Game Food Plots ~~ Suggested Implements & Attachments

[jeff9366]

Researching a disc harrow for a 4,000 pound tractor with HST, 4-WD and 45-horsepower for creating small food plots. Is there a rule of thumb for hp/size of harrow? Red iron clay soil.

Cutting unbroken ground for food plots requires a Disc Harrow with pans at least 20" in diameter, which yields ~~ 50 pounds of pressure ~~ on each pan.

Twenty-two inch pan diameter better. If your rear tires are filled with fluid you will be glad pulling twenty-two inch diameter pans.

Scalloped pans front and rear cut unbroken ground much better than smooth pans.

Nine inch spacing between pans penetrates somewhat better than seven inch spacing between pans.

Nine inch spacing between pans allows 5" to 7" surface rocks to pass between angled pans.

Seven inch spacing between pans penetrates soil less but leaves a somewhat smoother output.

Disc Harrow width should be no wider than your rear tires for food plots, preferably slightly narrower, for maneuverability moving forward and in reverse. You need to pass between trees with both the tractor and implement, with tractor potentially turning a bit. Hanging up a Disc Harrow between trees on a slope can be miserable.




MORE: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...ing-three-point-hitch-mounted.html?highlight=

 

[nybirdman]

IMHO;with the smaller tractors that most on this site have;a roto-tiller would work much better than a disc.We do 20+ acres a year.
On broken ground;we also use a spring tooth cultivator(with large peanut shares) as a secondary tillage tool;it's fast and fairly inexpensive.

 

[blackd]

I have and use a 48" tiller for first ground breaking and then a de-thatcher for later re-working the broken ground. My ground is also flat and fairly light (sandy) so the de-thatcher does a good job.

 

[FTG-05]

I used to disc - no more. Learn about the Burn, Mow and Throw or No Till method. No ground work, just burn it (burn of Roundup), mow and then throw. The old vegitation covers and protects the seed.

I never had any luck with a food plot until I did this and now I have 4 food plots that look fantastic.

Here's an excellent video discussing it: Easy No-till Food Plots -- QDMA Whitetail Weekend Seminar - YouTube