Foggy's Deertopia Proving Grounds - Happenings

[SD51555]

Was just thinking about this situation. Before going "no till"......I would now be disking or tilling my land and making dry "black dirt" to plant into for summer crops such as beans or corn. I'd be as dirty as a pig at the end of the day.....and just stirring up dust.....and further drying out my "soil"......as I needed to get planted before the potential rain on the way. It would be a mad dash to get it all done. So I'd make passes with tillage, dragging, planting and often dragging some more to cover seeds...then a trip with the cultipacker. Argh! Sometimes it would rain....and sometimes not. (There were even times I'd do the whole process again as the rain never occurred....and weeds took over.)

Then I'd fight weeds all summer so they would not take over my plots. And I would spread fertilizer in a effort to get a decent crop.

I cannot beleive I would do this stuff each year. Seems I was only chasing my tail as things got progressively worse. lol.

No-till and my drill have made life much easier.....and better for my land. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

 

[Foggy47]

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The deal is......until Tar River offered a small no-till drill there really was not much I could do without buying a bigger tractor to pull such a thing. And then a bigger tractor would not fit under my door at my pole shed.

I was not really very aware of things like the Great Plains minimum till drills which could be used for no till. Some things like the "firminator" were somewhat unknown to me. Had I thought some of those things would work....I would have done so earlier. I had considered doing a cut-down drill converted to 3-point for a few years.....but never took action until Tar River came along.

Issues with pigweed became the final straw in my "old tillage ways".

It was a pretty big leap of faith for guys like me to adopt these new implements and practices. That is why we gotta keep telling this story....so it becomes more widespread.

 

[omicron1792]

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

It’s wild to me yall are that dry. We cannot get two days in a row without rain. I’ve been moving a concrete pour for 2.5 weeks cause I cannot hit a dry day.
It makes life hard, but I’d rather be swimming than deal with drought. Hope it breaks for you guys soon

 

[omicron1792]

Same dawg.

 

[SD51555]

I can’t even fathom that much rain. I just downloaded raindrop and they’re telling me I’ve gotten 4.4” since Jan 1.

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[SD51555]

Scratch that, I had the wrong location. I got 5.01” since January.

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[Foggy47]

Big event today at the Deertopia Proving Grounds. Yesterday I applied my second chemical burn down of Glyphosate and Simazine.....to about 5 to 6 acres in order to plant my RC Sundance Switchgrass today. I would have liked to wait another day or two.....but I am on a short leash for time....and it may begin to rain tomorrow or Tuesday / Wed. Pulled the trigger. I planted some super trails of switch in the Power Line ROW that goes thru my land....and is a great bedding spot. It's like I reclaimed another 10 acres of habitat by doing so. The pics dont show the maze of trails I created with my flail mower....and then sprayer. Lots of big rocks in there....so I went extra slow to prevent damage.

Also, lined many of my food plots edges with about 3 passes of switch in many areas....with a few wider and some narrower....and broke up the size of several large plots. Planted switch in front of a few blinds too.....and more "tricks of the trade". Tried to stay at 1/2" depth...or less.....but with all the undulations....it's somewhat of a crap shoot....I think I did pretty good. Got several pics of my efforts.....and I am glad to be planted in time for a rain? My foam markers and drill mod's are worth their weight in gold.

I did attach my camera to the back of the drill......and if I can figure out how to show it dropping the seeds.....I will post it. Let the rain dances commence. (Hi....how...are...you?....Hi.....how....are.....you....repeat). Pics.

 

[Foggy47]

^ About 5 acres at 6.5 lbs switch to the acre. Drill worked like butter. Appreciate the mods I have done on my drill. It may be the most "modded" little drill in America. lol. Foam markers are great.....weights keep it hugging the ground. Walk board allows this old body to look in the boxes in the field and add seed as needed. Hydraulic top link is a must. Much more. Thanks for all I've learned from you guys!

 

[TreeDaddy]

^ About 5 acres at 6.5 lbs switch to the acre. Drill worked like butter. Appreciate the mods I have done on my drill. It may be the most "modded" little drill in America. lol. Foam markers are great.....weights keep it hugging the ground. Walk board allows this old body to look in the boxes in the field and add seed as needed. Hydraulic top link is a must. Much more. Thanks for all I've learned from you guys!

Im sure you've covered this, but......

.....what are you adding to switch to keep the small seed box from plugging up?

Alamo switch is very small seed

My efforts with yellow sweet clover were a disaster in the small seed box because of obstruction/plugging

I don't want to repeat this experience with Alamo switch grass

thanks

bill

 

[Foggy47]

Im sure you've covered this, but......

.....what are you adding to switch to keep the small seed box from plugging up?

Alamo switch is very small seed

My efforts with yellow sweet clover were a disaster in the small seed box because of obstruction/plugging

I don't want to repeat this experience with Alamo switch grass

thanks

bill

Had zero issues with plugging. Flowed perfectly. Never altered original settings. The alfalfa settings were perfect for me.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Big event today at the Deertopia Proving Grounds. Yesterday I applied my second chemical burn down of Glyphosate and Simazine.....to about 5 to 6 acres in order to plant my RC Sundance Switchgrass today. I would have liked to wait another day or two.....but I am on a short leash for time....and it may begin to rain tomorrow or Tuesday / Wed. Pulled the trigger. I planted some super trails of switch in the Power Line ROW that goes thru my land....and is a great bedding spot. It's like I reclaimed another 10 acres of habitat by doing so. The pics dont show the maze of trails I created with my flail mower....and then sprayer. Lots of big rocks in there....so I went extra slow to prevent damage.

Also, lined many of my food plots edges with about 3 passes of switch in many areas....with a few wider and some narrower....and broke up the size of several large plots. Planted switch in front of a few blinds too.....and more "tricks of the trade". Tried to stay at 1/2" depth...or less.....but with all the undulations....it's somewhat of a crap shoot....I think I did pretty good. Got several pics of my efforts.....and I am glad to be planted in time for a rain? My foam markers and drill mod's are worth their weight in gold.

I did attach my camera to the back of the drill......and if I can figure out how to show it dropping the seeds.....I will post it. Let the rain dances commence. (Hi....how...are...you?....Hi.....how....are.....you....repeat). Pics.
View attachment 77775View attachment 77776View attachment 77777View attachment 77778View attachment 77779View attachment 77780View attachment 77781

Your pics #1 & #3 in this sequence look so much like an area I hunted for years - but with steeper / deeper terrain undulations in our mountains. Pic #3 even has aspen (?) regrowth in the background like the area I hunted. The layout of powerline-to-woods is even the same!!! Kind of a "Twilight Zone" thing looking at your pics. Our powerline ROW's have clumps of mountain laurel growing in them - but the comparison is a goose-bump starter for me.

I have to believe the deer love your area, given what I see in those pics. Good luck with the switch.

 

[SD51555]

Did u save some sweet clover acres to finish the trial?


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[Foggy47]

Did u save some sweet clover acres to finish the trial?


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None. Never saw any.

 

[Weedpatch]

That sure does look like a nice place. Thanks for posting all the pictures. What size Kubota and drill is that? I have an open station l3901 that I use on 155 acres. I feel pretty beat up sometimes when I come in. The machine will do most of what I want and it's small size gets me between tree rows. But a cab would be nice! So would a wider stance on hills. I'm picturing an hour or two of mowing, then parking it, stepping out and being fresh enough to take the wife to town for a drink. Does the AC work good in those cabs?
Thanks,

 

[Foggy47]

That sure does look like a nice place. Thanks for posting all the pictures. What size Kubota and drill is that? I have an open station l3901 that I use on 155 acres. I feel pretty beat up sometimes when I come in. The machine will do most of what I want and it's small size gets me between tree rows. But a cab would be nice! So would a wider stance on hills. I'm picturing an hour or two of mowing, then parking it, stepping out and being fresh enough to take the wife to town for a drink. Does the AC work good in those cabs?
Thanks,

Thanks. My kubota is an Grand L 3560 HSTC. (Hydostatic Cab). The primary reason I bought it over one with a bit more power is that it's the beefiest tractor that will fit under my 8 foot overhead door. Plus it works with 5 and 6 foot implements....which I had. I came from a JD 3520 Hydro.......and that was a fine tractor.....but this has it beat in every way to Sunday. Lots beefier loader, front axel and almost every other measure.....but the power is similar....and quite adequate for me. The CLEAN cab is GREAT....and the heat is good too.....the air works pretty good....but I do need to keep the air filter (dust) cleaned or the performance can diminish. It is more than adequate. Really nice when the deer flies are bad or when it's sweltering hot outside. And it's safer from flying debris and tree limbs in the cab. I would buy this tractor again.

I did not know I was going "no-till" when I bought the tractor.....and choosing a drill was difficult until the Tar River Saya drills came along. For any larger substantially heavier drill you would need a larger tractor. (I did not know of these drills at that time....nor did many other people). Anyway....me and the Tar River got along quite well.....and that led to me doing this drill after ALOTT of discussion here. It is better in most every way...but they do cost more. Mine is a 3P500 Great Plains drill that I found used....and it works very well for my needs. While I am more than satisfied with my drill....if I was buying again I would get the 3P600 with a small seed box and an agitator. We have a thread on these drills and their operation.

 

[Foggy47]

^ Not sure where you are from Weedpatch....or what kinda land you have. I have light soils (sandy) and these drills work under those situations. Heavy soil may take more of a drill for no-till? Do your own due diligence.

 

[Foggy47]

Delivered a new Banks Stump 4 to Deertopia today....and got it unloaded. Gonna build a tower for it in the coming weeks. Wanted to mow.....but it was still wet from the overnight rainfall (Niiice!) and it was a cool day....so instead I decided to finally replace my flail mower knives. I think I have had my flail mower about 6 years now. It's time. Not too hard of a job with the flip up service lid.....and an impact wrench. Not sure how I lived without these battery powered marvels. I suppose changing the 22 knife sets took me about 1 1/2 hours. This is what the underside of my Woodmaxx 78" Side-shift flail looks like after some rough years of use. Nothing is bent or damaged despite running through stumps and rocks, iron, and such. Been a solid mower for me.

 

[Foggy47]

I took a drive around my property to check on a blind location.....and have a look for some germination. I am quite certain the pics below are my RC Switchgrass. I planted a little Techumseh to see what it looks like.....but almost of it is Sundance. Anxious to see more in the next few days. Its kinda "hairy" near where it breaks through the ground. Anyone confirm?

 

[Brian662]

Unfortunately, I don't think that is switchgrass Foggy. I know the 3P500 will plant what you may call "row scattering" and not a perfect lines but that's what I would be looking for in emergence.

That appears to me to be a quack grass or foxtail.