4 Wheeler for Food Plots

[Steven Tolly]

Ok guys this is our first year working on a few food plots. We did two in the timber this year with my buddies side by side Ranger 800 cc. I am looking at buying a 4 wheeler or ranger to help out next year but want to make sure I get plenty of power to pull anything I need to plant in CRP. We have two big CRP fields we want to run pheasant and deer food plots in but they have not been plowed in 20 years.

I am thinking about and 850 polaris sportsman or I could go up to the 1000 or a side by side. Any thoughts what implements will I need to pull behind them. Plow, disk, harrow?

I like the 4 wheeler versus the side by side because I can put it in the back of my truck if I want and do not always have to take the trailer, but if I really need the side by side I will make it work.

Thanks

 

[BJE80]

I assume you have ruled out a cheap tractor?


If it were me it would be Honda all the way due to their transmission for work. It is a direct drive and not a CVT pulley design. They are the only ATV's that are still direct shaft drive to my knowledge. That will hold up much better with hard pulling. Get a Honda Foreman IMO.

 

[1quick70]

If a tractor isn't an option, if get the biggest UTV you can afford. I used my ATV (Yamaha 700) to pull my cultipacker this year and it worked it pretty hard.


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[alldaysit]

Just my $0.02

I have a Can-Am Outlander 400 EFI 4x4. It's a beast. I had a drag, pull behind disc, etc. it worked/works great.

Then, I got a great deal on a 1990 Diesel John Deere compact utility tractor last year that needed the front end rebuilt but it had a cab and front end loader on it. I rebuilt it myself for $800 instead of the thousands the dealer wanted (my choice). Now I use that 100x more than the Outlander. The tractor is like having all your buddies with you lifting, pulling, working. I use the Outlander for running to and from the truck as well as pulling the Cultipacker. I wouldn't even need it to do that but I figure if I have it I should use it.

I am to the point now that I'm looking at bigger equipment than the Deere can handle. One can buy a lot of tractor for the price of a new quad. So as others have said: identify what you need now, then buy the next size or two bigger. Trust me that plot or shooting lane or driveway or whatever looks like the right size for one season. Then you want it bigger as it becomes manageable and you or deer start using it and enjoying it.

I picked up:
5' King Kutter brush mower for $500
5' ARPS multi angle rear blade for $150
8' Cultipacker $175
12' drag for $25
5' Disc $325

Now I'm looking for a lime spreader and 3pt seed spreader.

I don't need to, but I would sell the quad in a heart beat to keep the tractor.

If your going to buy a quad for work, I agree to get a Honda Foreman. They just do work.

 

[Trapper LM]

I bought a canam outlander 650 this year and it is more than I really needed. As you probably know a canam 650 is comparable to others 800s.
I really liked that the reciever hitch is tied together to the frame as opposed to most others just being bolted to the rear axle.

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[Big Snow Man]

If a tractor isn't an option, if get the biggest UTV you can afford. I used my ATV (Yamaha 700) to pull my cultipacker this year and it worked it pretty hard.


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I will second the yamaha 700 I can't kill it with all my heavy equipment.

 

[j-bird]

Biggest issue with ground engaging equipment isn't the horse power to pull it, it's having the weight in most cases and then the torque. When I first saw your thread first thing that crossed my mind was, "He doesn't want an ATV.....he wants a tractor" But if that is out of the question then I would simply look at the weight of whatever machine you get and the torque ratings. Power means nothing if your wheels are spinning. Pulling things thru the dirt isn't easy. I can't give a recommendation on an ATV - I don't have one and I never have.....my tractor is my ATV.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

ATV's really aren't designed for heavy digging work like a tractor is. But tractors can be pretty expensive too, so you kind of have to weigh the two. A decent used $6000 tractor can do 10 times the work of a new $12,000 ATV but you just need to save some cash since old tractor parts break too.

If you're set on the ATV route, buy a good sprayer since killing off all the vegetation will be needed for the ATV to cut through thick CRP sod. I think a heavy pull behind ATV disk will allow you to make some good plots though.

 

[Satchmo]

I do all my plotting of 4 acres with a CanAm 500 Outlander. I seed & spray, pull my flip disc, pull a springtooth drag, and tow my cultipacker with it, BUT (and it's a big but) I am in fine sand soil, which is pretty easy to pull things through. It does everything I need it to do for plotting, but I would still like to have a tractor for plotting AND a lot of other things that my ATV can't do.

 

[Weasel]

From someone who started with ATV/garden tractor equipment, don't waste your time or money. Find a good used tractor. I bought a 1984 John Deere 750 with loader for $6,000. It was barn kept and the guy had service records for maintenance every year. She fires right up, even after a long, north east Ohio winter.

 

[NWWI]

My input would be something with a strong hitch 500 cc or bigger with a low range gear. I use an ATV to do my food plots. I spray and run a disk to break up my plots. I'm able to break up the dirt enough to get good plots the deer eat. The key that was mentioned above is to spray and get a good kill. The ATV isn't perfect, but I can't have everything. With untilled ground you might be better off to hire someone the first year to break it up anyway. After that you can do it yourself.

 

[Bigshooter19]

Tractor tractor tractor. I have a 09 Honda rincon 500 and a 625i gator. I always use my kubota l4610. Pick it up for 8000 few years back picked up brush hog for 500 buck and a 3 point ripper for a 100. Light enough for me to haul around only thing we use the atv or side by side for is pulling the 4 foot drag around and hauling are seed in. But that just how we do it.

 

[mikmaze]

if you do go atv route, do it a favor, and get one with low range and use it. that said, get a tractor. you can find a tractor for atv prices that will do what you want with ease vs working an atv to an early death. got my 91 jd for 5 grand with 6 foot brush hog. never would I try to do what I do with an atv, no way in hell an atv, don't care what size, could do the 25 acres of full till plots I do each year.

 

[hillHuntR]

I am in the "you all need a tractor" crowd. I have disced with my atv, and it does it. Takes tons more time than using our tractor, and i have that feeling every time i use the atv that i shouldnt be treating it that rough

 

[Sconnie]

I have done major new ground disk work awhile back with a John Deere Buck 650, dump box and all. Once you got the cut right it went all day. I may have melted a side panel though due to a bit of engine heat. Now I have a small diesel tractor and 400cc ATV to split the work. All I can say is stay away from the 850 (Polaris). There are good ones but they seem few and far between. Disclaimer:I may have sold new and used ATV's in the recent past.

 

[Big Snow Man]

I have done major new ground disk work awhile back with a John Deere Buck 650, dump box and all. Once you got the cut right it went all day. I may have melted a side panel though due to a bit of engine heat. Now I have a small diesel tractor and 400cc ATV to split the work. All I can say is stay away from the 850 (Polaris). There are good ones but they seem few and far between. Disclaimer:I may have sold new and used ATV's in the recent past.

I will second the Polaris melting on the side. I have a 700lb disc I pull in sandy area and the Polaris had a melt down. My Yamaha has never let me down. Now if you can find a good small tractor that doesn't need wrenching you will have a find that I have not been able to.

 

[tooln]

I started with an ATV, went 3 years before I got a tractor. The ATV is a Cat 700 & it handled everything I threw at it. Pulled a disk, packer, drag harrow, drop spreader. If I wouldn't have had the need for a loader I would have just kept goinig the ATV route. Nice thing about a CAT is they have 2' receivers. I bought a non current year model & saved BIG time and still got a full warranty.

 

[bwoods11]

Personally I would recommend a Yamaha, or a Honda. Less maintenance issues. Side by Side's would be nice! I have a Yamaha 550 4-stroke, not one issue!

 

[WTNUT]

My two cents: A $3,000 old tractor will save more than $3,000 worth of wear on a 11k to 19K ATV or UTV.


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[TMIL]

$1500 Farmall Cub and perfect if you have even the slightest mechanical ability: