Food Plot Rigs

[schmoe147]

Wondering what people have for the food plot equipment.

[BLACKJACK]

Not sure what you're asking? I use the normal farmer equipment, tractor, digger, disk, drag, 4 row planter or hand spreader.

[Bear55]

I do ok with a 4 wheeler, disk, hand seed spreader, and a few pump and spray jugs. Small plots only!

[cm1977]

I have 3 different acre plots that I use a 4 wheeler and plotmaster. Had to have a buddy that has a tractor come out the first year and prep the site but ever since our setup has done well. We also have a sprayer for the 4 wheeler as we also seed our trails and spraying all the trails by hand would be a bit time consuming.

[bigbucks]

What do you seed on your trails? I did winter rye last September & it looks pretty good now, but I'm hoping to put something more permanent in this year.

[Jameson]

wheeler, disc, hand held seed spreader, hand held sprayers, 20" push lawn mower, 42" Craftsman rider mower.

[cm1977]

We went with Winter Wheat to keep them around, seemed to work well. Would you recommend the rye? We are going to shift it around a bit this year as well...

[bigbucks]

It seemed to grow pretty well & it's nice & green now. I couldn't tell that the deer really hit it, but there weren't many deer around my place last fall for some reason.

It's not a large woods, 20-25 acres between my place & the neighbor's. We had about a 10 acre cornfield bordering it & it didn't get hit much either. Just better habitat around for the population we have now. I've always had the feeling that it's more of an overflow area, for when the population's high. Too isolated, with two houses on the front edge. Mine's on the back, but about 300 yards across the field.

[fishermatt]

I had been renting a tractor with a roto tiller to till up my plots, and that worked pretty good. I could til up about 1 acre per hour, then you have a great soil bed for planting about anything. But this year I sprung for a Kubota B3200 and also got a 60" roto tiller, bush mower etc.

I have a sprayer for my ATV, and a walk behind corn planter. Just finished planting about 3/4 acre of RR corn, will wait a couple weeks to start on the beans, which I broadcast plant with a 12 volt spreader that mounts on my ATV. I'm a big believer in RR corn and beans at least the first year or 2 after first starting a plot, just to get the grass good and dead. Then you can put in most anything and have it work.

[hockeybc69]

We use a wide variety of things.

For the ATV's we have some old C tine cultivators. Simply cannot be beat in established plots. I had a King Kutter ATV disc that I sold a couple years ago because these C tine "diggers" as we call them, work so good.

We also have 4 and 5 ft drags for smoothing prior to planting.

Another great tool is a good cultipacker. We have a couple 4 ft sections and a 9 ft section.

I have a 4 ft I keep at home for my plots there, and we have a 4 ft and the 9 ft at our farm. I use the 4 ft for the trails and small innerwood plots. And the 9 ft I use to pack my corn and bean field plots, as well as my fall planted brassicas and winter rye.

Additional equipment, we have a couple old tractors with a 2 and 3 bottom plow. A couple discs(8 and 11 ft), 12 ft drag, 10 ft cultivator, 50 inch PTO driven tiller, 20 ft sprayer, and a 4 row planter. Paid little to nothing for most of the implements and have been lucky with how well they have worked.

What a great time of year. Next week will be food plotting mania!

[hockeybc69]

Speaking of trails.

I have become a huge fan of tilling and seeding all my trails in a clover blend.

Why not? If its just gonna be "weeds" why not till it up and spread some clover seed?

I am amazed at the activity the trails get all summer and into early fall. I almost dont have to mow my trails because the deer keep it mowed for me. Last year I mowed trails one time, and that really wasnt even needed, but I figured I was out mowing the plots so why not run the trails.

Trails and clover are a great combo!

And yes, it works in deep woods. We have thick hardwood overhead cover in most areas. I will say it doesnt get as thick and lush as the open plots, but it does pretty good.

[BLACKJACK]

If you really want to find out some info about food plotting go to the QDMA site and read thru their food plotting forum, lots of good info there!!

You can't beat clover on any of your spots, no matter how much I've planted, by late fall the deer have it eaten down to the ground.

[USDA3]

Hockey BC did you do anything other than just till and plant the trails? Round up? Lime? Fert.? or did you just till/disc and seed?

[hockeybc69]

Pull the c tine digger down the trails, walk through and spread seed and pack it. Walk away and thats it.

Thats all I have done.

Here is a pic of one of my deep woods trails.

[lungdeflator]

We just have a 1.5 acre field. We rip it up with a C tine drag 3-4 times each spring and it has worked the last couple years. no fertilizer, lime, or roundup. I had turnips the size of softballs in there last year..sadly they didnt make it through the winter!