Food Plots Disc vs tiller

[rtaylor]

I have super rocky ground with many rocks bigger than basketballs. The first year preparing my plots I used my box blade with the teeth all the way lowered to bust it all up. I had to remove the huge rocks by hand. After that I used the box to smooth it all out and had a pretty good food plot. It did take a while but the box blade worked great.

 

[Popcorn]

What a wealth of information. You guys are definitely throwing me in the deep end first lol. Once I get closed on the land (hopefully by the end of the month. I will start with checking out the compaction. Does is matter what time of year a soil sample it taken?

Not really, just know that mud is difficult to deal with the dryer the better. Test results are short order but lime is a slow process so soon to have adjusted ph by spring planting

 

[deerfever]

When I first got my property we tried a disk to no avail , we then got a bog disk from a neighbor and it worked fine. I bought a tiller after that first year and I have never looked back! I really like the tiller. You have absolutely gotten some great advice in the answers above from guys that know what they are talking about! I hope it all works out for you on the new place.

 

[TNTreeman]

On new ground I like to turn it under with a plow, let it lay rolled over for awhile then disc or tilll it. I have a tiller and several discs and depending on soil type is what I use but I almost always start with a plow.

 

[muddyboots]

when I bought a tiller I completely sold my disc. I till everything. If I could start over I would just buy a no till drill and save lots of time and money.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

when I bought a tiller I completely sold my disc. I till everything. If I could start over I would just buy a no till drill and save lots of time and money.

That's what we ended up doing. Just spray and drill

 

[muddyboots]

That's what we ended up doing. Just spray and drill

Absolutely. I'm still thinking of selling it all and starting over. If I was not so old. Lol

 

[Popcorn]

Great Plains 7 foot drill on Tays auction online ends tomorrow
Likely a good deal considering the time of year

 

[Specializedjon]

Let's start with a compaction test. Take a 3/8 rebar stake and see if you can push it into the soil by hand 1 inch? 3? 6?
Surface compaction makes life hard on seedlings.
Next
Take a hammer and lightly tap the rebar and drive it till it suddenly becomes harder to drive or stops. 4 inches? 6 inches ? 8? maybe 12? Now dig that spot up with a shovel or post hole digger. What stopped you? A rock or soil? Find the hard pan.
Knowing these things will too you what your soil conditions are.
While you are doing this take soil samples from at least a dozen locations in the field and send them off for analysis and ph testing. Be prepared to lime your soil.
Next decide what you want to plant because the crop determines the soil needs and processes.
I have a tph tiller for my garden. They are not designed for breaking ground, only finishing plowed or disturbed soil. I have a tph disk works well in loose soil or plowed soil but not hard ground. If a disk was all I had access to then I would scuff it up best I could with that, don't destroy your tiller. When in doubt plant a blend, when building soils plant a blend. Spring or fall plant a blend. I am a strong believer in soil building and with 7 to 9 species blends you can do wonders. I also like to feed wildlife and blends can feed many species at one time but even if I plant only soybeans I plant a blend of forage beans. If you have a tph attachment for your skid steer then you might want to consider an orchard plow, a great tool for rough ground. If your field has been compacted severely you may need a sub-soil ripper to get down deep and break up that compaction. This will allow water to penetrate and be stored rather than run off and opens the soil for roots to reach that water and other nutrients previously unreachable.
Many areas have less than 1% organic matter in the soil, 3 % is considered great and 5% is magnificent and 5% would be a lofty but honorable goal.
You can also help your soil with your plant choices. Turnips run deep tap roots seeking water and nutrients opening passages in the soil. Sun hemp is a legume with a good root system, annual clovers are shallow legumes that will feed nitrogen to the other plants, buckwheat is always a good choice for roots, collard greens and radishes generate matter and are nutritious. Sorghum hybrids and corn produces a lot of matter for soil building and cover for wildlife. Beans and peas are pretty much food but do convert and save nitrogen.
Soil samples are where to start after learning about compaction. If you have highly erodible soil like I am working with on a farm in Ky you want to consider managing erosion with plants and methods. Wheat, cereal rye, oats germinate quickly (in that order) and help hold soils while other seeds germinate and develop more slowly. They are also desirable browse and will absorb pressure while other seeds get a start. I use cereal rye to protect over browsed clover in the winter. They also help protect the soil from drying effects of sun and wind and insulate soil temps.
Sorry for the book, I love this stuff. Glad to help anytime.

I'm printing this. You need to write a book on this stuff popcorn. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I'm a new landowner with about 15 acres of hay field that I'm looking to convert 5 of that into a food plot. I'm gonna do the rebar testing as suggested to see what I've got. Thanks again.

Standby for really stupid questions

 

[BSK]

I would love to be able to use a seed drill and never turn my plots again. I probably could on my oldest plots. But more than half my plot acreage is new ground and it's going to take a while before that soil has been broken enough and have enough organic matter to use a drill. So for those new plots, it still means some turning of the ground. I'm going to have to look into orchard plows, disk plows and bog disks. Although I'm not sure my 32 HP tractor could pull any of those. But breaking the ground before tilling would definitely extend the life of the tiller.

 

[Gravey]

Our lease in Hickman is super rocky. We've busted tillers, disks, and box blades and now use a chisel plow to bust it up. Sometimes we'll run a disk over it afterward but a lot of time doesn't need it.

 

[BSK]

Anyone familiar with implement called a Middle Buster? I see they sell a single shank subsoiler for our small tractor (JD 3032E) as well as a single shank Middle Buster.

 

[BSK]

Our lease in Hickman is super rocky. We've busted tillers, disks, and box blades and now use a chisel plow to bust it up. Sometimes we'll run a disk over it afterward but a lot of time doesn't need it.

If it's been dry for awhile, even a chisel plow won't turn up our soils. Chisel plow just scratches the surface.

 

[muddyboots]

Well fellows we tried something this year on some new ground that really worked well. We just sprayed the areas with roundup. Let everything die. Spread seed into dead thatch. Bushog dead grass onto seed. It rained the next few days. We have some great plots on some new ground. Saved a ton of time and work. Now is it as pretty as the plots I tilled? No but plenty good enough.

 

[BSK]

Well fellows we tried something this year on some new ground that really worked well. We just sprayed the areas with roundup. Let everything die. Spread seed into dead thatch. Bushog dead grass onto seed. It rained the next few days. We have some great plots on some new ground. Saved a ton of time and work. Now is it as pretty as the plots I tilled? No but plenty good enough.

I used the spray, broadcast, mow technique for years. It will make a useful fall plot. And using that technique for a number of years in a row can build up a nice little humus layer near the surface. However, this technique doesn't work well (on hard ground) for summer crops. Large-seeded plants like beans don't do well if unburied, and if you don't break the ground a little, summer thunderstorm rain runs right off. At least it does with my "Bodine gravelly silt loam" ridge-top soil.

 

[Gravey]

If it's been dry for awhile, even a chisel plow won't turn up our soils. Chisel plow just scratches the surface.

We're fairly close and if it's been super dry only dynamite works!

 

[BSK]

We're fairly close and if it's been super dry only dynamite works!

Sounds crazy, but it's true. I've never seen a soil so greasy and sloppy when wet, and then 48 hours later hard as concrete and raising dust as fine as talcum powder.

 

[TheLBLman]

First time we tried to turn our plots, I got a brand new double-gang disk. It lasted less than 24 hours before the axles stretched so far the disk-plates were flopping all over. Went straight to the trash heap.

Sounds like that double-gang disk lasted longer than your double-duty truck!

 

[BSK]

Sounds like that double-gang disk lasted longer than your double-duty truck!

That poor truck... I'm still finding melted parts of it in the food plot.

 

[BigAl]

Great info, guys. The best thing I've learned from this post is that I'm very thankful I don't have rocky soil.