Field Implements - User Basics

[RonR]

Another place to check is your state dept of natural resources or whatever it's called. My brother set up with them to plant trees on his property. Now go in with your eyes open.

They do a lot of the work, furnish the labor, you furnish the tractor to pull the planter and you get to pay (really not very much) for the trees. THEY get to pick the variety. Bro wanted shelters for eventual hunting, so he went with that.

The state furnished a tree planting one row unit. It opened a trench on each side, laid a 6 ft wide plastic cloth on the ground, poked a hole in the plastic and the ground for the tree, allowed a person riding the unit to place a tree in the hole, then the unit covered the edges of the plastic. All in one pass!

I'd go visit a tree farm a long distance from you so as not to be a competitor and get their process down. A tree farm near here replants the cut trees with a shovel and high school labor.

ron

 

[NewToy]

Plunk down $15 at Amazon.com for

"How To Use Implements on Your Small-Scale Farm (Motorbooks Workshop)"
Rick Kubik; Paperback; $14.93.

Ghost written by Mr. Haney.

 

[dweitzel]

TRACECOM!!!!!!!!!! Exactly the type of info I was looking for......yum yum!

I gotta save this and print it for my reference library.

Champy, what part of In are you in? I'm in SE indiana near Belterra Casino. I may be able to get you some of the phone numbers you need to help you out.

Also don't forget to check out the IN DNR web site. I've been able to get in on their tree program each year for the last several years. I've put in over 300 oak trees (red, white and burr) over the last years. I won't see them mature in my life, but my kids and grandchildren hopefully will.

I doubt you will ever be taken as a local. Some people have a hard time dealing with other people who have worked for themselves and purchased land with the intent of bettering themselves and their family. "Good" people will accept you for who you are and welcome you into the community, but that's sometimes a pipe dream in these "smaller" communities. Good luck in your endeavors.

 

[OldMcDonald]

With the exception of Tracecom (whose response answers your question) I disagree with just about everything else you have been told.

Sorry fellers. I have not farmed in the USofA but I have farmed a lot of acreage in a few other countries, and the last thing the man wants to do before he plants trees is either disk it or just bore a hole.

Your Forestry Dept man will no doubt keep you right, but if you want trees to thrive, and I have planted more than a few (survivors I might asdd) you generally need to rip as deep as you can go along the tree line. If planting on a square, then you should cross rip too so that at each planting point you have a deep + just where you want to plant the tree. Its roots are then unimpeded in five directions - the + and straight down. Disking, heavy or light, will give you a scooped out effect and a hard bottom. A post hole borer will give you depth, but smoothed sides that could be the equivalent of a plough pan in toughness, dpending on your soil type.

And remember that trees need feed and water just the same as any other living thing, plus maybe kept free from competitive weeds. Old McDonald.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Immediate apologies to some of the later posters. Pages 2 & 3 contain mainly useful info. My disagreement on methods refers to disking and post hole boring. Old McDonald.

 

[NewToy]

With the exception of Tracecom (whose response answers your question) I disagree with just about everything else you have been told.

Sorry fellers. I have not farmed in the USofA but I have farmed a lot of acreage in a few other countries, and the last thing the man wants to do before he plants trees is either disk it or just bore a hole.

Your Forestry Dept man will no doubt keep you right, but if you want trees to thrive, and I have planted more than a few (survivors I might asdd) you generally need to rip as deep as you can go along the tree line. If planting on a square, then you should cross rip too so that at each planting point you have a deep + just where you want to plant the tree. Its roots are then unimpeded in five directions - the + and straight down. Disking, heavy or light, will give you a scooped out effect and a hard bottom. A post hole borer will give you depth, but smoothed sides that could be the equivalent of a plough pan in toughness, dpending on your soil type.

And remember that trees need feed and water just the same as any other living thing, plus maybe kept free from competitive weeds. Old McDonald.

OleMac,
Sounds like you may be a "real" farmer. Your tree planting instructions make alot of sense.
John

 

[cp1969]

It's hard to argue with success, going either way. Old Macdonald claims to have good success ripping an "+" in addition to digging a hole. I can't disagree.

If I hadn't have already planted dozens and dozens of trees using only a shovel or a post hole digger and have virtually all of them thrive, I might believe that "+" was a necessity. Maybe it is in Portugal. All I know is nobody does that where I live and there are numerous tree farms. The secret is in the size of the hole, and there is no secret there. Bigger is better--about twice the size of the root ball, and not much deeper than the root ball.

If that tree won't grow, it is not the fault of the hole prep.

 

[Champy]

Well just to catch everyone in the "how to plant trees" debate up with what I did........

> Had the District Forrester out to do soil samples and recommend processes; species; techniques; etc...
> Disked the 2 acres to be planted with evergreens in order to cut up the last year's crop leftovers and prepare the soil.
> Used a subsoiler to rip planting lines as deep as I could.
> Used a dibble bar and shovels to plant the 600 seedlings in early April.
> Been watering them ever since due to near drought conditions around here
> Weeding and cutting grass between the rows every other week to kill off the competition for any water they do get.

Results:
> 300 White pine......~ 10% died off for various reasons (hey we're learning here)
> 300 Norway Spruce.........~ 2% lost so far after planting.
> Survivors are all sprouting new growth and some are really taking off

This drought is really killing me right now though. It's been tough enough trying to save the seedlings and learn what we can about the planting and growing processes, but without normal rainfall - I am constantly questioning if I doing something wrong or is it just the weather?

dweitzel - I'm in Bartholomew county near Hope

 

[john_bud]

Once the trees have hardened off (the new bright green turns dark and is no longer so soft) you can spray with various chemicals to minimize cutting. When it trim around my pines, it often "smells like Christmas", and that's a BAD sign@!@

Poast Plus is able to kill off grasses - spray when the grass is 3-6" tall.
2-4D is able to kill off broad leaf weeds, but may injure the trees if they are weak.

Check with the local DNR or feed mill.


I would round up the remaining fields and plant low growing clovers. Local feed mill may be able to both spray and dill the seed for you. They will enrich the soil and can help feed the trees. Plant them around the pines after they are 18" tall in the fall. (White Dutch is a good choice)

Many counties have free mulch - as will the power company from clearing right of ways. Getting a dozen truck loads or more and putting a 5' circle around the trees will help hold moisture and keep the competition down.

jb

 

[KaiB]

I often find myself agreing with Old Mac...although this is na old post.

One point, often we get stuck on the implement tangent and forget why we use them, i.e. to work soil, thus...

...its the soil we need to make a crop. Two words, test it.

Test it for both macro and micro nutrients, pH, compaction layer and organic content. The work will pay off in spades.

 

[nmu98]

I have planted over 4000 2-5 foot trees on my property. All of them have been bare root and planted in the spring. The first year I used a shovel and my middle buster. Never again. Since I have used a PHD with a 12" auger. It has been a way too large hole for most tress, but I have has less than 5% die.

I keep the weeds down with a tripple K and roundup. (I have taken out a few trees with the roundup...LOL)

This year, due to shipping times, and weather, I planted 500 White spruce in the snow. The front was only 2" deep, and the POD went through it. I have not lost one of those trees.... Maybe its luck, maybe they will die nxt year. dunno... But the best thing for the trees is to keep the weeds down, and the soil worked around them, IMHO.

 

[OldMcDonald]

cp1969, I do not disagree with you that merely making a T notch and dropping seedlings in - the way it is done by most Government Forestry operations, usually means a very high tree survival rate. It is done that way in the UK. I do not know about here, but given the sort of terrain where trees are planted for timber, I would guess that is so. Even crawlers would be chancing it on some of the slopes.

The difference is that the original poster is talking about quick growth, quick return Christmas trees on arable land, not 40 to 60 years' time timber on land that has not previously been cropped as is the case with most forestry scale plantations. The extra depth of ripping gives these trees a head start, and is also the way it is, I think globally, done for most fruit trees. It is certainly done that way for olive trees here (I planted 300 last year, 100% survival with trees out of 2 litre pots, max height about 1 foot and some now taller than me - and I am not a shortarse) and in South Africa and Australia that I know of, and I am told too in other parts of Europe and the US, but I cannot verify that. Old McDonald.

 

[ScottW]

I'm looking for a good book or pamphlet to explain tractor implements and how they're used. The PDF from LSU Ag Center referenced in a previous post is great. I'm wondering if I could learn even more good stuff from a book. Another previous recommendation, "How To Use Implements on Your Small-Scale Farm (Motorbooks Workshop)" Rick Kubik; Paperback; $14.93 is now listed on Amazon for $100! Is this now an out-of-print collector's item? Can anyone recommend an alternative? We own a rotary tiller which is adequate for breaking up the soil. Now I want to find a good way to form raised beds for vegetables in a medium-sized garden. We can do planting and weeding with manual tools.

 

[NSBound]

Looks to be out of print, but this place seems to have one at $24.95 - it's worth a try! FARM COLLECTOR Shopping: RICK KUBIK

 

[ScottW]

Thanks for the link, NSBound. Turns out my public library has it, so I'll borrow it first.