Dirt Moving What do I need to make a wildlife food plot?

[nortonbyk]

I'm a city kid who has retired to Missouri. I have 40acres of mostly woods, but there is a power line cut to my house which offers an opportunity to make a food plot for deer/turkeys.
Last year, I bought a Kubota B2620 package deal, which came with a loader, bush hog, box blade, and a mowing deck. I already bush hogged the plot, but I don't know what to do next. I am unfamiliar with some of the farming equipment vernacular, so I need some help. Is it possible to make the plot with only one attachment? What would that be? And what size (how many discs, blades, how wide) will my tractor handle. I will be looking through classified ads for used attachments when I decide on the attachment. Thanks for the help.

 

[Fallon]

Rent a no till drill.

Get a disk harrow, seed spreader or seed drill & some kind of drag (even some fence weighted down with old ties).

If you are doing more than a few acres, the rental cost of the drill will save you money due to the significantly lesser seed requirements.

No till is the popular & eco friendly trend these days. It prevents erosion soil moisture loss & does things in 1 pass saving fuel. Might have some problems finding one small enough for a B though.

Search this site for "food plot" & you'll find a lot of good info.

 

[AchingBack]

For my plots I used the hog to cut the grasses and weeds low to the ground. Next, I sowed my seed and went over the areas with my pine straw rake. I have used my landscape rake in the past, but it was too aggressive. Pine straw rakes are one of the least expensive attachments you can buy, unless you live a long way from the manufacturer and have to pay a lot for shipping. Tractor 3 Point Hitch 72" Pine Straw Rake PSR-6', also dethatcher

 

[sweettractors]

Most enthusiasts will use a roto tiller or a plow and disc combination. A broadcast seeder to do the seeding. Ken Sweet

 

[ArmyPair2]

Before you buy any attachment or attachments for your plot talk to a local seed store and ask them what is .the best seed other plot users are using. Then get a Soil Test done and I would also recommend that you research you tube video's on food plots to give you a good idea.

 

[nortonbyk]

Thank you all for the prompt replies. There is sound wisdom here, and I will start by getting my soil tested, and asking what works locally at my seed supply. I know my plot is rocky, with isolated basketball sized limestone and sandstone. With that said, now I need to know what implement will turn this soil over. Remembering that I have a 26 HP tractor, should I use a disc, plow, or tine implement? How much can my machine handle? I like the fence drag idea, as I have that on hand. I will walk and seed the plot. I apologize for my ignorance, but I don't have a clue what a "no drill till" is. But I like the sound of it. Thanks again for the advice. I'll check out some you tube videos on the food plot subject before I tackle the job.

 

[Fallon]

A disk harrow is a tilling tool. It yields similar results to a tiller, but is more likely to just hop over rocks & stumps.

A disk plow or mouldboard plow is for flipping the top few inches of dirt over to bury & kill plants & seeds.

A drill places seeds at a very specific depths allowing for far better germination rates than broadcasting. You need to till up the ground before you drill.

A no till drill is a big heavy expensive specialized drill that doesn't require tilling beforehand. A lot of conservation offices & others rent them for reasonable price. My local conservation office rents one for $200 for 5 acres + a few bucks per acre after that. Its a 5' maybe 6' wide drill & requires a 45 HP tractor to operate allegedly & a 3/4 ton pickup to haul it. I might try to run it with my 32hp 3,500lbs L3200, but that will be iffy. I highly doubt a B will have enough weight to run it.

Search for drill, no-till drill & food plot here on TBN using the Google site search in the upper right of the webpage. Lots of good info already posted here.

 

[Port]

I will try to save you some time and money. I have the same tractor as yours, after playing with all sorts of old implements we had laying around , we found it best to turn the soil first with a potato plow to bring up the clinkers. Then spend a day roasting in the sun picking stone. ( better to have local kids on hand) Get yourself a rototiller, I use a kingkutter tg48y Check pricing, found we could buy new for only a few hundred more than craigs list. soil test, amend, till it all in, I usually hit it a second time a week before seeding to knock down the weeds. Broadcast seeder and cultipack, if you need to. Lastly the kingkutter 48 fits this machine nicely, I don't think it can handle anything bigger. I leave the loader on, counter weight helps

 

[jeff9366]

At somewhere around 1,600 pounds your B2620 can pull a single bottom, 12" moldboard/turning plow. A single bottom 12" plow will turn over soil 5"-7" deep but it will take quite awhile to turn new ground one 12" furrow width at a time.
(Plowing is very pleasant seat time.)

Note info on narrow width of BX and B Three Points.
LINK:Everything Attachments | Single bottom compact tractor plow made by one of the longest running families in the plowing business.

I agree with 'Port' that a PTO powered roto-tiller is likely your best bet, with tines rotating forward. After you 'hog the vegetation as short as possible wait for a day with good soil moisture, then roto-till twice, amend per soil test, seed and drag. A Cultipacker is the best for pressing in seeds but not absolutely necessary for food plot seeds, which are strong germinators.

Seed when steady rain is in the weather forecast a day or two out.

In your rockiest areas research NO TILL FOOD PLOT SEED MIXTURES, which are mostly perennial clover. I would not intentionally plow or roto-till in areas with basketball sized rocks.

Disc Harrows will not do you much good on "unopened" ground unless you have one with at least 20" diameter pans, which is too much for a B2620. After ground has been opened a Disc Harrow with 18" diameter pans will work all right, so long as you disc both Fall and Spring. In Florida, I plant both Fall and Spring/Summer food plots with different seed mixtures.

PHOTOS: Everythingattachments.com Cultipacker. B3300SU pulling Howse 16/18" Disc Harrow. Max load.

LINK: Forward VS Reverse Rototillers: https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=forward+or+reverse+tiller

 

[nortonbyk]

Wow! That's what I was looking for. You all gave me everything I need to make a decision on what to use (thanks Fallon for the nomenclature). I spent some time yanking 25-45lb rocks from the plot over the last few days (alone with the loader). I think I can till (or roto-till) at least 6-8inches with the right implement. I'll be checking ads and auctions for the attachments from now till spring. I hope to get it soon so I can practice and be ready to go. A thanks to "Port" for what my machine can do, and to "jeff9366" and "sweettractors" for the links. Its good to see what these things look like. I have a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to the work (or fun). Thank again to all.