Any one plant a food plot? Tractor attachments?

[Jackfre]

I just sold my Kubota tiller I ran off my BX2660. It was ok in our soil, but in boney ground I wouldn’t do it. I would try a Ratchet Rake or Piranha. Much more manageable cost wise vs other options and it might fit the bill for you. I just sold my RR to a friend and he is having great success getting deer brush out with it. Selling the tractor (Sob) next.

 

[alfadan]

I dont think running a tiller in unbroken sod is the best practice. It would be too tough on an expensive machine and take forever. Try to find an old two-bottom plow to break the ground and find the rocks,roots, old toilets etc. A ford 8n can pull one, so any 25hp+ compact can do it.

 

[jrsavoie]

I would like to plant a couple of small food plots on our hunting property in upstate NY. The average food plot would be around 1/2 acre in small clearings in wooded areas. We have done the “throw n grow/ no-plow” in the past w some success but we would like to improve on that.

I have a compact tractor (24 hp) w a 3pt hitch i would like to use. I am not familiar with what would be the correct attachments to get. One person i spoke w said i need a tiller. We have a lot of shale & rock (Oneonta area) so a tiller seems to be counterintuitive to the terrain to me.

Anyone have any suggestions? We are willing to make the investment in the right attachments. Any help os appreciated.

Be careful of the pto horsepower when getting attachments.
Our 26 hp is only rated at 18 hp pto.

We can't run a 4' tiller.

A rock picker might be a good investment.

A bargain skid loader with a rock picker might be better.

Sometimes, it's just rock and a rock picker will do no good.

Haul in some loads of manure.

Rabbit poop doesn't have much weed seed.

It also makes a difference if the animals are fed pellets or grain.
Pellets have less weed seed than some cheap unscreened feed

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

I use a spring plow first to break up the top layer and down about 8 inches in the spring and then let the ground dry some more.
When the ground has the right moisture content, I disk the area to chop down the dirt tore up by the spring plow.
Again, when the ground is right moisture content after disking, I prep the area that will be planted with a tiller just before I plant.
I bought the spring plow used for cheap and its very old but still works great.
My soil has a high clay content and this process work great.
Good luck on your quest.

All Purpose Plows - Bush Hog

bushhog.com

 

[landry]

Look on uTube for “No Till” deer food plots…the method works well and really minimizes the tractor work and supposed to be better for the soil.

 

[jkeyser14]

I have a 23hp kubota tractor and have made a large food plot out of a clearing in my woods. I buried the rippers on my 5' box blade as low as they would go and ran them through the ground first to break any big roots and pull up any large rocks. Then I turned the ground over with a 14" single bottom plow to bury the weeds. Threw wood chips on top as mulch after planting.

 

[blue-5]

Alot of good responses, thank you all!

 

[70chevellegsp]

I would like to plant a couple of small food plots on our hunting property in upstate NY. The average food plot would be around 1/2 acre in small clearings in wooded areas. We have done the “throw n grow/ no-plow” in the past w some success but we would like to improve on that.

I have a compact tractor (24 hp) w a 3pt hitch i would like to use. I am not familiar with what would be the correct attachments to get. One person i spoke w said i need a tiller. We have a lot of shale & rock (Oneonta area) so a tiller seems to be counterintuitive to the terrain to me.

Anyone have any suggestions? We are willing to make the investment in the right attachments. Any help os appreciated.

I have about 4 acres or so of food plots on my 80 acres. I started with a Kubota B7100 (16-18hp) and a 4' brush hog to reclaim 25 years of growth and a Cub Cadet 982 garden tractor with a 3 point tiller. Over the past few years, I sold the Cub Cadet and bought a Kubota M4050 (50hp), 7' brush hog, 6 1/2' disc, and 4' rototiller. A lot of my property was strip mined and has a lot of rock in one section that I food plot. It destroyed a 2 bottom plow on it's first use, broke a disc last weekend, and 3 springs on a cultivator. My suggestion for 'the right attachments' is the following:

1) 4' or 5' brush hog. If you food plot, you will need to mow.
2) A cultipacker
3) A 25 gallon sprayer with a boom or make a boomless mount.
4) Solo chest spreader

With those 3 attachments and the spreader, I would do the following:

1) Spray glyphosate (Roundup) on your plots in early spring when things start growing. (add a little Dawn dishwashing liquid to help it stick)
2) Let that work for a week or 3.
3) Use the spreader and plant buckwheat (30-40# per 1/2 acre) into the dead vegitation
4) Mow
5) Cultipack

The Buckwheat should germinate and grow (as long as the deer don't eat it faster than it grows). If you get a good crop it will shade out most of the weeds below and it will mature in 90-100 days. Plan for that to be late August/Labor day. At that time, use the spreader again and plant 25# cereal rye and 1.5# purple top turnips into the buckwheat. Mow the buckwheat and cultipack. The rye will grow all fall and any days above 40* in the winter. The turnips provide 3 benefits. The deer will eat the leaves prior to late winter and after a few hard freezes they will enjoy the turnips when there is little other food available. Come next spring all the growth from the turnips opens up the soil as if it were tilled or disced and the rye will green up and grow.

Once you have a little success look for a set of discs or a tiller for make spring prep a little more efficient on existing plots.

Soil tests and fertilizing are another rabbit hole, but you didn't ask about those. Good Luck!