How do I disc the pastures to prep for planting

[stevenf]

Kensfarm, $300 or more unless your selling it around here you could eat corn for every meal for a year and not have $300 invested serious I've seen it often for 20 ears for a dollar and typical is 10 ears for a dollar. I guess this is a great example of why farmers have such a time making ends meet.
I had no idea planting seed could be that expensive as a matter of fact I was asking the gentleman at Atkinson's at what point he would discount it and he said 40 or more bags he'd come down to $27.50 per and 100 or more he'd come down to $25.00.
Thanks again to all that have helped me get started with this discing thing expecially Terrydo we've been PMing back and forth and he's very knowledgeable about farming techniques.
Steve

 

[Panache]

I have used a landscape rake turned around backwards to cover sead if it is planted on a freshly disked plot. I did this w/ chufa and got a great stand. If it is not freshly disked I spread the seed out first and take one pass over with the disk to cover the seed. Do you have draft control on your tractor? It probably would be a second lever beside your 3ph control lever.

 

[stevenf]

Panache, Its a Kubota M9000 with everything except a cab although I haven't gotten to great at the draft control yet. I've mainly been using the box blade on roads and just watching it close to make sure it stays where I want it as most of my roads are hilly so its a constant up/down to keep good contact.
Steve

 

[MMM]

A chainlink drag with croostie for weight works well for me. I've had good luck with perennial plantings after roundup and discing.. Chickory being deer's favorite. It has a deep tap and survives dry summers, but runs around $7/lb.

 

[Panache]

Do you have draft control? It is shown as optional on the Kubota web site. If you do, next time you are disking try adjusting the draft control. It will start to raise the disk any time it starts to dig too deep. Mine will allow me to keep the disks just barely in the soil...maybe 1 inch. This works good for me planting in loose soil where the disks would run axle deep.

 

[sweettractors]

<font color="blue"> I'm sure before I'm done I'll have no less than $200. in seed + fuel + tractor time </font>

Steve, I am not going to be hard on you at all. However, With the current high price of seed, I want as close to maximum germination as possible. The method you describe will probably be lucky to yield 25-35% germanation. The rest of your seed money was lost because the seed was too deep or too shallow--Don't as me how I know these things!!!---Ken Sweet

Sweet Farm Equipment LLC *Rebuilt Plows, Discs, Cultipackers, Sickle Bar Mowers*

 

[stevenf]

Penache, I'm sorry what I should have said was that the tractor is fully loaded with all options except cab and creep trany.
The draft control is indeed a lever identical to the lift lever right next to it. When I was buying a tractor I had no idea that it wouldn't really have down pressure on the arms only lift ability I guess its to keep you from flipping the tractor by getting to severe with your down pressure.
I guess it also explains why the draft control hadn't been making a lot of sense although maybe it still doesn't for a hilly environment. If I have the draft control adjusted and the tractor is on fairly level ground and then I proceed into the field where it goes up and down a lot won't the draft setting be useless and I'll still be keeping an eye on it all the time to keep the disk at the appropriate depth or is it a pressure adjustment rather then a height in relation to the rear of the tractor frame. No I think I figured it out it'd have to be height because the ever changing firmness of the soil would constantly affect pressure, I guess I'll set the draft as best I can and just watch when I'm going up and down.
Penache, where do you think I should set my speed of the lift arms valve fast, medium, slow or?
Steve

 

[stevenf]

Ken Sweet, Your right it was a relatively painless response, although I know that if I asked you how to improve my germination % you'd have me buying a seeder and a cultipacker and, and. I certainly agree that my % won't be as great as if I did it the right way with the right equipment but since I'm just starting out in this adventure I probably better take it a little easy in the aquisition department until I see what else I need and then try to figure out in what order I need them the worst.
Thanks for your gentle reply my honey will sleep easier tonight knowing that worst case I'll be throwing $200 dollars worth of seed on the ground and only $50 of it actually grew anything. Besides somethings bound to come by and eat the seed I hope its good for them so that I can just claim one more method on my county questionaire as to how I'm helping the wildlife. As long as a farmers not reviewing my paper work I should be OK otherwise he'll probably tell me that I'm just doing a cr*ppy job of planting. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Steve

 

[teddydo]

Ken, I will tell you what I said about planting the seed. With small seed, like grass or similar with what he has I would not cover them. The rain will bring them up this tmie of year. it must be warmer in Texas, it is cold and windy here in Mississippi to early to plant much.....teddy

 

[sweettractors]

Generally speaking, One of the most preferred seeds to put in for wildlife plots is clovers or legumes of some kind, Generally these seeds are the size of a pinhead. Grass seeds are usually larger and a completely different critter when it comes to sowing and getting germination--Usually if we sow a field with the reccomended seed rate and only get 1/3 germination, Mother Nature has a way of covering in the blank spots (2/3) with weeds and noxious type plants of her choosing. This situation usually leads to undeserable plants crowding out the good 1/3 that did germinate--Now, Lets start all over and do it again. --Ken Sweet

 

[Panache]

Draft control controls how much pulling effort is expended on the 3PH and adjusts the height to achieve a constant pressure. Actually, to me, on uneven ground it becomes more useful. if you come to a rise and the front of the tractor is raised, the disk will go down in the ground more. Draft control will notice the increased drag and automatically raise the disk. If the front of the tractor goes into a depression the disk on the back would come out of the ground but draft will sense the change and automatically lower the disk down.
I think I have my speed set to high. If I remember right this just controls how quickly the hitch is lowered. Hook up your disk and raise it up w/ the position control. change the lift arm valve to a different setting and lower the position control lever. Notice the difference in the speed. the disk goes back to the ground.

Start at one end of a long straight strip that you have made several passes over with your disk with draft off. Then go done the same path and start to raise the draft control but leave the position control all the way down. at some point down the pass the disk will start to lift but not come all the way out of the ground. Leave you draft setting alone once you have the depth you want, just use the position control to lift at the end of the row for turning.

 

[Zork]

Wonderful advice Whiskey..

 

[stevenf]

Well Whiskey, You'll be happy to know that indeed it works better to just seed the fields have everyone clear and then straighten the gangs out on the disk and run it light and fast. We got almost 2 acres done plowed, seeded and covered. When I went back and looked at the fields after we finished you could still see a seed once in a while but pretty much everything has a light cover of moist soil over it. The reason we wanted to get it in this weekend so bad is the weather folks are forecasting showers for mid week and I wanted to take advantage of the posibility of rain if we get it it'll be an awesome planting. After spending 2 days from sunup to sundown on this I can honestly say I've had enough tractor for a day or so. I feel like I've been road hard and put up wet. The discing went great after I started using the lift the disk and make the turn method and then do an X thru the middle to finish it out. Although once I staightened the gangs to cover the seed I just went straight and kept my overlap to a minimum so I didn't cover the seed to deep. Thanks to everyones ideas my honey came out and helped seed and took some pictures so hopefully I can post them tommorrow once I'm at work where I can get some rest. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Steve

 

[stevenf]

It took me all day lots of questions and a new program but heres the pictures of one of the food plots we seeded on Sunday.
Steve

 

[Argee]

Nice pics....a little small. What kind of soil was it? Looks like it may have been damp clay when you started working it.

 

[stevenf]

Argee, Its was untilled Texas top soil and the pictures were my first attempt with Microsoft Digital Image Suite.
Steve

 

[MicroPilot]

With Draft control you would set the position control all the way down. Draft is then adjusted to keep the implement engaged with the ground at certain depth in relation to the ground speed.

 

[cowboydoc]

I would be very surprised to see much of what you planted to grow in that.

 

[stevenf]

cowboydoc, I'm going to go with the my glass is half full frame of mind until april. I know from the pictures that it doesn't look like much but the disk did a good job without adding any weight and after working the land numerous passes to break it up it loosened up nice and I was pulling down to the disk axle most the time. We are just starting our spring here and the rains are intermittent but I'm able to irrigate the field closest to the house so it'll probably do the best. I'll post some pictures of the fields once they start growing and I'll hope to surprise you. I was able to fertilize with granular type fertilizer so I hope this will improve my chances as well.
Steve

 

[sticky]

Steve,

I am too a city boy gone country and have learned of how much fun it is to grow foodplots for wild life. One thing I have learned is things I read don't always grow on my property the way I was told they would due to many different factors. I would experiment with different types of seeds maybe a few lbs each seperate from or even mixing with other seeds in certain areas. next years food plots will be better than this years because of what you will learn about growing and what the animals go crazy over.

Around here and in Missouri, the conseration departments have seed drills they will let you use for free or it is like 6 dallors an acre rental. Your germination rate will be way better and your seeds will be distributed evenly. They will give you free advice and in Indiana and Missouri, they have given me free seeds. About 100 lbs. in Missouri this year.

When I put oats in in September,(the deer wnt crazy on them) I took 3 huge branches and chained them together and dragged them behind the tractor. I just baught oats at a grain elevator for 6 dallors for 50 lbs.