime buggy dropped off at the land and he will spread it for me.
3. He’ll break open the ground with his large disc
4. He’ll drop off his drag and cultipacker at my land
5. I drag, plant, and cultipack with my tractor.... ( all clover)
6. Later in the summer / early fall.....he will disc some strips in the clover for me
7. So I can plant fall annuals on my own....again, borrowing his stuff.

He also offered to buy my fertilizer and seed through his Co-op at his discount and clued me in on the Great Plains drill our local county rents out for $75/day........in case I want to go that route instead of him doing tillage. He said he’ll come over and teach me to use it too.


So with this plan, I could have nice plots this year, I get to actually see a bunch of my ground (rocks?) and I can continue to research equipment and shop. Seems like I’ve heard this before somewhere?? :)

I haven’t made any decisions yet though.

Sidebar : I don’t know about anywhere else, but the equipment dealers recently are all telling me 2 things. First, anything they need to order is a crap shoot. One told me that the equipment he’s usually having delivered right now, is delayed until June with only 2 weeks notice! Not just one manufacturer either.

Second, they believe that with the stimulus checks coming, they’re going to get wiped out of the equipment in inventory. It might be BS on both counts, but it was enough to get me to pull the trigger on a new rotary mower..... which I need regardless of planting equipment.

I almost mentioned checking with FSA/NRCS, but I didn't figure they would have one that far north. Problem with the here is that everyone wants it at the same time, you may not have the pressure on it, up there.

 

[No-Tox]

I spoke again with the farmer who’s been leasing my Ag land for many years. He has grown corn and beans in the past very successfully on my fields but the last 10 years, just hay for his beef cattle.

Anyway, great minds must think alike because he said I should slow down a little bit and offered to help. We discussed the following in exchange for the 2 crops of hay (minus the hay he would have got from the plots of course.

1. As soon as I can, I’ll mow my plots short and hit them with glyphosate.
2. I’ll have my fert/lime buggy dropped off at the land and he will spread it for me.
3. He’ll break open the ground with his large disc
4. He’ll drop off his drag and cultipacker at my land
5. I drag, plant, and cultipack with my tractor.... ( all clover)
6. Later in the summer / early fall.....he will disc some strips in the clover for me
7. So I can plant fall annuals on my own....again, borrowing his stuff.

He also offered to buy my fertilizer and seed through his Co-op at his discount and clued me in on the Great Plains drill our local county rents out for $75/day........in case I want to go that route instead of him doing tillage. He said he’ll come over and teach me to use it too.


So with this plan, I could have nice plots this year, I get to actually see a bunch of my ground (rocks?) and I can continue to research equipment and shop. Seems like I’ve heard this before somewhere?? :)

I haven’t made any decisions yet though.

Sidebar : I don’t know about anywhere else, but the equipment dealers recently are all telling me 2 things. First, anything they need to order is a crap shoot. One told me that the equipment he’s usually having delivered right now, is delayed until June with only 2 weeks notice! Not just one manufacturer either.

Second, they believe that with the stimulus checks coming, they’re going to get wiped out of the equipment in inventory. It might be BS on both counts, but it was enough to get me to pull the trigger on a new rotary mower..... which I need regardless of planting equipment.

Not much to think about there. If I was you, I would jump all over this and go with the drill rather than disc, drag and cultipack.

 

[davidhelmly]

Hi all,

literally the second post of my life on a chat forum, so here goes....

In the pathetic year of 2020, I know for sure at least one good thing happened. My wife and I bought the property on which we hope to live out the rest of our days.....starting in about 3 years.

The property is just under 300 acres heavily wooded with about 25 acres on the dead center of it being a beautiful, and very productive, Y shaped existing agricultural field (hay). I plan to convert 4 “corners” of that field into perennial plots this spring and early summer.....and then parts of them into annuals later in the year. Total will be about 6 acres. Soil testing is done, and I’ve already contracted with the local co-op to deliver and spread a 10 ton buggy this spring with the soil amendments I’ll need for clover. (Yikes, btw, that left a bit of a mark for a first timer$)

I also bought a new JD4066R with all the functionality I’ll need For what I’m about to embark on. Truth is, my main experience on tractors to now has been on machines literally as old as I am...and older. I’ve done lots of habitat work over the past 12 years on a friends farm, but most of the food plot work has been with ATV implements. I guess i also have to say I’m in my mid 50’s since I was dumb enough to mention it above!

I‘m in the market right now for my food plot “starter kit” for the new tractor. Today, other than the FEL on my tractor, a set of pallet forks, and a carry-all I made myself, I have precisely zero equipment for making food plots. I’m looking for advice on how to best spend some money wisely to get a real good start on my 6 acres with another 20 acres to “grow” in the future If I so choose. One limiting factor for about the next 3 years is that the property is about a 3 hour drive, one way, and I have one building on the property. An old 30x40 dry tin shed with a new cement floor I put in last fall as the snow flew.

I have 2 schools of thought on implements right now. The first is to buy separate tools. I know for sure I need a rotary cutter, so that’s a given. I also know I’ll need a sprayer and I’m sticking with my ATV and 10’ boom for now. That leaves me with needing “primary” tillage (leaning toward a 6’ disc), for sure a damn good cultipacker, and a way to plant. I suppose I could walk it with a bag spreader to start, but my ultimate goal is to have something more precise and versatile.

The other option, is to go with a multi-use implement for better use of time, But obviously more $. Firminator or Woods maybe? Not sure I, or my tractor, can swing a true no-till. These option and others similar include a much better seeder than a solo spinner.....so I understand they are going to cost more.

So, anybody do it one way and wish they’d done it the other? All advice is welcome.....and free here by all accounts!

Take care all! Happy Habitat Friday?

I bought a Woods FPS 84 two years ago and my old regret is that I didn’t buy one 10 years earlier! If I were starting new I think I could be completely happy with a mower, sprayer and the Woods planter.

 

[SwampCat]

For those of you who say they would do without a disk - do you not ever want to level ground, smooth erosion, work trails, hog root, etc? I use my disks - three of them and a tiller - plus the disk on my woods seeder - more for things other than planting than I do planting. In fact, my woods seeder gets used more for trail work than it does while planting thirty or forty acres.

 

[DavidHunter2001]

For those of you who say they would do without a disk - do you not ever want to level ground, smooth erosion, work trails, hog root, etc? I use my disks - three of them and a tiller - plus the disk on my woods seeder - more for things other than planting than I do planting. In fact, my woods seeder gets used more for trail work than it does while planting thirty or forty acres.

I have a 7' disk that I have not used since I started No Till. I haven't gotten around to selling it but that will probably happen this year. As for erosion, as long as something is growing all year round erosion is not a problem. I do have a box scraper that I use for trail maintenance.

 

[yoderjac]

For those of you who say they would do without a disk - do you not ever want to level ground, smooth erosion, work trails, hog root, etc? I use my disks - three of them and a tiller - plus the disk on my woods seeder - more for things other than planting than I do planting. In fact, my woods seeder gets used more for trail work than it does while planting thirty or forty acres.

There is a difference between creating a new field where leveling may be needed. If I have erosion, I have put the field in the wrong place and need to remediate the creation of it. An excavator, dozer, root rake, box blade, disc, etc. may all be good tools for creating fields, maintaining trails, or firebreaks depending on existing conditions.

For food plotting, I'd do without a disc as much as possible for soil health. When I do need to disc a field for some reason, I do it with as light of disc as possible or a lifted tiller. Reducing frequency and depth of tillage is a soil health factor.

I use my big heavy disc regularly for firebreak maintenance. When starting out from ground zero with existing open land for fields like the OP, I would start small. No need for a disc for food plots given he has access to a rented drill or can do T&M. Then, when he comes to a situation that requires more, and has a few years under his belt, he can decide what the best tool is for road maintenance, trail creation, or whatever.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[SwampCat]

You boys have got it too easy. I have ruts 12” deep in miles of trail. My ranger is rarely out of 4wd. I have a box blade, but it works very poorly for filling the ruts because the dirt never really dries out enough to pull. I also have an 8 ft fully hydraulic rear blade that doesnt do much good unless you want to pull up football sized dirt clods. Below is a picture of one of my food plots. Some of that hog root is 18” deep. Sometimes a two or three time a year event.

 

[Chainsaw]

You boys have got it too easy. I have ruts 12” deep in miles of trail. My ranger is rarely out of 4wd. I have a box blade, but it works very poorly for filling the ruts because the dirt never really dries out enough to pull. I also have an 8 ft fully hydraulic rear blade that doesnt do much good unless you want to pull up football sized dirt clods. Below is a picture of one of my food plots. Some of that hog root is 18” deep. Sometimes a two or three time a year event.

View attachment 33770
View attachment 33771

The REAL WORLD counts.

 

[yoderjac]

You boys have got it too easy. I have ruts 12” deep in miles of trail. My ranger is rarely out of 4wd. I have a box blade, but it works very poorly for filling the ruts because the dirt never really dries out enough to pull. I also have an 8 ft fully hydraulic rear blade that doesnt do much good unless you want to pull up football sized dirt clods. Below is a picture of one of my food plots. Some of that hog root is 18” deep. Sometimes a two or three time a year event.

View attachment 33770
View attachment 33771

I've got similar problems. Where logging roads are flat, ponding and guy driving trucks on them when they are wet leads to mud holes. Where logging roads are steep, water-bars wear out and we get deep drainage ruts.

I decided the best tool was a mini-excavator and I'm hot on the hunt for one. My disc would do me no good for them. If I get ruts in fields, it is my own fault for getting on them wet or creating a field without properly considering topography.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[SwampCat]

I've got similar problems. Where logging roads are flat, ponding and guy driving trucks on them when they are wet leads to mud holes. Where logging roads are steep, water-bars wear out and we get deep drainage ruts.

I decided the best tool was a mini-excavator and I'm hot on the hunt for one. My disc would do me no good for them. If I get ruts in fields, it is my own fault for getting on them wet or creating a field without properly considering topography.

Thanks,

Jack

My neighbor has a mini excavator he lets me use sometimes but it is just too slow go when trying to repair miles of trails and acres of hog root. Have to use something a little quicker or would never finish. But no doubt, that excavator is dang handy for a lot of other things. Would like to have one myself

 

[yoderjac]

My neighbor has a mini excavator he lets me use sometimes but it is just too slow go when trying to repair miles of trails and acres of hog root. Have to use something a little quicker or would never finish. But no doubt, that excavator is dang handy for a lot of other things. Would like to have one myself

I've got many miles as well. I'll fix the sometimes impassable spots first. Once fixed properly with proper drainage, the roads should last many years. I'm figuring on owning the machine for at least 3 or 4 years to finish. I could find nothing faster. Once properly shaped, a rear or box blade on my tractor should handle the everyday maintenance.

 

[TreeDaddy]

For those of you who say they would do without a disk - do you not ever want to level ground, smooth erosion, work trails, hog root, etc? I use my disks - three of them and a tiller - plus the disk on my woods seeder - more for things other than planting than I do planting. In fact, my woods seeder gets used more for trail work than it does while planting thirty or forty acres.

All of the above......plus firebreaks!

bill

 

[SwampCat]

All of the above......plus firebreaks!

bill

yes sir, I forgot about those. My big tractor, I keep a bush hog hooked to it. My small tractor, I keep a five ft disk hooked to it. These folks that claim they can fix a road and it is good for three years, I envy. I can fix a road and it may not be good for three months. It is almost like folks have become so hesitant to use a disk in a food plot, that disks now have a bad name for use anywhere. But I also understand that if you dont own property with hogs, or own southern bottomlands - you probably have no realistic comprehension of what some of us deal with. Buckshot gumbo is a whole different animal.

 

[Maddog66]

It’s been a long process but I thought I’d close this out by saying thanks to everyone for their feedback. I went back and forth 100 times and wore out my fingers doing interweb research on this subject.

In the end, what mattered most to me was 1. being in charge of my own destiny foodplot-wise….and 2. The ability to do more than one thing without having to go out and grab another implement - saving time. I guess the 3rd thing was space, in that my shed is pretty full already without adding 3 more implements.

So I bought a new 6’ disc Firminator with the HD upgraded cultipacker. Just got notified it was done and ready to ship.

I won’t get to use it this year since our first frost date is under 2weeks out, but I’m sure and looking forward to spring .

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Maddog, I just now read this whole thread. Keep us updated on your property. My parents have 170 acres in itasca county, mn that I imagine have similar predator and deer densities.

There is a lack of info on managing properties in the heart of wolf country. I don’t feel like mature bucks bed in patterns like they discuss for the rest of the country.. I’d like to see what works for others.

 

[MadMadHoosier]

Did not read this entire thread, but enough to reply with feedback I think. I started out with 200 acres and a 4700 in western Kentucky over 20 years ago. Have grown to 550 acres and a 4066R. Farmer rotates corn and beans on about 80 tillable, but is not interested in helping with food plots. Have a total of about 12 potential food plot acres, in a dozen scattered locations, that have had limited success until this year.

A disk was my very first implement, but it was soon replaced with a rota-tiller and never used again. The tiller also sits idle now, since buying a Genesis 5 no-till. Bought the heavy duty Genesis, and really need extra weight in the front (bucket of dirt in FEL for now) to steer uphill. The standard duty Genesis is built very well and I would buy that one if I had it to do over.

Rotary cutter is a must for the heavy stuff and trail construction/maintenance, and I recently added a ditch/bank flail mower with hammer blades. I’ll initially bush hog a plot, and later flail it as low as possible right before planting. Trying to avoid spray as much as possible, but have used it when absolutely necessary.

Also have a box blade that is used to maintain gravel drive and for occasional dirt work, and recently added a set of forks I now wish I had gotten a lot sooner.

It gets expensive, but working with the tractor on the farm is my therapy.