We were thinking of giving a food plot a try this spring. Somewhere around 1/4 to 1/2 an acre. My question is, would using an 8 horse roto-tiller be feasible or would it take forever? Has anyone ever used a tiller for a food plot, and if so what were your experiences??

What is the width of the tiller? I planted two 1/4 acre food plots with a rear mounted 30" tiller on a small garden tractor. I'm guessing your tiller is a walk behind model. It would definitly be do-able, but would take longer. We did run into a problem with the tines clogging up with debris. We even mowed the plot numberous times before tilling. I would suggest spraying with round-up at least 10 days before you plan on tilling and planting. Our two plots turned out great. Be sure to get a soil test and lime/fertilize before you do anything else. Other area hunters are planning on planting some even smaller plots next year and I think we will use a walk behind tiller in those cases. Good Luck!

If you've got a spare day the tiller will do the job. The soil doesn't have to be perfect to plant the food plot. You're just trying to knock down the perennials that are growing there and loosen the soil for root growth.

You can do just about as well if you spray with roundup and plant after the vegetation browns up.

Dan O.

If you have a atv or 16hp.garden tractor,a company called Worksaver makes a 52in.disc.
I have one and they work great.I put 3 food plots in last Sept.,all about 1/4 acre each.
I see them in the Cabela`s and Northern Tool
cataloges.I`m new to this site,and have been
reading along for about 1 month.Keep up the
work.P.S. I think the tiller would be a workout!

Depends on your soil also If it's never been tilled before could be hard. We tried to till up a buds place. He had hard clay. He said" it was like kicking a grizzly bear in the groin then trying to rassle him LOL. Here's what I did. Check with local farmers and maybe one would come out and do it for you. The fellow comes over whenever I need him and the tiller he has does a great job in my plots. Good luck....marty

That idea will workgood, lime it before you tillit up and use a drop spreader for lime. that way it will be easier pushing the spreader and the lime will get worked into the ground. Those discs at cabelas are about $500. I have seen them listed. After you till it about 3 or 4 in deep rake it over or drag a small piece of chainlink over it to smooth it out, then seed it and drag the fence over it again. A quarter acre is only 100x100 so it shouldnt take too long.. Good luck

First and foremost, do a soil sample. Your wasting your time with the rototiller. Rototilling breaks the soil up and uproots the weeds/grasses and exposeses new seed that was buried. The soil is too rough to plant in unless it is leveled/cultipacked. We would suggest that you mow the area to be planted then rake it off. Wait until a rain then go back and spray the area with Round-Up. After spraying the area with the Round-Up wait 14-21 days or when the area dies off then do a slow burn off against the wind. This will remove thatch and the ash should return some phosphrous to the soil. After burning hit the area with a fan rake then spread lime accordimgly. If you have to bag lime then you may want to disk the lime in. We suggest that if you have to raise the soil ph more than 1 point that you either spray with liquid lime to activate soil buffering or wait until the next planting season so the lime has time to work in the soi. Next, if you disk you will want to cultipack the soil so you have a firm seed bed, then you may plant and fetilize... There are variations to these suggestions according to location...

I agree with lunchbucket, especially about the burnoff, which I didn't think of until we started tilling. We mowed and raked most of the dead matter but it still was a pain. Our soil was moist and tilling it with the dead veg. was like mixing stuff for bricks.
It wound around the tiller, inter-mixed with the soil and was a real bear to remove.

I actually did what you are talking about. I used round-up to kill the weeds first, waited a week, then tilled.

The portion of land I tilled was in a seasonal flood plain area(floods every 10 years or so). The sod was very thick and it took several passes. I actually rented the tiller for 2 days, and tilled for the entire 2 days( about 16 hours ), to make a 1/2 acre. I have used a drag behind disk like the one in cabelas, and it takes many, many, passes to break up sod.

When you are finished tilling, spread the seed and use a roller behind an ATV or lawn tractor to compact the soil-that can also be rented for about $10 a day.

My field came up great, and was 95% weed free! I also limed and fertalized according to a soil test.

Tilling will release seeds in the soil, as well as disking or any other type of soil disturbance, but the amount of weeds is minimal after a round-up spray(even though it dosn't kill the weed seeds). To have 5-10% weeds mixed in your clover is not a big deal, remember, this is not a "cash crop". Continued mowing will help to combat the weeds if the deer don't keep it down for you. If there are not very many adjacent food sources available, and the deer density is high, I'd go with at least a 1/2 acre.

Just a couple hard days of work, proper planning, and your all set.

Jeff...U.P. of Michigan.

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We were thinking of giving a food plot a try this spring. Somewhere around 1/4 to 1/2 an acre. My question is, would using an 8 horse roto-tiller be feasible or would it take forever? Has anyone ever used a tiller for a food plot, and if so what were your experiences??
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Is an 8hp tiller practical? That depends on a number of things.

1. Has your plot been under cultivation as in farming?

2. What is your soil structure? A clay or rockey soil, CANNOT be worked with a tiller, without beating it & yourself to pieces.

3. Will it take forever? YES!!!, unless you can get someone to plow it first.

If you are planting in the valley area of lewisburg, you will have some good soil, however if you are planting near the mountains, most likely there will be a lot of stones and large gravel. Just a 2&quot; stone in hard soil will really knock you around.

If the area is accessable by tractor, I would strongly urge you to pay a local farmer, or someone who plows garden plots, to at least plow it first. My first plow was planted into wheat stubble, and I plowed it with a 16 hp garden tractor, than used my 8 hp tiller to work it. After tilling the soil fine, I hooked a plain old shipping skid with a few stones on it, to levil & compact the soil. The clover is doing GREAT! I now have an old Ford tractor, plow & disk, which is great for prepairing plots, however Lewisburg is a bit far for me to travel to do a food plot!

As to a tiller &quot;releasing&quot; weed seeds, as stated in a post above, just disking or plowing will do the same! I have had ground that would not produce till it was worked with a tiller. The tiller will aireate your soil, and make it lay more loosely than any other method of tilling. Yes, you will need compaction before you plant, as most seeds require a firm (but loose) seed bed.

However you till your soil, the hard work will be forgotten once the deer start hitting it!