If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

I'm going to start on my food plot this weekend now that I have an area cleared out and I want to buy just one implement for preparing the soil. Plus, the wifey has me on a budget since I bought land and a wheeler this year :eek:.

I know people have trouble breaking ground for the first time w/ disks, moldboards are supposed to be bad for the soil and hard to turn, and the cultivator looks more like it's for cultivating between rows of plants not necessarily for soil preparation. So, I need help. Which should I get?

I should note that the soil is mostly clay w/ pockets of real nice black dirt. the plot is rather small (less than one acre) and I'm going to have some problems with roots as there are some saplings and the area had been logged about 5-6 years ago (although all the stumps are gone).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm about ready to cold call an old farmer :)for some advice.

Thanks

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

If I had to choose between those 3 I would go with the cultivator. The only problem may be when you seed, as they could get buried to deep. To prevent this you will want to pack the seedbed until it is flat.When I smooth out the seedbed I take a pallet and staple some chain-link fencing on the bottom to break up the small clods of dirt that the cultivator won't get

DeerHuntMO

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

2 questions...

1) What do you intend to plant

2) What do you plan to pull the implement with??

My first response would be a disc, as with a plow you will not have a smooth seed bed, plows are more for controling weeds and insects and if you plow in the late fall in northern climates and have clay the winter freezes will help break up the clay....You can also use a disc to incorporate lime, fertilizer and plant crops like wheat, rye, oats, etc...

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

Those are certainly the correct questions to ask him nchawkeye.His answers to both of the above questions can seriously alter our answers. Can you give us any specifics about what your plans are RackLuster?

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

I would say that the disc is one of the most all around useful implements that I own. I don't own a cultivator or a plow and I've planted wheat, oats, millet, sorghum and sunflower. (I do own a 2 row planter and a spreader though)

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

I intend to plant a variety. Basically, over the next couple years I plan on experimenting with just about anything. I think this year I'm going to keep it basic w/ alfalfa, clover, and biologic full draw (or something similar).

I have an 06 polaris sportsman 700. No 3pt hitch - just 1 7/8 and sleeve hitch.

Thanks all for the input already. I wasn't sure if I'd get any responses.

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

Alright, that helps...My brother and a buddy have the KingKutter Disc, avaliable down here in NC at Tractor Supply...Where I live is mainly clay, where I grew up and do much of my hunting is sandy/loamy soil...It does a pretty good job as a 4-wheeler disc, although we do add about 150 pounds of weight to the top of the frame in our clay land, it also helps to work the land when its moist, as our land is what they make bricks out of and it is that hard when its dry....

Now...Here's the "monkey wrench"...I also have a 4-wheeler and there are 2 tools that I will not do without, even if it makes putting off the disc for a year or two..

One is a sprayer to go on the back rack...I have one from Northern Tool, it has a wand that clips on a bracket and will spray a 14 foot pattern, no booms to hang up...The disc isn't worth a darn if the food plot is choked full of weeds in September, its just too light a disc, my local food plots are in a field that was full of Johnson Grass, to get rid of it you have to spray it 3 times...I did this in April, July and August...Planted in late September (clover) and right now its beautiful, in fact when I went in the field early Saturday morning to turkey hunt there were 7 does feeding in the clover....All you do is mix 2 ounces of Roundup (or Big-N-Tuff from TSC) and it will take care of all the weeds....

Second...A spreader...The best seed isn't any good without enough fertilizer and lime...They come in pull-type and one to hook on the back rack, I have used both and prefer the latter as the former doesn't do well on disced land....In a one acre food polt (I usually plant wheat and clover in the fall) I spread 3-50 pound bags of 17-17-17 and 10 to 12-40 pound bags of lime....I'm too old to spread all that weight with a spreader....

Clover and chickory can both be planted without discing the seeds are tiny and you do not disc after planting...Wheat/oats/rye can be braodcast and covered with a light discing, but not clover....

The good news...I have both a sprayer and spreader...When I bought them, I told the wife I needed for the yard.....Some guys pay big bucks for yard work...
In the fall, I rent an aereator to pull behind the 4-wheeler, put out the lime, fertilizer and seed with the spreader...In the Spring and early Summer I spray the yard with 2-4-D (also avaliable at TSC at $14.95 a gallon, and no, I don't work for them!!!) the 2-4-D kills the broadleafs (clover, dandelions etc)....The way I see it, you need these to keep the yard up.......

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

At our place we plant blackeyed peas, cowpeas, soybeans, oatsand milo. We only have the disk and a drag to work with and it works out great.

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

Thanks all for the info, it's helped a ton!!!!

I'm really worried about getting a disk, especially one of the cheapies ($160). I think the big king kutter one's would do the trick but they are too big and expensive for me right now. My wife is great, but this year I've purchased land, a trailer, a new stihl chainsaw, and a new 4-wheeler. I HAVE to go cheap on this one.

What I'm thinking is getting a cultivator ($140 at fleet farm Brinly-Hardy brand) and making a drag out of a pallet and chain link fence. I think the cutlivator will have more luck breaking ground in my clay. Am I off base in thinking that????

I'm also going to make sure that all the weeds are killed off first. That is my first task. The soil sample gets dropped off today. Unfortunately, a spreader is not in my budget either. I'll be doing that the old fashioned way. ugh!

what do you all think about the cultivator breaking ground? Will I just break the tines off?

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

Try to find a used one. Bought this one several years ago for $150. It looks awful but is very heavy and does a good job.

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

Buddy, my first impression is it will be like driving nails with a pair of pliers....Sure you can do it, but you might not be happy with the results....I will admit, I'm kinda spoiled and blessed when it comes to equipment....My dad was a John Deere dealer...2 years after he died (I was 20) in 1975 I went to work for them and stayed with them 13 years...So I have a pretty decent background with working with equipment....I would rather see you wait until you can purchase what will do the job, rather than buy something that you will have to replace in a few years especially when it might not even do what you want it to do....

Clover does not need to be covered and most biologists will agree that clover is high in protein and is beneficial to wildlife....I'd work with getting a good clover plot established first, then work on the other stuff...I went turkey hunting Saturday morning there were 7 deer standing in my clover patch....I planted it a year and a half ago and they are still hitting it....

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

nchawkeye; I agree with you that what he's proposing isn't the best method. Rob (moderator) did his plot with similar equipment last year. Now he's hooked on shooting over his own plot. At least this will get rackluster into plots and he won't have much invested. He probably couldn't get a farmer to cultivate the landfor the money that he's talking about.

Dan O.

RE: If you could have one:Disk Harrow, cultivator, moldboard plow???
 

I bought a cultivator last night and it came in this tiny tiny box. I started thinking that I'm pretty much buying this for this year because it is not made well and I know it's going to suck! It went back to fleet farm today. So, now I don't know what I'm going to do. My father in law is going to bring his garden tiller up there tomorrow. That might really suck. we'll see.

better late than never :-)
 

I just found this forum. I also have acerage near Isle MN, that I bought in 1999. We have unique soil here, and if a person carves a food plot out of the woods, there are unique issues to deal with.

The first things I bought to farm food plots, were an ATV (2002 Yamaha Kodiak), flipover disk, reversable drag harrow, and a small spreader. Since then, I got a tractor, a box scraper, a John Deere two row planter and a ATV mount sprayer from Northern. Find grind lime doesn't spread will with the Agri Fab spreader I bought at Fleet Farm however. I may get a rent or buy a bigger one soon.

The unique part I mention above about our soil around Isle, is, between lots of rocks, lots of hardpack clay with some patches of black dirt, and roots galore, some implements just skitter across the ground and won't dig in. I feel a good disk is the best way to go, and it may need to be weighted with cement blocks to dig in, unless its a big one like shown above.

I have used the disk on my ATV for years, and finished with the drag harrow. Last year I finally bit the bullet and got a tractor, box blade and 2 row planter. I hand-planted corn on my largest plot last year, and the standing corn kept the deer and turkey in the area all winter. I did disk every year the first 6 years, just to break up and get the soil lighter, work in lime and fertilizer, etc. I also use Glyphosate three days before disking to kill off volunteer weeds.

So where can I rent or buy a larger spreader... that is my next challege. I had 16 tons of fine grind lime delivered last week but a small spreader just doesn't cut it.

You should save up and buy a small tractor. Something like a Ford 8N or an Allis WD45. They are 40-60 years old, but will hands down outperform an ATV when you are trying to do groundwork. Another thing about old tractors, they don't lose their value like something new. I've got a '63 Allis D17 and a '73 Deere 830. Both are working strong, and I don't anticipate anything going wrong with them in the next few decades.

Buy a 2 bottom plow and a 5' disk. Shouldn't be more than 5 bills. That'll do 90% of your plot work. If you know how to weld, you can make other implements like a boom pole lift, 10' sprayer, subsoiler, etc.

Once you have a tractor, you'll find new uses for it and tell yourself "I don't know how I've gotten along without this".

I do all my food plot with a 30hp front end assist John Deere. I didnt buy it just for food plots, I put in a big garden and have 3 acres to take care of. This tractor is a life saver when it comes to food plots. I do most of my ground prep with a 5 tine chisel plow, it does a great job. The plow works the ground deep and I have a homemade drag that i pull across, makes the perfect seed bed.

holy crap! I started this thread 5 years ago and i don't even remember it. i'm getting old. I swear to god i started reading this thread and someone mentioned 'rackluster' i was like 'that's me??? oh no, someone hacked my account and is posting food plot questions'. haha.

funny how things have changed over the past 5 years. I'm now kind of a food plot addict. Here's a quick overview of my progression:
* that year i bought a king kutter disk - not the flipover kind, the crankup kind on wheels. still have it but haven't used it for a few years. it worked really good even in my hard clay. just took a long time and it REALLY worked my 4 wheeler. ended up melting some plastic. thought - i better get a tractor.
* in 2009 i bought a 30hp tractor - 1982 john deere 950 mfwd, ps, loader - the works. picked up a plow, disk, box blade, brush hog... it was a great tractor. i've shot buzillions of deer over food plots made by that tractor
* this year has been a busy year. my love of food plots and hunting expanded quite a bit. I bought 76 acres in wisconsin back in march (still have the land in isle) and i sold the 950 and bought a brand new shiny plastic 2012 john deere 3032e. just about everything you see is plastic except the side panels under the hood and the loader. very nice tractor though. also finally got a cultivator with the tractor (frontier)

i have to say of the 3 implements the disk works the best and it gets used by far the most. i've had 2 different 2 bottom plows and i'm yet to pull them more than 20 feet in the ground - total.

the cultivator is good but i hit too many roots and rocks that stop the tractor in it's tracks. if i had a nice FLAT food plot w/ no rocks or tree roots the cultivator would be great.

the disk goes over everything but still breaks ground. only thing i have to do is pick up the rocks that pop up. i highly recommend a disk!!! I usually ratchet strap a big log on top of it to ad weight.

i think my next investment will be a planter. not this year though. i'm TAPPED OUT!

Thanks all for your help over the years. Now, i'm back on to learn more about food plots in my sandy soil in wisconsin.

still laughing about this 5 year old thread popping back up.

lindakd - i'm kind of between isle and mora. on the same road as k&r custom meats. love the area. You nailed the issues w/ doing food plots up there. i have the same things: rocks, roots, clay, etc. overall, things grow well though as long as we get rain. i've had good luck w/ oats, clover (probably my best luck), and rape. i'm thinking about beans and more brassicas this year.

i'd have a planter already but it's just AMAZING how expensive they are. can't find a good deal.

A lot has changed in the past five years. We bought two more properties, both are marginal farm land. We planted nearly 30 acres of food plots this spring; mostly iron clay peas, plus some soybeans and blackeyed peas. Last year most of our spring plots died for lack of rain.

One of our properties came with a nice old dual wheel Farmall M tractor and lots of implements, including a no-till drill: There are also a couple hundred tons of junk tractors, farm machinery, trucks etc. We bought a 28 horsepower McCormick 4wd tractor in 2010 and a got a pasture drill. At our place in Garvin county we still have the 1600 Mitsubishi tractor and the old disk that is pictured.

We tried the expensive oat seed and discovered its not worth the money. Plain old horse feed oats work as well overall and much better on one place. The smaller plots are hand broadcast and disced in. We plant oats in the plots beginning in August-September. Last year several plots of oats matured and in September we disced them without re-planting: They seeded down very nicely.

Good luck with your game plots.

glad to hear of the progression

RE which implement to use
 

Hey Rack, Try out a plotmaster. There are several models to choose from and you can plant multiblend seeds with out breaking seed hulls or seed seperating in the box while planting. It comes complete with double gang disc, drag and cultipacker and would reccomend the chisle plow attachment for breaking upen hardpan or new ground as well as allowing water and oxwgen flow in the soil. I plant from Alabama to Mo for clients and for a one peice unit that can disc, plow, drag seed and cultipac I do not have to hook and un hook 4 to 5 different attachments to get the job done. if I can help further let us know and wish you we llon your plots this year.

If his old lady is still lookn over his shoulder & "keepin score" of his equipment expenditure$, she'll have a flatout conniption fit when she sees the price tag on a Plotmaster! :jaw:

I'm all for quality equipment & believe that you get what you pay for, but whoever priced the PMs must have a serious substance addiction! :nonono2:

As much as I would love a machine to do the back breakin work for me, I use a hoe, and an airrator that you step on. Haha. 10yd x 10yd plots hand dug in Virginia clay. Woo!

Doing it on the cheap? When hunting in Virginia we use a few free range chickens in a net. They tear up the ground then we run a disk over it quickly (not too deep). I put my seed in a bucket and broadcast by hand. Take the same disk with a drag on the back and quickly run over it to get the seed about 1/4" in the ground.

Chickens provide the fertilizer. If you don't have a disk...pay a neighbor to disk it for you. That is the cheapest way. Then you don't have to maintain equipment.

My answer to this quesiton was a rototiller........a 42" one that digs 6" deep. It does a wonderful job, really loosens up the soil nice.

Then I hook up the spreader & fertilize/lime & seed.

This is just powered by a 26hp John Deere all terain lawn tractor. Use the same Deere to mow with. Works good on small areas.

Or on larger plots, 4020 & the usual mix of farming gear.

Well Rackluster...its nice to see how things progressed over the past 5 years and what equipment You found to work the best for Your soil.We've just went up in the Big Timber where we hunt and used the small King Kutter ATV disc like You mentioned to break up new fresh soil and we planted 4 small food plots of Durana Clover near our stands where we Deer Hunt.

Luckily the Land Owner usually plows and Disc's up the larger Food Plots we use and hunt near on our Lease,then we go in and plant the seed with a 4-Wheeler then lightly cover the seed with the soil by dragging the mesh diamond shaped fencing also so its lightly covered up.We usually plant a combination of Rape,Brassicas,Turnips and Groundhog Raddishes with some wheat around the edges for good measure.

Here at the Family Farm we use a smaller 4-wheel drive Ford to plow with then disc the soil and spread seed with electric spreader then lightly disc or drag the soil over to cover the seed up.We planted sunflower seeds,oats and more Durana Clover in different food plots this April.

Another spammer from overseas with more than 60 posts all over the threads in less than 45 minutes after he joined. What do these jerks get by doing this?

Use the Yellow Triangle and report spam....to comment such as you did can place you on the list I just found out.

I went to delete spam and ban the author and those who commented - their IP address also got put on the list. If I had not had enough coffee......they also would have gotten banned.....
So just use the Yellow triangle. Report the spam and let it go....we will take care of it.

I am posting this and will go back and redo the list as it will cause more work. So you have been given notice......

Thanks
JW

That's what I always do and will keep on helping like I did with a bunch of them this AM! 2 spammers alone had over 130 posts on all the threads in less than 45 minutes! I wonder if they get so much money per post for doing that or if they just like to torment others. Probably both, LOL!