need planting advice

[Boeing]

I need advice on the proper impliment and use to plant a 2 acre ridge top field with something deer like. I also have about 4 20X20 areas where I can plant other deer crops. I'm thinking clover, chickory, alphalfa.....or, or, or?
My arsenal is slim...(as is my budget) I have a box scraper with diggers to act as a tiller or plow and a broadcast spreader).
Now what? Do I invest in a roto-tiller (expensive) a chain drag harrow, a railroad tie wrapped in barbed wire, a bed box spring?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.......Oh yes, what is the difference in a cultivator and a tiller (3 pt)
Thanks, Rob

 

[nybirdman]

If you are going to plant for deer..go as large an area that you can..they will eat small areas down to the ground.A good tiller is $1500 and up a cultivator can be had for less than $200.00.Check tractor supply web site.I have both and use both.A three point cultivator with multiple passes will do the trick.
If the areas are open to sunlite..I have had great succsess with soy-beans.
I pay about$49.00 a bag enough to do 2 acres.Great summer forage and winter feed.
Rough up with cultivator,plant(broad-cast) go back over with cultivator to cover the seeds...done.If you have a roller...roll after planting.Again tractor supply $200.00 for a five footer.:thumbsup:

 

[dusty3030]

MDWFP Deer Program

Here is a good article.

 

[nybirdman]

After re-reading your post...you should be able to do all with your box-blade.**** its only deer feed.Clover is a great deer crop too.. a little pricey but should last four-five years.Again rough up with box blade,roll it down and use the back blade to cover.

 

[HCJtractor]

This could get complicated. Lots of info and options. First decide when you want to plant---fall or spring. That determines what you can plant. Don't forget to factor in lime (for PH) and fertilizer. SIze of foodplots depends on what land you have. Small ones work fine also. I like long narrow ones (like shooting lanes) that deer have to cross, but will pause to feed. Any size works.

We find cheapest is to plant in the fall, say early Sept. Till, rough up the soil, with whatever you have. We broadcast a mix (wheat, rye, oats, clover) Its cheap and works. Winter peas are also good. We have found the high dollar fancy stuff is't any better for basic planting.

Spring planting is different. Soybeans are good always, but probably a little more difficult to plant.

But be careful. Foodplots are moneypits. Books are written about what to plant and what expensive implements are needed.

THe cheapest is to get the heaviest disc you can pull. You can broadcast seed, fertilizer, lime with a hand spreader (the Earthway plastic chest mounted crank is best) We have spread tons with these (it works but its cheap) Make a drag harrow out of anything you can drag around. I used angle iron and chain. Others use old tires linked together. Lots of options. After you disc, drag around this and level things out, broadcast you seed and lightly drag again. Pray for rain!! This is a method that is about as cheap as you can get. You may need a bush hog to cut them back every year, as this will get tall with wheat and weeds.

 

[beeforty]

I have eaten some wheat and apple fed deer:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[marks146]

Just finished opening up a 200' X 400' garden. I used a T/S 5' box blade with the teeth set to their lowest. I crossed the plot 5 or 6 times to break up the soil. Afterward I picked up the sod/turf with the FEL. Then I groomed the whole thing with a 5' T/S cultivator that I paid $250.00 for last week.

As soon as the rain lets up and the ground dries I'll re-cultivate and plant. I don't want to ruin the soil, working it to much while it's wet.

I gave some serious thought to picking up a tiller, but I came to the conclusion I had all the implements I needed to break up the soil and condition it for planting without breaking the bank. The $250 spent on the cultivator was well worth not having to weed with a hoe.

For me, I know in the long run I'll get more use from the cultivator then the tiller.

 

[Boeing]

Thanks,
The CULTIVATOR looks like a widely spaced leaf rake....:laughing:
What does it do that the rigid diggers of the box scraper do not do?
Maybe it does it "gentler" (is that a word?)
What does a DISK do?
Thanks once again.:drool:

 

[forgeblast]

you could go with a no till product. My neighbor disked in a plot, but thats all he did after he planted. As soon as it started coming up it was eaten by the deer. Most articles on deer plots recommend that you fence out deer as its growing so that its there when you need it.

 

[whistlepig]

I bought an old Ferguson disc ($100.00) with adjustable gangs. I disked the unbroken sod food plots to about six inches deep. This took a while. I did a soil test ($12.00) and treated the soil as recommended. I smoothed it with a tine harrow (tine side up). I then spread Ladino clover with a hand spreader and rolled it with a lawn roller. This worked very well. Whitetail Unlimited has some of the best information on preparing food plots. Their seed is a bit pricey. I bought my Ladino clover seed at the local Co-Op.Whitetails Unlimited - National Whitetail Deer Conservation Organization