Cultipacker Substitute

tomt574 · Jul 11, 2020

Hello everyone

Well i have used chainlink and drag harrows and other contraptions and they do okay. Over the years I have come to realize that the cultipacker is a very important tool for turning out a great food plot and have good seed to soil contact. I really wanted to have one for this years plots but money is an issue so I may have to pass. So i am using a Disc Harrow then I take all the angle out and make some passes to try and get the clumps out. Was wondering if I added a tooth bar attatchment which is only about 300$ to my loader and used it to pass and compact the soil and fill in some of the deep cracks but still allow for some seed dept and compaction and then drag harrow over that. Anyone try this. Maybe I'm just over thinking the whole thing.

Thanks
T

airbiscuit · Jul 11, 2020

If on a budget, use what you have:

Disc to till
Drag to smooth
Plant
Pull Chain Link Fence to lightly cover seed
Drive round and round to pack the soil over the seed soil with rear tires (it doesn't take as many passes as you think)

GolfAddict · Jul 12, 2020

If you are going to drive round and round to pack, maybe pull something like this to reduce the number of passes.

Amazon.com : Brinly PRT-36SBH 39-Pound Tow Behind Poly Lawn Roller, 18 by 36-Inch : Lawn And Garden Towable Tools : Garden & Outdoor

Edit: I don't know why the link title shows 39 pounds, it is 390 pounds.

tomt574 · Jul 12, 2020

Thanks guys

i7win7 · Jul 12, 2020

Overkill for planting seeds, good for driveway touch ups.
Hoelscher Commercial Products - RB Scraper

r porter · Jul 12, 2020

have you got a back blade? if so turn it around and drag with it backwards.

3gunr · Jul 12, 2020

I Found a great used cultipacker close to my farm in north east mo.It has made my food plots explode.If you are close to me you could borrow it .I also have a steel roller i made that i dont use anymore you are welcome to.

super55 · Jul 13, 2020

I use a 4' packermaxx ATV cultipacker that I have had for years now. It's not overly expensive in terms of price and is pretty portable. I pull it with my ATV since it is only 4' wide. I been pleased with its results.

oosik · Jul 13, 2020

I have a home made drag that I pull with my ATV. It scuffs up the soil - flattens - covers the seed - - all at the same time. It's 4x4's - scrap plywood - LARGE SPIKES. I made it over 20 years ago. Still holding up and seems to work just fine. View attachment 663092

tomt574 · Jul 13, 2020

3gunr said:
I Found a great used cultipacker close to my farm in north east mo.It has made my food plots explode.If you are close to me you could borrow it .I also have a steel roller i made that i dont use anymore you are welcome to.

Im in Putnam County

tomt574 · Jul 13, 2020

tomt574 said:
Im in Putnam County

This is what i have been learning as well. A lot of guys say seed is seed but brassica and clover etc require different depth. If not compacted a lot of seed is lost and never really takes.

Kavic · Jul 29, 2020

I’m looking to make something like this drain pipe filled with concrete.

wolc123 · Apr 25, 2021

Keep on the lookout for used cultipackers. They were tough to find for a while, when scrap steel prices were real high. Now that scrap steel prices are low, they are much easier to locate.

A neighbor dragged a couple old rusty ones out by the road last summer, by my place in western NY. They were both 8 feet wide, and in rough shape with bent up frames, missing bearings, and had some busted wheels. I stopped and asked about the better of the 2, and the woman let me have it for $ 40.

Only 2 of the iron wheels were broken, and I will need to make new wooden bearings for it. They are easy to make from white oak or pressure treated 4 × 4's. The frame also needs straightening. It should only take me a couple hours to make it into a fine, serviceable 7 footer.

I already have a 7 footer at my place, that I rebuilt similarly about 20 years ago (I traded the guy a case of beer for that one). I need the new one over at my folks place, about 15 miles away. I have been getting by over there, dragging a log, chain link fence, or using my dad's side by side wheels to push in the seeds. That works, but not nearly as well as a cultipacker. I get very uniform seed germination at my place, but spotty over there.

Some folks use lawn rollers or culvert pipe rigs like that pictured above. Those might be a step up from chain link fence or log drags, but still not as effective as a real cultipacker. A cultipacker has extra clearance between the wheels and the axle which lets the wheels move up and down independently over uneven ground. The culvert pipe and lawn rollers are all one piece, and lack that independent wheel movement feature.

Poncho · Mar 5, 2022

my food plots tend to be long and narrow... I used a lawn roller but it tore up ... I have been trying to minimize what I take into woods... have real sandy soil so I just broadcast and run over back and forth with UTV... no different than using cultipacker.. just have to move over a tire width at a time.

wolc123 · Mar 6, 2022

Poncho said:
my food plots tend to be long and narrow... I used a lawn roller but it tore up ... I have been trying to minimize what I take into woods... have real sandy soil so I just broadcast and run over back and forth with UTV... no different than using cultipacker.. just have to move over a tire width at a time.

Thanks for the reminder. I need to finish up my cultipacker cut-down / refurbishment project. I have tried other methods (dragging a log, atv tires, etc) over at my parents place (about 15 miles away) but they don’t work nearly as good as the cultipacker that I use at home. I would love to have one over at their place, where I was able to kill (3) deer over the last year. The food plots are needing a bit of rework over there.

A friend at work just offered me a good deal on an old Craftsmen 220 volt welder, and I am currently in the process of wiring my shop with 220 volt power. Rebuilding that old cultipacker will be a great first job for that old welder.

Poncho · Mar 6, 2022

wolc123 said:
Thanks for the reminder. I need to finish up my cultipacker cut-down / refurbishment project. I have tried other methods (dragging a log, atv tires, etc) over at my parents place (about 15 miles away) but they don’t work nearly as good as the cultipacker that I use at home. I would love to have one over at their place, where I was able to kill (3) deer over the last year. The food plots are needing a bit of rework over there.

A friend at work just offered me a good deal on an old Craftsmen 220 volt welder, and I am currently in the process of wiring my shop with 220 volt power. Rebuilding that old cultipacker will be a great first job for that old welder.

I had also used my 65 hp Massey Ferguson with 4WD and R1 ag tires front and rear.. pulls about 8k lbs... packed real good and plots came in great...but trying to get plots done without so much different equipment. Also stopped discing as it seemed to invite the hogs and they would root the plots real bad ruining them