Food plot implement choice

[jeff9366]

RE: Plowing

Some tractors have Position Control, on other tractors Position Control is optional.

Some plows have shear bolt protection, some plows have "trip" protection, some have neither.

Position Control, shear bolt protection and "trip" protection are there to prevent your tractor from going vertical should the plow encounter an underground boulder or large root. As you have to plow at 4-mph to 5-mph for soil to flip, tractor, even a large tractor, can go vertical in one second.

Beware of the safeguards. Know how to use them. Belt up.

 

[Smallplot]

Couple questions. 1) What are you wanting to plant? 2) What size tractor do you have (HP)? 3) How far under grade are the stumps?

The Perfecta 10 is a field cultivator and not a very good choice for primary tillage. It is a light tillage tool for use in loose soil. The fred cain field ripper is light made for what it does. It has light springs and made with an angle iron frame which to me does not equate to long lasting primary tillage over numerous acres.

I assume your tractor is lower in HP with choosing these two implements which is why asked about size. If so your choices are limited based on ability to use different options.

Running a Cultipacker does not prevent soil washing, called erosion. It can help some but it will not prevent it. What a cultipacker does is firm the seedbed and provide better seed to soil contact with an additional benefit of soil moisture retention over fluffy soils.

Will wait to weigh in further until I know how big your tractor is and what you are wanting to plant.

 

[bushhog28]

I have an 11000 lb MFWD 105 HP massey ferguson 5611 with a CAT 3 3 pt with Michelin ag radials with deep lugs. She will pull cheap implements in half. It has lower link draft sensing and control, headland control, electronic height positioning etc. I'm not worried about the tractor, it will pull anything I can afford to buy. The criteria is:
1) Will level land and can be used to create food plot seed beds
2) Will not get destroyed hitting stumps at grade and below, 3 years old, 4-15 inches in diameter.
3) Can be used for hay or row crop operation later

UM and I pretty much agreed a perfecta hanging on a stump would be bad. I think the Fred Cain is in the same camp. I'm not sure a single disk on a harrow could hold the tractor back. I doubt it. So I'll likely pop disk blades.

Perhaps this implement does not exist....

Maybe a HD harrow or some sort of plow stand a chance. I'm looking at inline rippers now, maybe email Kuhn and ask them.

 

[mx1alex]

Like I said earlier. You don't even need to break the ground to get good food plots. Most stuff you can get by with just broadcasting then dragging something over it but even that part isn't necessary.

 

[dusty3030]

I have an 11000 lb MFWD 105 HP massey ferguson 5611 with a CAT 3 3 pt with Michelin ag radials with deep lugs. She will pull cheap implements in half. It has lower link draft sensing and control, headland control, electronic height positioning etc. I'm not worried about the tractor, it will pull anything I can afford to buy. The criteria is:
1) Will level land and can be used to create food plot seed beds
2) Will not get destroyed hitting stumps at grade and below, 3 years old, 4-15 inches in diameter.
3) Can be used for hay or row crop operation later

UM and I pretty much agreed a perfecta hanging on a stump would be bad. I think the Fred Cain is in the same camp. I'm not sure a single disk on a harrow could hold the tractor back. I doubt it. So I'll likely pop disk blades.

Perhaps this implement does not exist....

Maybe a HD harrow or some sort of plow stand a chance. I'm looking at inline rippers now, maybe email Kuhn and ask them.

A disk will ride up and over a stump. Any kind of plow will snag it.
If you decide to run a sub soiler or other heavy plow be sure there is a "fuse" other than your 3 point. I have personally witnessed a heavy 6 shank ripper with the a good bit of the 3 point assembly still attached to it and a John Deere 4840 with duals sitting about 20 feet in front of it with a good bit of it's 3 point assembly missing and most of its hydraulic oil gushing out of the hole in it's rear chunk. We dug around to try and figure out what he hit and it was an old buried cypress stump from land that was cleared way before any of us standing there was born.

Stumps rot slow, a dozer with a root rake will clear the majority of them.

 

[bushhog28]

Like I said earlier. You don't even need to break the ground to get good food plots. Most stuff you can get by with just broadcasting then dragging something over it but even that part isn't necessary.

putting in a 2 acre clover plot in a week or two using this method. Doesn't get you much seat time though.

 

[bushhog28]

You guys havn't priced root raking 30 acres with a dozer have you? I bet I can buy my own dozer and do it for less.

Seems like the disk is still winning...

 

[dusty3030]

You guys havn't priced root raking 30 acres with a dozer have you? I bet I can buy my own dozer and do it for less.

Sir you asked and folks with experience answered.
If you want food plots you don't need deep primary tillage.
If you want to level and reclaim cut over you need a bull dozer.

 

[mx1alex]

putting in a 2 acre clover plot in a week or two using this method. Doesn't get you much seat time though.

Maybe not much seat time but it's better for the soil... and if money is a concern it's cheaper.

 

[bushhog28]

Sir you asked and folks with experience answered.
If you want food plots you don't need deep primary tillage.
If you want to level and reclaim cut over you need a bull dozer.

I have a guy with a forestry tiller, goes about 18 inches deep. I guess I need to save money and call him one day. At least he can incorporate lime while he is at it.

 

[dusty3030]

One thing to consider if it is deer / turkey habitat you want to create is bulk of your 30 in native grasses with small clover / turnip / grain plots scattered in it.
It is outstanding habitat, good for the land, and inexpensive to establish and maintain. To the casual eye it isn't pretty, but acre for acre nothing else you can do with open land will provide as much food and cover for animals.

G9494 Enhancing White-tailed Deer Habitats on Your Property: Early Successional Vegetation | University of Missouri Extension

https://www.qdma.com/articles/how-to-hunt-native-warm-season-grasses

 

[jeff9366]

You guys havn't priced root raking 30 acres with a dozer have you? I bet I can buy my own dozer and do it for less.

Five days max. Also consider a large excavator for this work.

 

[bushhog28]

Five days max. Also consider a large excavator for this work.

Ill make a few calls, most charge per acre i think and last time i checked it would be like 100k. Forrestry till is 1200 per acre so around 36k.

 

[jeff9366]

Ill make a few calls, most charge per acre i think and last time i checked it would be like 100k. Forrestry till is 1200 per acre so around 36k.

What are your property taxes per year? You probably have a high OPPORTUNITY COST in unproductive land.

In my area five days work for a large bulldozer or excavator + operator would be $4,000 total, including transportation.

 

[bushhog28]

What are your property taxes per year? You probably have a high OPPORTUNITY COST in unproductive land.

In my area five days work for a large bulldozer or excavator + operator would be $4,000 total, including transportation.

I havnt seen anything near those prices. Why dont you send one up here. Ill pay you a 500 dollar finders fee.

 

[bushhog28]

21000 was best dozer quote. Not even removing stumps. Shearing and windrowing. Not sure what im getting for 21k.

Back to shopping disk harrows.

 

[jrclark]

I'm a complete novice, so take my observation with a grain of salt.

It seems as though the stumps will be a limiting factor for anything more than casual food plotting. If you need to till deeper, the stumps would be a nightmare for certain tilling equipment. Would there be a way to identify the stump locations by dragging a disc, mark them, then pull them out with a backhoe? I'm not sure how many stumps were talking about over the course of 30 acres, but if you're saying they're all roughly 15" or less, a backhoe would make quick work of them. This could also necessitate grading the field back once everything is pulled.

Keep in mind, there's no oxygen to aid the decay of a buried stump and root system. Depending on the type of tree, they could still be there when I apply for Social Security benefits in 30 years.

 

[bushhog28]

I ordered a 8' 3" amco hd 2275 lb offset disk. 1/4 inch high carbon blades, 1.5 inch high carbon axle, flex hangers, should be exactly what i need and tough enough to handle this massey pulling on the other end. Time will tell.

Lift Offset Harrow for food plots, gardens, seedbed preparation

 

[bushhog28]

AMCO disc is a beast, its cutting the stumps or going over them. Already made multiple passes on a few acres no damage. I plan to put a vid on you tube soon.

 

[bushhog28]

Ill be attackng the other 28 acres soon.