cultivator, disk, or spike harrow

[kthompson]

you're not gonna grow sqat after discing and waste your money on seed. good luck.
your question is like this one, i have a hammer are screwdriver and a pocket knife, which one is the best to mine salt with?
use the right tool for the right job.

You may be right in your neck of the world but in mine it works right well. Then I have never tried to raise sqat.

Seeds are amazing, they will fall from a plant and be transported by birds, animals and the wind plus water run off and clothes. And maybe not the majority but many will find a place to sprout and grow with no help from any man made tool. There may be a best tool but there normally are more than one to get the same job done right well. To my budget and time the best tool/implement is the one I have that will get it done.

 

[N80]

Both FWJ and Hotchkiss mention using a cultipacker after disking and seeding. I'm wondering what kind of yield the OP will get without using a cultipacker. They are relatively expensive and it sounds like his budget is somewhat limited.

Never having used one and having only seen a few, what exactly does a cultipacker do? It looks like it primarily breaks up clods.

My wife has a cousin who has one sitting in the weeds and it looks like it is in good shape but never used. If it is sitting in the same place it was last summer when we go there for the next family reunion, I may make him an offer....even though I'm not sure I need one. But hey, who can turn down something to hook to a tractor?

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Both FWJ and Hotchkiss mention using a cultipacker after disking and seeding. I'm wondering what kind of yield the OP will get without using a cultipacker. They are relatively expensive and it sounds like his budget is somewhat limited.

Never having used one and having only seen a few, what exactly does a cultipacker do? It looks like it primarily breaks up clods.

My wife has a cousin who has one sitting in the weeds and it looks like it is in good shape but never used. If it is sitting in the same place it was last summer when we go there for the next family reunion, I may make him an offer....even though I'm not sure I need one. But hey, who can turn down something to hook to a tractor?

Part of what a cultipacker does is to break clods. But it does much more. Certain crops, grass being one, doesn't like air pockets in the seedbed. (also goes for soybeans) Cultipackers firm the soil without compacting it. Also, grass seed likes to be at or very near the surface. A cultipacker will press the seed into the surface to get positive soil contact.

When I did the filter strips and waterways on my farm, I had to follow specific guidelines from the local soil and water conservation district in order to receive the state money that paid for the lions share of the work. One of those "guidelines" was to use a cultipacker after seeding. Many GOOD seeders, such as Brillion Sure Stand's have cultipacker wheels built in to them. Hard to say specifically how much better germination you get with, as opposed to without using one, but it is significant.

 

[N80]

Thanks. I guess if he'll let it go for a decent price I might get it.

 

[N80]

Whoops. I'm wrong again. What this guy has is a pulverizer, not a cultipacker. Its a Landpride and looks like this:

I don't think I have any use for one of these.

 

[Bob_Young]

Ahhh, the Brillion Sure Stand. Helped a neighbor reseed his alfalfa fields with one. Slow but very effective. Ended up with some beautiful stands of alfalfa. Pulled it with his old Super C. Felt like a high school kid again....until afternoon anyway. Durned Brillion was sure noisy to transport on the road.

Was looking around for a small, used Sure Stand to seed my hayfields & food plots and happened to mention it to another neighbor. Turns out he'd just bought one of these:
The Plotmaster - FP 1206

and offered to let me use it. The seeder is electrically driven. Works best if the ground has been disced in advance. Looks like just the ticket. Can't wait to give it a try next spring.
Bob

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Whoops. I'm wrong again. What this guy has is a pulverizer, not a cultipacker. Its a Landpride and looks like this:

I don't think I have any use for one of these.

Leinbach, Woods (Gill), and now Deere (Frontier) now have their versions of the same. The Woods (Gill) model has been around for ages. I own a couple of the Leinbach's. (Funny thing about the 1st one. My son borrowed it and it sorta became his by rule of adverse possession) You won't find a better tool for grading gravel drives. They build an excellent seedbed from rough graded dirt. They were the "Harley Rake" before Harley Rakes were invented. No self respecting landscaper was without a pulverizer and a box blade.

I've used a Gill with the double roller. Then I bought the fiirst of my Leinbachs. (Both have single rollers) I couldn't see any advantage of the double roller, only DISadvantages. Their uses are somewhat limited, but when you do have call to use one, they are a VERY handy item.

 

[Skerby]

That's correct. So why would someone then answer that he needs a $100,000 saltminer? He has what he has, or what he can resaonably aquire. Which of those is best?

c'mon, we all know the "hammer's" the best! punch some holes in the soil, place a seed and cover with the nail pulling end

also, bird's are amazing in their ability to move seed great distances, yet i've never seen a bird sown crop of corn..

not too many landscapers w/ a disc in their inventory....

cultipacker for cheap? go for it! it made all the difference when i planted 1 1/2 acres of grass this past September... see my starting an orchard thread... i'll have to post a new pic, it's lush as heck!
in a nutshell: 1.) chemically kill, 2.) rototill, 3.) cultipack 4.) broadcast, 5.)cultipack...

 

[Farmwithjunk]

not too many landscapers w/ a disc in their inventory....

Don't get out much do ya? Probably not many small time flower planter/lawn sprayer type landscapers with a disc, but ANY landscaper worth their salt that are capable of doing larger jobs will have one. They are the absolute BEST way to prep rough areas for finishing. Tillers generally aren't the hot set-up around new construction, highway right-of-way landscaping or any place where rocks and/or construction debris will be frequent. Tilling isn't a great way to prep soil for grass seeding under normal circumstances. Grass doesn't like a deep, fluffy seedbed. A neighbor to my east "farms" almost 1000 acres, growing turf....sod.... sold to builders and golf course construction. After stripping sod off a parcel, he ALWAYS works the ground with a disc, then seeds with a Brillion seeder.

 

[N80]

The leveling aspect of a disk was a surprise to me, but it really works great in this aspect. When I built my tractor shed (dirt floor) the ground was rough with dips and mounds. Just running back and forth over it with the disk, getting less and less aggressive with the gangs really made that area nice and flat and even. So sure, I can see how a disk would be a very valuable landscaping tool.