No-till cultipacker

[bigboreblr]

So I picked up an old 4ft cultipacker. The one with the spur gear tooth on them. Feels good with weight, wheels are probably 15 inch around, atleast 30lb each and a solid 2 inch shaft adds more weight.

However, looking at it and trying to roll one on the yard, it doesn't feel like enough weight to press well. Felt like I wasted my money and should of made a concrete drainage pipe styled one.

I'll post actual pictures. It's not a brillion, but has the wheels that are about flat except for a 1/4" wide 1 inch taller rim in the middle, and then a separate free floating spur gear wheel maybe 1/2" thick. Alot like the pic below.

Is it you need the right soil moisture to make these work? I feel like I need to add 200lbs ontop of it to work right. Kinda feeling like I should cultipack, then run a regular roller after it.

 

[bigboreblr]

The pic of the one I bought is on a thread in april.

Cultipacker / Roller / Crimper small tractor / ATV

Kind of throwing around building or buying a cultipacker type implement. Soil moisture for new plantings hasn't been much of a problem for me, so the deep compaction / water channels of a cultipacker. For now, and ATV will be the tow vehicle. Looking to pick up a bukota BX tractor in a year...

habitat-talk.com

 

[Foggy47]

Your yard has grassy sod on it? Lots different than food plots to me. You may want to put some weight on it. I can see having a broadcast seeder on the front of your ATV / UTV and pulling that weighted cultipacker could work under the right soil conditions. Living grass sod is the hardest to penetrate IME. Keep in mind that most grains, clovers, and brassica only need 1/8" to 1/4" deep into your soils to do a good job germinating.

 

[SD51555]

I think those only provide any benefit it fluffy tilled soil. I've got one just like that. I used it once after my big dig and then parked it in the brush never to be used again.

**I take that back. I did use it on the nurse plot this past summer. Then put it back in the woods.

 

[yoderjac]

I think those only provide any benefit it fluffy tilled soil. I've got one just like that. I used it once after my big dig and then parked it in the brush never to be used again.

**I take that back. I did use it on the nurse plot this past summer. Then put it back in the woods.

Not in my experience. You can surface broadcast many deer crop seed with no tillage and the cultipacker presses the seed into the soil. It significantly increases my germination rates with some seeds over just surface broadcasting. It has been the best tool I've bought for T&M!

Great acquisition BIgborebr!

 

[yoderjac]

For those who till, a cultipacker can help break up clods that can be created when disking. They firm the seed bed and press air out in fluffy soil. They help press seed into soil improving seed/soil contact. They put an irregular surface on the soil while helps rain collect and infiltrate rather than running off.

 

[bigboreblr]

We all have different soils, and we have different plots too. I have 2 different worlds I use my implements for. I have a 1/2 acre backyard plot thats loamy clay. I share a 8 acre parcel with my inlaws. Wife and inlaws want stuff mowed, so no tall grass. I do clover, plantain, and throw in something different most falls. Mowing it once a month / every 3 weeks builds up alot of thatch.

Also, in soils like that some years its a bit wet, so stuff is easy to push down. If it's dry and your waiting for rain, the soil can be impossible to push down / in. You can drive a truck on it and not make a tiny dent.

I do strongly believe most folks who do no-till rotation need very heavy cultipackers. For an ATV and ideal cultipacker would be a nice 2-2.5ft big hunk of concrete.16 inch single wall culvert pipe would be good. However, I have a 6x12ft enclosed trailer that something like that would wreak havoc on. I will be collecting large rocks and leaving them at each plot site

Might need to pick up a drag harrow, or maybe do a few passes of my old time spring harrow to get the seeds under a the thatch well.

Up north I have a sandy soil, so pushing something in or working the soil is alot easier. One plot has an interesting twist, It's very rich and when I plant in August, there is 5ft tall golden rod in it. Debating whether to let the golden rod live, past 2 years there has been a beautiful almost complete stand of clover under it. Another plot has tons of small gold ball sized rocks on it. IT has grown an acceptable stand of clover. Put rye in every plot last august. Looked like they all did so so, but thinking spring is the better mark of what took and what didn't.

Thinking of making the cultipack frame long, so I can add a drop arm with a 2 inch tool bar. Put a few S-tines on it at time, or bolt of a set of discs, or bolt on a 6" cast iron spiked roller. Will put a spot for the small seed box, but thinking of re utilizing the 12v broadcast spreader again. Definitely putting a weight box ontop of the cultipacker, likely the toolbar too. Picked some 4 bolt 195/60/14 tires nd have hubs from the transport frame.

 

[Turkish]

Cultipackers are for consolidating or packing loose, tilled soil around seeds. I don’t know how that fits with no-tilling, but maybe I’ll learn.

 

[omicron1792]

Cultipackers are for consolidating or packing loose, tilled soil around seeds. I don’t know how that fits with no-tilling, but maybe I’ll learn.

Push seed onto or into soil for better seed to soil contact.

 

[bigboreblr]

Not only it pushes the seed in, it beats up or kills existing vegetation and knocks it to the ground for moisture retention.

I think a no-till cultipacker needs more weight per ft than regular cultipackers. Almost think the big concrete wheels are better. But, I need one that can be transported into remote areas, so I have to go light and add weight once it's there.

no-till methods have limitation on what seeds work well, and sometimes existing vegetation outpaces the new growth. Definitely adding my sprayer to the setup. Looking to do everything in 1 pass.

 

[Turkish]

Not only it pushes the seed in, it beats up or kills existing vegetation and knocks it to the ground for moisture retention.

I think a no-till cultipacker needs more weight per ft than regular cultipackers. Almost think the big concrete wheels are better. But, I need one that can be transported into remote areas, so I have to go light and add weight once it's there.

no-till methods have limitation on what seeds work well, and sometimes existing vegetation outpaces the new growth. Definitely adding my sprayer to the setup. Looking to do everything in 1 pass.

You’re thinking of a roller crimper. Cultipackers are not intended to terminate existing plants. They may do the job in some instances, but that’s by accident, not design