Seeding with disc?

[Jordan9682]

This may seem similar to the other threads i started but...
Could you bury seed with a disc? Would you work at about the depth you want the seed placed?(little deeper maybe?)

 

[grnspot110]

Depending on seed size, it may be hard to keep from covering too deep! A light disking will work fine for beans, corn, milo, etc. You may be better off with small seed to disk first, then drag seed in with a harrow, bed springs, piece of chain link fence, etc. ~~ grnspot

 

[Western]

Planting to deep, is probably the main reason plots fail. I would disc it until it is soft (one way then cross the other way) Broadcast your seed, then use a drag as grnspot mentioned. I've used 4 g stock panels, currently use several used tires wired together and that has been working great for 5 years.

 

[Ted Summey]

I agree that the disc is a last resort tool for covering seed. Even a log chain with some sort of spreader, a section of woven fence with some tires on top, three or four pallets wired together or something similar will do a better job. Grasses, clover, and brassicas don't need to be covered, just rolled or packed slightly. Beans and corn need to be covered but not too deep - 1/2 to 1 inch is plenty.

 

[wngsprd]

Since most of my clover plots aren't very large, and I don't have a cultipacker, I just drive over the plot in parallel straight lines using my tire tracks to press in the clover or chickory seeds. Has worked well. I use a drag harrow for the larger sunflower pea and bean, etc seeds.

 

[nwltruck]

I was thinking of the same thing. Dry summer killed a section of my lawn. Thought I could broadcast seed then make 2 or 3 passes with disc. The ground hear is very sandy and when dry does not break easily. When I started the lawn it took multiple passes to get 1" of soft ground with the disc.

 

[Jordan9682]

So could you only disc as deep as you want your seed? Of am i better off with my harrow? Based on...well, WEATHER, my target depth for seed is about 1- 1 1/2" deep. Then pack it

 

[Western]

Jordan, usually you disc as deep as you can to loosen the soil for the new roots (and dislodge a few weeds). It is hard to "float" a disc at a certain depth. To make it easy, I would disc it best you can, spread your seed, then drag or cultipack it with what you have.

I planted with a disc one time when it started to downpour before I could drag it. I disc the seed in, trying to keep it shallow, but never had good germination. It was clear to much had been disked to deep.

 

[Jordan9682]

Here's my spreader. As you can see, it was a push spreader, but I made a hitch for it to pull behind my quad (its not pretty, but it works!!) it's only 2' wide so it won't do many acres fast, but I'll still use it


Here is my harrow that I'll be using. It's about 5' wide and I pull it with a chain (not on right now) and i took spikes from the front row(the front row doesn't do much anyway) and i can now put 2 cinder blocks on for weight. Once again, not pretty but it works!

 

[jeff9366]

In another one of the TEN threads you have posted, you say your soil tends to be dry. Using a spike harrow or your ATV disc harrow to cover the seeds is fine, but leaves the soil open and prone to evaporation followed by crusting, which is not good for germination.

Better to ATV disc harrow, if that is what you have, then seed and cover by dragging timbers, or old fence, or railroad track over the seed, per TED SUMMEY in reply #4, something that will PACK/FIRM somewhat. I used a Brinley 48" plastic drum lawn roller behind my Kubota RTV500 for several years with good results, until frost broke the drum.

Probably packing the seed in/under with ATV wheels would be better than covering/fluffing with the spike harrow.

Best of all is a Cultipacker, which is engineered for this task of covering and preserving moisture around seeds. Note seed in Photo #3.

Consider one of the NO TILL food plot seed mixes. Might be your best bet.

 

[jeff9366]

I currently use several used tires wired together and that has been working great for 5 years.

Great, cheap, approach; will follow your ground.

 

[Rmart30]

After being in numerous hunting clubs over the years and seeing people try to seed and cover it with a disk only it doesnt work well. Way too much seed gets buried too deep and never comes up.

What I found that works the simplest for me is first disking the plot. I keep a cross tie with 2 chains on each side that sits on the back of the disk. I flip it off the disk and with the disk off the ground drag it around the field to smooth it out some.
Then with a 50# moultrie seeder that I bolt to the front of the tractor with a remote switch to broadcast with I broadcast and let the cross tie drag just barely touch the ground and cover it.

Im no farmer , just a hunter with a tractor planting food plots but so far that is what has worked best for me.

 

[Jordan9682]

This is what i ended up deciding on trying out this year. Have my fingers crossed

 

[RedDawg]

After discing and broadcast seeding with the tractor, we drag a 5 foot spike harrow with 150# of concrete on it behind the ATV. Of course, we aren't doing any of that with 28" of rain in west central TN since the middle of January. I suspect I could disc the corn I broadcast and it would be fine but for the clover, wheat, oats and such the spike harrow works great as it doesn't get buried too deep.

 

[D7E]

Discs are awful for compaction and not something to cover seeds with either ....too deep in soft ground and ride out in hard ground and plough up slabs if wet that smother seed . Just broadcast seed then harrow .

 

[lakngulf]

Discs are awful for compaction and not something to cover seeds with either ....too deep in soft ground and ride out in hard ground and plough up slabs if wet that smother seed . Just broadcast seed then harrow .

I have been covering seed with a 3pt disc for years----oats, wheat, wildlife mix, chufa. Just yesterday I broadcast soybeans and sunflower and use the disc to cover. You just have to set the height to just barely flip the soil. I had to get after it quickly as the crows found the sunflower shed and were helping themselves

 

[super55]

It really depends on the seed you are using. Most food plot seed is very forgiving. Cereal grains like oats, wheat, buckwheat and cereal rye are very easy to establish. As others have said planting too deep generally is the biggest cause of crop failure. In most cases a disced field that has had a few days to settle and then seeded and dragged with a bed spring/chain link etc. is usually more than adequate for seed germination. For even smaller seeds it is even easier. Usually all it takes is broadcast and pack them in the soil to get good seed to soil contact. A cultipacker like ken referred to is the best tool out there for the job but in a pinch you can get by using your tractor/atv tires or a lawn roller to get them tucked in the soil.

A disc can be used just have to make sure you run it very very shallow. To the point where the discs are barely moving any soil. A deep cut will surely put too much dirt on top of the seeds and lower your % of germination.

 

[dieselscout80]

Before my father in law passed he used a disc seeder one was a old drill mounted on a 22' disc and the other was a Gandy air seeder on a 28' disc. I don't have any pics of his setups, but here is one on a three point mounted disc. The one thing this one seems to be missing a means to control the depth other than the three point. I would think some tires that can be set to control the depth would be best.

 

[kevin37b]

Nice rig . If you want germination roller or cultipacker .

 

[Ted Summey]

One of my plots of forage beans that was covered with a section of chainlink fence and a few basketball sized rocks on top. This pic was about 30 minutes ago. The beans are about 8 to 12 inches tall. They will grow another 4 to 5 feet between now and August.