food plots

[Briana03]

Welcome to TBN

I moved your thread to the Food Plots forum.

[Ted Summey]

+1 on the soil test.

[Zig]

I did not have a disc or a tiller and last year sprayed and killed about 2 acres with round up knock off. I mowed it down low with a shredder blade. I then used my box blade and dropped the tines down as far as I could and tore heck out of it. I let is set a couple of weeks and went over it several times with the box blade/tines low. I drug heavy log chain behind the box blade in a u shape to help break up clods. I did not need to lime as the ph was good. I put about 300 pounds of 12-12-12 on it. I planted brassicas, clover and alfalfa and wow did I get a nice crop of turnips, clover and alfalfa! Deer sure liked it!

[lakngulf]

I did not have a disc or a tiller and last year sprayed and killed about 2 acres with round up knock off. I mowed it down low with a shredder blade. I then used my box blade and dropped the tines down as far as I could and tore heck out of it. I let is set a couple of weeks and went over it several times with the box blade/tines low. I drug heavy log chain behind the box blade in a u shape to help break up clods. I did not need to lime as the ph was good. I put about 300 pounds of 12-12-12 on it. I planted brassicas, clover and alfalfa and wow did I get a nice crop of turnips, clover and alfalfa! Deer sure liked it!

I resemble the above remark. I have tried almost every option. Settle a few years back on a chisel plow and disc. Works great, but recently I decided to bite the bullet and get a five foot King Kutter Tiller from Tractor Supply. Unbelievable what it does on one pass on old pasture land with thick fescue and/or bermuda. I am sold on it, but my soil is sandy loam old pasture, so not much problem with roots, stumps, big rocks.

I have a few food plots back in the woods. There I use the disc only, as the tiller would not deal so well with solid roots from big oaks, hickory and pines.

[Avondale]

I say "use whatever you got". I had one plot was mid-jungle, used my backhoe to widen a path in and dug up about 1/3 to 1/4 acre, de-stoned and then disced & chain harrowed. Works very well. Took awhile but when you do what you love, doesn't seem like so much work.

[Western]

Looks like the thread was posted by a "drive by"

[PaPitt]

I've live on my farm for about 45 years now. I've got one food plot in the back it's about 5 ac . I've farmed it with every piece of equipment I've got . Jubilee case 830 and even my IH 1086 and a big offset. Best crop I had back there was a summer plot . I put it in with my 830 I just plowed it with a finishing tandem So I did not plow to deep . But then I used my whirly Bird seeder ... I mixed it all together . I had some of that Lab Lab . Soybeans. Corn. Black Eyed Peas. Milo. and a 50lb bag of spring mix from Bass Pro or some place like that. It rained that year ..
.. When I drove up to that patch deer stood up an ran out for 15 minutes each time . It stayed ahead of them all summer and was about 4 ft tall .. Wife & I picked a log of BlackEyed Peas out of it.
.....This winter it's dry and you can just barely see the Oats I have planted there & no deer. This year I rigged up an old grain drill that I'd not used in about 10 years. I was showing the grand Kids what can be done. I spend about $150.00 a year on my food plot avg.

[Alan L.]

My disk has not touched the tractor since I got the tiller a few years ago.

[jeff9366]

Where I am in North Florida it is important to roll in your plot seed. We have two month Spring and two month Fall dry periods and rolling improves germination if weather does not cooperate.

For years I pulled a Brinley water-filled plastic lawn roller behind my Kubota B3300SU. Took off the lawn roller rubber grips and inserted one length of 3/4" all-thread in each end of handle, inserted all-thread in 3-Pt. "eyes" then secured with washer and nut on each side. Roller filled in space between tractor tires giving total roll width, with tires, of 58".

Roller available from Home Depot/Lowes, yard sales etc. Meant to be pulled/push by "hand" so frame is not strong enough to withstand REVERSE on tractor. Forward works fine. I carried roller to the food plot in bucket, then nutted into "eyes".

Recently purchased a 60" Cultipacker from Everything Attachments. I am not sure germination will improve but intend Cultipacker will cure persistant erosion sites by rolling crimp pattern across slopes after seeding.

Tractor is a Kubota B3300SU / 33-hp / 1,900 pounds.

[DB Pilot]

I plowed up one food bed and then ran the disc over it. The second food plot I just ran the disc over grass. It was clay soil and the disc took a lot of time. So I think roto til. Since I don't have one, I think next time I will use herbicide and then disc. Just my experience. BTW