homemade cultipackers

[michellesc7]

i have and try to manage pine trees in the south on my farm.
i have been to tree farm courses, seminars and meetings.
i also have been recently to an all day seminar on food plots for wildlife.
the issue is getting small seed to germinate and not planting it too deep.

i saw a picture of a homemade cultipacker made out of drain tile, filled with concrete. i have a tractor - so i like 3 point hitches.
i almost bid on a 8 foot nice metal cultipacker one a month ago at an auction - it went for 325. i don't own a 4 wheeler - yet!

does anyone of you know a company that sells them reasonable? or has drawings on how to make one. i don't weld myself, but i have a neighbor that fixes things for me and is wiling to make one.

i have alot of hill sides recently cleared that i need to get grass planted.
i can disk harrow and run the front end loader backwards, but i'd like to get my hands on one of those cultipackers. starting to get some silt washing and need to get grass planted soon.

any ideas out there on this subject or drawings?
i have tried searching the web.

michelle

 

[dixie306]

i have and try to manage pine trees in the south on my farm.
i have been to tree farm courses, seminars and meetings.
i also have been recently to an all day seminar on food plots for wildlife.
the issue is getting small seed to germinate and not planting it too deep.

i saw a picture of a homemade cultipacker made out of drain tile, filled with concrete. i have a tractor - so i like 3 point hitches.
i almost bid on a 8 foot nice metal cultipacker one a month ago at an auction - it went for 325. i don't own a 4 wheeler - yet!

does anyone of you know a company that sells them reasonable? or has drawings on how to make one. i don't weld myself, but i have a neighbor that fixes things for me and is wiling to make one.

i have alot of hill sides recently cleared that i need to get grass planted.
i can disk harrow and run the front end loader backwards, but i'd like to get my hands on one of those cultipackers. starting to get some silt washing and need to get grass planted soon.

any ideas out there on this subject or drawings?
i have tried searching the web.

michelle

michelle, I did a search on the web and found plans for several home made ones. A lot of folks will tell you a lawn roller will work and they're right, they will, but the difference in a field thats been rolled and one a cultipacker as been used on is like daylight and dark, I did the auction looking also and decided after paying shipping cost on a used one, I was as well or better off buying a new one. One thing, if you go the homemade route, make sure to use something well grooved instead of a smooth or even semi-smooth roller

 

[snoiger01]

I'm probably no help on the cultipacker, but would like to say howdy. I lived in North Augusta for a few years and drove through your neck of the woods everyday heading to the "bomb plant" Still have friends that live off of Pine Log road.

 

[RollTideRam]

I had my eye on a 16' cultipacker. I figured I could shorten it a bit. When I finally got the money it was gone. Another local farm/junk dealer has some 4' ones for $350. I'm still looking, JC

 

[flusher]

i have and try to manage pine trees in the south on my farm.
i have been to tree farm courses, seminars and meetings.
i also have been recently to an all day seminar on food plots for wildlife.
the issue is getting small seed to germinate and not planting it too deep.

i saw a picture of a homemade cultipacker made out of drain tile, filled with concrete. i have a tractor - so i like 3 point hitches.
i almost bid on a 8 foot nice metal cultipacker one a month ago at an auction - it went for 325. i don't own a 4 wheeler - yet!

does anyone of you know a company that sells them reasonable? or has drawings on how to make one. i don't weld myself, but i have a neighbor that fixes things for me and is wiling to make one.

i have alot of hill sides recently cleared that i need to get grass planted.
i can disk harrow and run the front end loader backwards, but i'd like to get my hands on one of those cultipackers. starting to get some silt washing and need to get grass planted soon.

any ideas out there on this subject or drawings?
i have tried searching the web.

michelle

Here's one version

Homemade cultipacker - QDMA Forums

It's more of a roller than a cultipacker.
I was planning to make one of these things when I found a real cultipacker at a local farm equipment dealer

It's an 8-footer. Cost me $600. I had been following cultipackers on eBay for over a year. The average auction price was around $590, IIRC.

 

[michellesc7]

AWESOME!!!
I have a big enough tractor and I could pull it- where exactly are you located? I will check out the forum. The new ones are high from what I am told- don't really know why. What have you planted?
Thanks,
Michelle

 

[Rockin' G Ranch]

i saw a picture of a homemade cultipacker made out of drain tile, filled with concrete. i have a tractor - so i like 3 point hitches.
i almost bid on a 8 foot nice metal cultipacker one a month ago at an auction - it went for 325. i don't own a 4 wheeler - yet!

does anyone of you know a company that sells them reasonable? or has drawings on how to make one. i don't weld myself, but i have a neighbor that fixes things for me and is wiling to make one.

any ideas out there on this subject or drawings?
i have tried searching the web.

michelle

Here you go.

http://www.bae.lsu.edu/NR/rdonlyres...B7FAE9C87E7B/16581/3801Cooperscultipacker.pdf

 

[TexasDefender]

I'm building one using the same packer wheels and design as on the qdma link posted above.

Mine will be a 9 footer and I plan on beefing it up a little more than the one on there due to the weight and I will be driving several miles on ranch roads between each of my food plots.

This has been the best option I have seen especially since all of the parts are easily obtainable.

 

[michellesc7]

i don't understand the foam discussion on the QDMA Site and i am concerned about pulling a lumpy log with that one - i do like its other design features. don't know about the wooded endcaps.
maybe a hybrid between the LSU model and the QDMA model - i like the cinders with the concrete fill. i have wood stove ashes and burnpile ashes - i think that is what they mean by cinders. also a couple of fittlings on the LSU design i'll have to research. it looks like you can back the LSU model. the QDMA model looks like you can pull it only. that is why i like the 3 point hitch ones. you have to consider surrounding trees and turning radius. i need to be able to back and pull. my applications are in the woods.

i probably need a 4 wheeler to do work.
but i have too many tractors.

regards,
michelle

 

[ToadHill]

Wow!! I guess I really got a deal several years ago. I went to an auction and they had a 10' cultipacker with 2 broken wheels. I started the bidding at $10 and no one else bid. Took it home, finished breaking off the 2 bad wheels and slid the rest down then put a muffler clamp on the shaft to keep them in place and I've been using it for years.

If I knew how much they sell for now I'd have continued to pick them up at auctions and kept them for investment income.

 

[TexasDefender]

Nevermind this is the packer I'm building Home built Packer... if your needing one! - QDMA Forums

I saw the qdma link and thought it was the same....

 

[dixie306]

Wow!! I guess I really got a deal several years ago. I went to an auction and they had a 10' cultipacker with 2 broken wheels. I started the bidding at $10 and no one else bid. Took it home, finished breaking off the 2 bad wheels and slid the rest down then put a muffler clamp on the shaft to keep them in place and I've been using it for years.

If I knew how much they sell for now I'd have continued to pick them up at auctions and kept them for investment income.

LOL, you could get rich down here doing that! That's the problem here, when we do find them for sale at auction or ebay they're always up north and the shipping cost is high on them. Sweet tractor had one I really wanted but it would have been the same as a new one cost with shipping. Food plotting has gotten very popular over the years and a lot of what we plant are the small seeds, a cultipacker is almost required equipment now. UGA has developed a breed of alfalfa for the south I've read that some folks are having success with. The larger clubs and farms are using no-till drills for that but thats out of my budget

 

[sunspot]

There was a local dealer that got 2 shipments a year of about a dozen old cultipackers. He would sell out in one month to the hunt clubs for food plots. I was going to buy one from the next shipment but the guy just died a bit ago. His supplier bought them at auctions in, I believe, KY and TN.

 

[N80]

What is the purpose of a cultipacker on food plots? How is it better than disking, then spreading seed and then running a harrow over that?

 

[dixie306]

What is the purpose of a cultipacker on food plots? How is it better than disking, then spreading seed and then running a harrow over that?

N on plots where, say, clovers planted or other very small seed crops , the cultipacker presses the seed into the soil instead of covering them. With the small seed, covering them too deep is worse than just spreading them. On larger seed and grains your better off with a drag than a cultipacker

 

[N80]

Thanks.

 

[SCDolphin]

George:

You took the question right out of my mouth!

 

[Rockin' G Ranch]

i don't understand the foam discussion on the QDMA Site and i am concerned about pulling a lumpy log with that one - i do like its other design features. don't know about the wooded endcaps.
maybe a hybrid between the LSU model and the QDMA model - i like the cinders with the concrete fill. i have wood stove ashes and burnpile ashes - i think that is what they mean by cinders. also a couple of fittlings on the LSU design i'll have to research. it looks like you can back the LSU model. the QDMA model looks like you can pull it only. that is why i like the 3 point hitch ones. you have to consider surrounding trees and turning radius. i need to be able to back and pull. my applications are in the woods.

i probably need a 4 wheeler to do work.
but i have too many tractors.

regards,
michelle

The cinder in the LSU design means crushed concrete or cinder blocks - not wood ashes. It's for weight so I would just fill it with sand.

 

[clutchcargo]

Try OMNI Mfg

 

[sweettractors]

There was a local dealer that got 2 shipments a year of about a dozen old cultipackers. He would sell out in one month to the hunt clubs for food plots. I was going to buy one from the next shipment but the guy just died a bit ago. His supplier bought them at auctions in, I believe, KY and TN.

We try to stock 40-50 used/reworked cultipackers from 3 ft to 12 ft about all year round. If anyone needs anything, give us a Toll Free call and we will email pictures of current inventory and with your zip code we will figure shipping? Ken Sweet