Best Attachment for Breaking Up Ground? Box Blade to Plow/Break Up Ground?

[vcollaco]

Hello everyone! I want to start a food plot on a 5 acre field that has very rocky soil. The field has been mowed for the last 5 years, but hasn't been plowed in over 10. What attachment should I use to break up the soil? I only need to loosen the top 3-6 inches of soil, as I only intend to plant oats, clover, maybe beans. Can I use a box blade by making many passes to rip up the soil? I also need to level out some spots. A roto-tiller is out of the question, I think, as the soil has rocks all over. I have a Mahindra 3616. Any ideas and suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[1026mrg]

Resettable bottom plow. Resettables will handle the rocks better. You will likely have to pick out the large ones before disking.

Plow. Remove rocks. Follow up with disk harrow.

Box blade will level things, but won't turn soil properly. Box blade with scarifiers may work. But it is still a leveling & filling tool, not
a plowing/turning tool. Also with big rocks you run the risk of ruining the scarifiers if you get some stones jammed in there well enough.
Box blade without scarifiers won't do very much at all, at least not for your purposes.

You also may want to check to match the number of plow bottoms to your tractor HP.

 

[bigtiller]

The best tool for your situation may be an offset disk. Do you have any farmers driving by this time of year? He could drive in and do it in just a few minutes.

 

[nybirdman]

Can you do it with a box blade;yes.Not the best tool but it will do it.I would BH short,spray with Round-up and give it a try.
A bottom plow would be better;a inexpensive "potato plow"would also break the sod.Slow going for five acres though.
I use my roto tiller all the time on ten acres and nobody has any more rocks than I do.Pick out the big ones.

 

[jeff9366]

Hello everyone! I want to start a food plot on a 5 acre field that has very rocky soil. and hasn't been plowed in 10 years.

What attachment should I use to break up the soil? I only need to loosen the top 3-6 inches of soil, as I only intend to plant oats, clover, maybe beans.

If your field has not had animals pastured on it, I think a Disc Harrow with a minimum of 20" diameter pans would prepare your soil; certainly ample for oats and clover. After sewing, rolling in the seed with a Cultipacker would give optimum results.

What implements do you own at this moment?

What is the horsepower and weight of your Mahindra 3616?

You may need to plow for soybeans.

 

[vcollaco]

Can you do it with a box blade;yes.Not the best tool but it will do it.I would BH short,spray with Round-up and give it a try.
A bottom plow would be better;a inexpensive "potato plow"would also break the sod.Slow going for five acres though.
I use my roto tiller all the time on ten acres and nobody has any more rocks than I do.Pick out the big ones.

You don't break tines on the rocks?

 

[vcollaco]

Thank you. My tractor weighs 2560 and it has 36 hp. All I have is a backhoe and brush cutter.

 

[vcollaco]

Thank you. Thought maybe I could get away with multi tasking one attachment, like the box blade with scarifiers.

 

[1026mrg]

Thank you. My tractor weighs 2560 and it has 36 hp. All I have is a backhoe and brush cutter.

With 36 hp, you will likely be limited to a two bottom plow. I think that three would really be pushing it. Good rule of thumb is 15-20hp per
each bottom of plow.

Would respectfully suggest either borrowing, renting or buying the proper implements. We are up in VT with very rocky soil. Soils are great but the stones are prolific. Had tried for a couple of years to bootstrap food plots without the proper attachments. Finally broke down & got the stuff that we really needed. It has made a huge difference. Can you grow stuff with minimal soil preparation? Yes. Will it be optimal? No. Will the plots be much more productive with proper preparation? Yes.

Everyone's situation & appetite are different. If you really want a good yield and a sustainable plot, try to figure out the most cost effective way to get access to the right prep gear.

 

[1026mrg]

Check out Craig's list.... you may be able to get a decent deal on some stuff. A couple of examples below....

Ferguson Two-Bottom 12" Moldboard Plow

Bottom plow and Harrows