ATV food plot devices?

[Foggy47]

Been a lot of talk here about planting into perennial clover and using light gly to stunt it.

I use that trick some too. But talking about soil health, cutting it tight with mower, then using something like Firminator for light discing and cultipacking will accomplish the same thing, probably better.

AND, not spraying a chemical just as important for soil and wildlife health as not tilling.

I tried that last year in my perennial clover plots. I scalped that clover close to the ground with my flail mower......then drilled turnips, rape,and collards. The clover came back in spades. and for the most part crowed out my brassica. Next year I plan to nuke that clover before or after clipping it down.....then drill my braisca into that area. (try to economize on the seed cost a bit and still get the N credits).

I plan to put the brassica in the middle of some plot(s) leaving clover around the borders. Then in fall when I drill my winter rye I will include more red clover and maybe crimson clover for the next year. Likely rotate the brassica into a few areas and repeat the following year(s),

^That is one reason I wanted a drill with press wheels instead of that roller as found on the Tar River. Likely will not damage as many turnip bulbs and such when drilling my rye and clover for the next year. I have terrible luck with broadcasting....and try to avoid that practice if at all possible.

 

[yoderjac]

The disk angles on the Firminator can be set straight for no till, then angled for the amount of tilling you may want. Because the cultipacker sets the till depth, you can adjust depth based on seed type.

Yes, less aggressive is better than more aggressive.

 

[Foggy47]

Saw these ATV Planters today......and thought some guys on here may be interested. They are on Facebook. Looks like a great design if you do ATV plotting.

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Sieh dir auf Facebook Beiträge, Fotos und vieles mehr an.

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[BenAllgood]

I used to use the Kasco versadrill behind a tractor and didn't really care for it. (even saw a thread copied from the old forum where I answered one of yoderjac's questions when he first got his). I thought the coulters were too flimsy for the clay soil I was working with.

But, I've always wondered about this one for an ATV:

Dew Drop Drill - the small scale seed drill/planter that really works BIG!

The Dew Drop Drill is a small scale seed drill/planter, designed to be pulled by an ATV. Designed to have a wide stance, a low center of gravity, and large aggressive tires; the Dew Drop Drill lets you put seed where you want it, even in rough terrain. Capable of planting from no till to light...

www.dewdropdrill.com

 

[yoderjac]

I used to use the Kasco versadrill behind a tractor and didn't really care for it. (even saw a thread copied from the old forum where I answered one of yoderjac's questions when he first got his). I thought the coulters were too flimsy for the clay soil I was working with.

But, I've always wondered about this one for an ATV:

Dew Drop Drill - the small scale seed drill/planter that really works BIG!

The Dew Drop Drill is a small scale seed drill/planter, designed to be pulled by an ATV. Designed to have a wide stance, a low center of gravity, and large aggressive tires; the Dew Drop Drill lets you put seed where you want it, even in rough terrain. Capable of planting from no till to light...

www.dewdropdrill.com

Yes, my Kasco No-till Versadrill was cheap by no-till drill standards, but I had to make a lot of modifications to make it workable. First, I had to get a hydraluic top link and attach it with a chain. This allowed me to lift it plenty high enough for transport, but drop it with slack on the chain so the cultipack has sufficient weight to cover the rows. I had no problem with the coulters cutting into my clay, but I don't plant in summer when my clay gets hard and the top couple inches lose moisture. I have done it, but I I had to add a lot of weight to the drill. I found using Kasco's technique of adjusting the top-link to get seed depth was worthless. The best method for me to adjust depth was letting the drill float (slack in the toplink chain) and adding the correct amount of weight.

The worst aspect of the drill is that it does not handle trash well. It is fine if I role WR, but if I mow it, the debris builds up and clogs some of the planting shoes. Some rows seemed to clog more than others. I eventually put my own tubes in to bypass the planting shoes. That helps. My drill is only 4' wide, so it takes a lot of passes to plant a field. Sometimes it is hard to see the previous pass, so I added a foamer to mark each pass. For the $3K I paid for the used drill, it was clearly worth it for me. I could not justify the cost of a Big-Boy no-till drill for food plotting.

The task it works best for is planting through suppressed perennial clover. No clogging at all in that scenario and the results are great.

 

[BenAllgood]

 

[Nightvision]

I did not read all of the post so forgive me if this was mentioned.

A drag harrow. It would be perfect for scratching the surface and getting smaller seeds to grow.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

In one of the videos you posted while going through fine tilled dirt a bunch of the spring harrows weren't even touching the ground. Maybe they had it angled down to show the disc moving dirt better? The discs are rigid mounted so if the land isn't flat with loose dirt i could imagine some of those discs will be floating. It looks like the seed drops at or possibly BEHIND the spring harrows with nothing following to cover or push seed in. On the other hand, those tiny discs and the lack of cultipacker or press wheels might lead to them biting decently into the ground for an atv disc as you can get most all of the weight on their small surface area. There could be a lot more weight per disc on that thing than on my Land pride DH1560 3 pt disc (dew drop = 650# and 12 8" discs vs land pride 628# and 16 18" discs) so they might bite pretty good.

Might work good to get tillage/seeding in one step but you might want to run a drag harrow or cultipacker over afterwords?

 

[BenAllgood]

In one of the videos you posted while going through fine tilled dirt a bunch of the spring harrows weren't even touching the ground. Maybe they had it angled down to show the disc moving dirt better? The discs are rigid mounted so if the land isn't flat with loose dirt i could imagine some of those discs will be floating. It looks like the seed drops at or possibly BEHIND the spring harrows with nothing following to cover or push seed in. On the other hand, those tiny discs and the lack of cultipacker or press wheels might lead to them biting decently into the ground for an atv disc as you can get most all of the weight on their small surface area. There could be a lot more weight per disc on that thing than on my Land pride DH1560 3 pt disc (dew drop = 650# and 12 8" discs vs land pride 628# and 16 18" discs) so they might bite pretty good.

Might work good to get tillage/seeding in one step but you might want to run a drag harrow or cultipacker over afterwords?

I have no idea if it's good or not. I've just always been interested in it, but never see much about them. This guy was pulling it with a 60" zero turn mower.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I have no idea if it's good or not. I've just always been interested in it, but never see much about them. This guy was pulling it with a 60" zero turn mower.

View attachment 49416

Dang! My ZT barely makes it up a modest hill, no way in hell would it pull any implement that actually has some ground resistance.

 

[yoderjac]

In one of the videos you posted while going through fine tilled dirt a bunch of the spring harrows weren't even touching the ground. Maybe they had it angled down to show the disc moving dirt better? The discs are rigid mounted so if the land isn't flat with loose dirt i could imagine some of those discs will be floating. It looks like the seed drops at or possibly BEHIND the spring harrows with nothing following to cover or push seed in. On the other hand, those tiny discs and the lack of cultipacker or press wheels might lead to them biting decently into the ground for an atv disc as you can get most all of the weight on their small surface area. There could be a lot more weight per disc on that thing than on my Land pride DH1560 3 pt disc (dew drop = 650# and 12 8" discs vs land pride 628# and 16 18" discs) so they might bite pretty good.

Might work good to get tillage/seeding in one step but you might want to run a drag harrow or cultipacker over afterwords?

I think that is a general problem for many all-in-one implements. Even my Kasco no-till drill has a similar issue. It has no-till coulters not disks, but they want you to use the toplink to adjust seed depth. I found when you angle it for more seed depth, the trailing cultipacker does not close the rows as it is slightly elevated. I ended up finding a fix, but many all-in-one implements do all things, but poorly.

I've seen other all-in-one implements that have similar issue. Maybe on smooth flat ground they may work, but in most food plot situations, they leave a lot to be desired.