Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

OK, all you food plot specialists, I need some opinions...When it comes to
covering up seed (I know I'm being very general), how much difference is there is using a Harrow Drag and a Cultipacker.

I've read and heard many different articles concerning pockets in the soil and seed to soil contact and so on over the years. Now a lot of people say they use a harrow drag which I've been pricing in the 200-300 dollar range; however, a cultipacker is more around 1,000 dollars and up....So, I know the basic difference in how the two operate. But I need some specifics on why one is better than the other, experiences, and so on....

Thank you in advance for your assistance.....

RE: Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

What type of seeds are you wanting to plant?

RE: Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

I just bought a 8 foot drag harrow yesterday. I used one this fall for the first time and was pleased with the results (with the lack of rain, nothing would have actually helped). You get a little coverage over your grain seeds while the cultipacker actually mainly pressed the seeds into the top of the ground making them more prone to being eaten by birds, etc. With either one a little leveling with something afterbreaking the ground and seedingworks better.

RE: Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

Cultipacker.

For small seeds (oat size & smaller)

You should be able to find some used ones cheaper than $1000. We got one out of a farmer's hedgrow for free (single roller) - and paid $100 for a double.

These pictures are not mine - but give you an idea of what to look for:








You cannot beat them for soil/seed contact (after plowing & disking!)

FH

RE: Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

One more thing about the cultipacker is that they are heavy and if they do not have hydraulic wheels they are hard to move from one area to the next.

RE: Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

Thank you for your responses.....I have been planting food plots for years
and have had mixed success (good and bad), but I have always operated on a limited budget...I think deer hunting is often a rich man sport unless
you just happen to be a farmer....

After years of trial and error and without going into pages of explanation,
I will say that I tend to only plant in the fall now. My deer lease is in West Texas....Very hot....Little rain....Spring planting is usually a joke...

Anyway, I tend to plant plain ole wheat, oats, chicory, and possibly some
rye or triticale now and then or maybe some vetch thrown in the mix....I will vary now and then....Regardless of all that, I've usually disced or used a rotor tiller (behind the tractor), broadcasted my seed, and like I said mixed results....

I cannot afford (or justify to the wife) buying expensive farm equipment for once a year use! So, trying to find the most affordable, yet effective method of planting.....Thank you again for your responses....

RE: Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

By "harrow drag" I'll assume you mean a spike tooth harrow (not to be confused with spring tooth harrow or disk harrow).

Since you already have a disk, you can use that to bury larger seed such as rye, oats, wheat, corn, beans, buckwheat, ect, just by adjusting the height. You can then roll over it with the cultipacker to establish good seed soil contact.

For smaller seed, (if you don't have a drill) like clovers, rape, trefoils, brassicas, ect, just broadcast on the surface and roll the cultipacker over the top to press it into the soil.

Since you already have a disk harrow, a cultipacker would be more usefull than a spring tooth or spike tooth harrow for your next peice of equiptment.

RE: Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

If you cut a small ceader tree down, tie it to the back of a 4 wheeler or tractor, and drag it back and forth after broadcasting seeds. You won't believe how good of genmination rate you get. Oats are my favorite thing to plant this way in the fall.

RE: Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

Now that's what I'm looking for hoosier....Genuine "cost effective" ways to
still get good results...Thank you for the input...

RE: Harrow Drag-vs-Cultipacker
 

This is an 18 dollar seed mix for 4 lbs. from Gander mountain, and oats from the grain elevater for 6 dollars a 50 lb. bag. I didn't have a ceader here so I tied up a few branches and dragged them back and forth. The deer hammered it. I didn't even fertilize it. It doesn't take that much money to make food plots if you plant what works in your soil and use what you have. Animals don't care if the plants are perfectly spaced!