Discs/Plows for ATV

[BoogieMan]

I need to till up some remote food plots. I am wondering about the Groundhog Max ATV discs https://www.groundhogmax.com/
The area is Tioga County PA. Ground is usually damp or wet but its small mountains with a lot of slate type rock mixed in. I see plenty of farms in the valleys but my property is higher up. It was last farmed back in the 40's. Pretty much woods now. So far I havent had any luck with any of the no-till seed products I have used.
Also would love some inexpensive seed suggestions for that area. I generally have to chance to plant. Late April (like this weekend) and then again in Mid Oct. Unfortunately I dont get up to the property as often as I would like.

 

[Shenna9220]

Anything that can break up the surface will help. I used to use a tow behind in north Florida which did well. The most important piece is the soil Ph. You can get a cheap meter at Walmart that can help with testing. I usually put down peletized lime on any of my plots ( 40 lb per acre ). This will help neutralize the soil. These are the steps I take:

1. Mow, bushwhacked, whatever is necessary
2. Disc. I usually make a couple of passes
3. Fertilize. 10-10-10 or something close
4. Drag, I use a harrow with teeth down to make seed groves but a piece of chain link fence will work.
5. Spread seed
6. Light drag.

I try do do this when rain is a sure thing within 8 hrs of completion. I have had turkeys come in right after planting and eat everything, but once it gets wetted in they typically leave it alone.

Last year I ran out of seed and had to buy some throw an grow to fill in. Came up great, got almost a foot high.

 

[Art Eatman]

From their description of the hook-up, it looks like the front wheels do most of the work. I'm dubious that a 2WD ATV could pull it.

 

[NoSecondBest]

I have the same type of soil on my property that you have. The ATV will not really do the job as you expect. In fact, the discs will lift up every time you hit a rock and all the discs raise at the same time. However, if you keep going over the same ground but don't drive in the same tracks you'll "scratch" the surface up enough for your seed to take. Most seeds used in a food plot only need to be covered by a quarter inch or so of soil. The trick is to keep going over the rocky ground until most of it's been "scratched" up. Then spread the seed and after that, make sure you drive over it enough to get some dirt on it or drag something over it to "tumble" it under a thin layer of dirt. The PH is important as well as spraying several weeks before to kill weeds. Also, when you seed make sure you put some fertilizer down at the same time. I've been doing this for around ten years now and my plots are fantastic....thick, lush, and tall. The deer, turkeys, and even some bear spend a lot of time on the plots. Good luck.

 

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Plotmaster seems to be popular in this area. Spendy tool. But all those trailing behind ATV tools for the purpose are it seems like.

 

[camper4lyfe]

That disc is so small, it's going to take you a LONG time to get anything done. I'd try to find something different.

 

[Mobuck]

If your "plot" is small enough that the ATV thingies would work, why not just use a walk behind roto-tiller? If it's bigger, look into either renting an actual "tractor" or paying a local farmer to till the area.
AFAIC Those tillage tools are only good for ONE thing--damaging your ATV.
I've farmed for 50+ years and know what it takes to prepare a seedbed. A good roto-tiller will do that far better than those rinky-dink toys.

 

[NoSecondBest]

Keep looking around. They do make small discs that can be pulled by an average sized ATV that are free floating. They well rise and fall over rocks, stumps, etc as they're being pulled. You just don't want a rigid one hooked to your frame. When you do that, you either damage the ATV over time or wreck the disc. Just remember, you don't need to go deep into the soil, you just have to scratch it up. I've been doing this for quite a while and my plots are excellent. It would be easier and quicker with a tractor, but it's not a requirement. Most hunting food plots aren't measured in acreage, they're measured in yards x yards. Most of mine are around eighty yards by fifty yards or so. I have five of them on my property. I'm not commercial farming, I'm hunting with food plots on my property to keep the deer around. I think you're probably looking to do the same thing.

 

[BoogieMan]

We ended up clearing about 1-1/2 acre in a lower section by clear cutting the trees (all pine) and then moved everything out with a small excavator. The ground was pretty bare after the excavator moving through. One of the opther members brought up a small disc set from a mini tractor and we towed that around the area. It was enough to smooth things out and provide some shallow grooves for seed. We laid down 200lbs of lime, 100lbs of 10-10-10, 50 lbs of clover seed and some mixed "no-till" food plot seed from Tractor Supply. The upper plot that I am really concerned about has been mowed twice a year for the last 3-4 years. Currently its covered with a nice layer of green grass. I guess time will tell how well we did.

 

[Mobuck]

" 50 lbs of clover seed and some mixed "no-till" food plot seed from Tractor Supply. "

50 POUNDS OF CLOVER SEED on 1.5 acres???????????????


The normal seeding rate for clover is 7-10# per acre and that's as a single seeding. If other seed is sowed or any other plants are already growing, the rate is 4-6# per acre. The preferred fertilizer for legumes would be something like 0-26-26 @200# per acre for the initial seeding.

 

[BoogieMan]

MOBUCK- I am only 1 of 12 in the club. We ended up using what showed up. As for the Clover seed we didnt run out the whole bag and some was mixed over on the other 2 small plots. Generic bag that had no seeding rate stated on it.

 

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Here's how I went about making my plot/s a few years ago.

First thing. I had the dirt tested for its P/H & other factors. (I would suggest that being done before any attempt of a plots planting.)

Yup lucky to have a old 52 ford tractor to snake down those old skidding trails on. And couple piece's of equipment I & son re-built for the tractors capability> chisel tooth cultivator and a pull behind set of small disks.

Very first things I did.
Level those nasty ant hills with the tractors front end loaders bucket. Then on foot check the entire field over carefully for bee hives in its grass. (I hate bee surprise's when operating that Jari.)

Then the BIG JOB. Cut that overgrow canary field grass down {sometimes waist high} with my walk behind Jari mower. {a laborious task for a couple/3 fellows needing to accomplish.)

Rode around whats left of the day pulling either the chisel tooth or the disks to prepare the ground for its very lightly applied and disk under/in 46-0-0 fertilizer. (a job I don't mind doing with my ATV and its rear mounted broadcast spreader.)

A spendy 50 lb bag of white clover purchased before hand to seed that 3 acres with.

Carefully sowing white clover again off the back of my ATV with a pull behind drop spreader. When done I had a shade less than a 1/3 of a 50# bag left for another time or for spot seeding.

It took me 2 full days to create a good size (2-3 acres) food plot with no interruptions.

If I had the opportunity years ago to put in food plot. Without a doubt I would have hire a neighboring farmer to do the work.
To install a plot right. It takes a allot of work and no doubt is a bit spendy. But the results in doing have proven. Its been well worth our (son & I) effort year after year.

[URL=http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/SureShotMcGee/media/DSCN0263.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[Mobuck]

"A spendy 50 lb bag of white clover purchased before hand to seed that 3 acres with."
"very lightly applied and disk under/in 46-0-0 fertilizer."
Is that what the soil test called for given the intended crop? If so, that's some pretty strange dirt.

Again I say, legumes don't benefit much from nitrogen fertilizer--in fact if "inoculated" with nitrogen fixing microbes, legumes will produce more N than they use to grow.They need P & K (the second and third number on the fertilizer bag) with only a wee bit of N.

 

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Is that what the soil test called for given the intended crop? If so, that's some pretty strange dirt.

What works is what they typically eat. In my hunting area. I would prefer growing Alfalfa. Deer love it. But alfalfa causes deer to bloat. So the next best thing is white clover. No side effects and it is a perennial also. A small field of clover seems to hold deer close by and to increases the rabbit population. My favorite small game in winters cold. No better dinner than breaded snow shoe rabbit lightly skillet fried in butter then baked in heavy cream & mushroom soup to tenderness. O~~~h.

 

[Mobuck]

"Quote:
Is that what the soil test called for given the intended crop? If so, that's some pretty strange dirt.
What works is what they typically eat. In my hunting area. I would prefer growing Alfalfa. Deer love it. But alfalfa causes deer to bloat. So the next best thing is white clover. No side effects and it is a perennial also."

I think you missed the point of my question. You said you did a "soil test" and applied lime based on the results. Did the soil test also indicate that ONLY nitrogen was recommended when planting a legume(white clover)? I've not seen a soil test that checked only the need for lime. I also have never seen a recommendation of high levels of N for a legume seeding unless the soil is abnormally high in P & K.
Oddly, I've seen a LOT of deer eating alfalfa in several states but I've never seen a bloated deer(except simply a full gut from gorging on the alfalfa). Is this some sort of phenomena specific to your area? Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana deer seem to be immune to this bloating response.

 

[rickyrick]

I had an old offset disc plow made for a John deer lawn tractor. I think it was from the 50s, think I got it for free. Even though it's not made to bust soil, I always used it to make a one acre garden. It took several passes but it was much faster than tilling. I could get pretty deep too if I weighted it down. My in town yard was 3 acres and I'd sometimes bust up the sod then smooth it out with a piece of chain link fence behind the atv