So I'm getting a tractor. Since I've been working plots for my Quad I have a basic understanding of implements. But I want to start with the tractor basics to get a full understanding of exactly what I will actually need and when I should use which one with a tractor since the my capabilities will go up much more. What do you use for the following? 1. Tillage: Disc, plow, roto tiller? If you have more than one how do you choose which one you will use for what purpose? I'm thinking I will get a roto tiller right now and will always have my nice 48" ATV disc that tears stuff up good. Something like this: http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/king-kutter-54-in-xbx-rotary-tiller/0000000076964 2. Fertilizer Spreader: I'm not sure about this one. On one hand a 3 point one would be nice. But a pull behind one would be great because I could still use it with the ATV on small plots and hooking up a drawbar with a ball sounds easier to hook up than a 3 point one. Not sure and looking for advice. http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/king-kutter-atv-seeder-spreader/0000000031101 or http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/king-kutter-900-lb-capacity-steel-seeder-spreader/0000000010020 Important question: What do you guys use to spread small seeds over large areas? Say clover or brassica seeds? Do you still do those with a hand seeder or can you use some type of spreader like I show above? Walking a 2 acre plot with small seeds and a hand seeder sounds like a PITA. 3. Lime Spreader: Still looking for something. TBD. 4. I was not planning on getting a drill. ???? 5. I was probably going to find a cultipacker as well on craigslist. I have a fence drag that is a little small for the tractor but not sure how much I would use it with a tractor anyway. If I wanted to drag I would probably use the ATV anyway. What else do I need?
We have a Kubota MX5100 1. I use a plow and a Reverse Tine Tiller. When I am breaking ground for the first time in a larger area say 1/2 acre or more I will plow it and let it sit for a couple months and then come in with the tiller and work the soil. If its one of my small kill plots I just use the tiller. 2. I use a pull behind spreader you would use for your yard. This is the one I have Agri-Fab 130lb Tow Behind Smart Spreader 45-0463 by Agri-Fab for $169.99 : Rural King I pull it with our UTV and it works well. As far as spreading seed I used it to plant 1 acre of WTI Forage oats and it did the job just fine. For smaller seed I still use a hand spreader. 3. When I spread pelletize lime I use my spreader. 4. If you could get a small drill I would! This is on my wish list 5. I use a lawn roller right now and it has done the job so far but a cultipacker would be nice to have
1. I use a plow and a Reverse Tine Tiller. When I am breaking ground for the first time in a larger area say 1/2 acre or more I will plow it and let it sit for a couple months and then come in with the tiller and work the soil. If its one of my small kill plots I just use the tiller. Why. Why use the plow on larger plots but not on the small plots? 2. I use a pull behind spreader you would use for your yard. This is the one I have Agri-Fab 130lb Tow Behind Smart Spreader 45-0463 by Agri-Fab for $169.99 : Rural King I pull it with our UTV and it works well. As far as spreading seed I used it to plant 1 acre of WTI Forage oats and it did the job just fine. For smaller seed I still use a hand spreader. Yeah for larger seeds like oats I have used the broadcaster as well. Not so much on the small seeds. 3. When I spread pelletize lime I use my spreader. I am getting away from pellet lime due to the cost of doing the additional acreage I will be doing. For the plots I had before it was fine but now I want to be able to do Ag lime. 4. If you could get a small drill I would! This is on my wish list Why. What could I drill that I could not broadcast and cultipack? 5. I use a lawn roller right now and it has done the job so far but a cultipacker would be nice to have[/QUOTE] yup
I don't do food plots but I have a compact tractor I used to till our 3 acre garden. John deere sold me a woods power tiller when I bought the tractor. It's been a good tiller. Breaks hard ground well. Will also wrap heavy duty t-posts around itself. Lol
Drilling seeds use less seed than a spreading rate. Also folks should consider going no-till, it's far better for soil health. Tillage practices destroy soil organic matter and soil structure. People seriously need to look into what damage tillage actually does to soil. No-till will eventually get you to better structure, better nutrition values from your crops and with less fertilizers.
Covey, I failed to mention this. I have done extensive research on the no till method. Can you no till Drill small seeds though? How would brassicas or clover drill? That was my concern.
Well if that is the case. Why not just have a drill and sprayer. Why have anything else once you got your plot going.
Food plot purposes only, you could probably get away with that. I love my tiller though. Edit: I should also mention all brassicas and clover we drilled was worked first. No till brassicas would fair better than no till clover I'm betting but it also depends on what the previous crop was.
The reason I don't plow my kill plots is because of the location I have them Its just easier to back in with the tiller and take care of it that way. I only use the plow when its soil that I have never worked before.
I think the answer probably for me is just to plan on spraying to keep thatch down and then broadcast and then cultipack. That will keep the cost of a drill out.
You can get small seed attachments on no-till drills. No-tilling them works the same as any other crop, you just set the drill shallow. The cost of a no-till drill is going to be cost prohibitive for most people and they are heavy. They make 5 and 6 foot wide models that will work with small tractors but the price is way up there.
Did you read Crimson's threads over on QDMA? That's basically what he's doing. To answer the original question, I use my dads John Deere 990. We have spring-tooth harrow, box tiller, two bottom plow, and a three point spreader. We have other implements, but we don't use them for food plotting. As it stands now, we ONLY break out the two bottom when breaking new ground. On our established plots, the box tiller gets primarily for the tilling duties. It's shallow tillage, but tillage nonetheless. I've toyed with trying a true no till approach, but it would have to be done the way Crimson is doing it (spreading seed into standing crops, then mowing down to use the thatch as a moisture retention/seed bed. For a lot of your smaller seeds, you can certainly get by with mowing down broadcasting, and then cultipacking. That's also what we often do when I don't want to till. A cultipacker is next on my list. Given how hard they are to find and how easy they are to make, I may have to go that route. We rarely, if ever, use the 3pt spreader as it's not really necessary on smaller plots. We use a hand spreader on smaller plots, with an ATV spreader doing the lime/fertilizer work (we will use this for seed as well).
No I will take a look at that. A cultipacker is going to be a must for me. Just really glad I didn't buy a small one for my ATV even though I toyed with it. I think planning on spreading with the ATV is a good move and I intend to do the same.
One big thing is handeling the AG lime I want to use now instead of pellet lime. Have any of you just used the loader on your tractor to spread around and then disc?
Look for old AG ones. We took a wing section off an old one, added tires and jacks to it and use it solely for our four wheeler now. Roughly 4-5' wide. Works great! If you want, I can try and take a couple pictures of it.
Brad, make sure you plan all of your needs for a tractor before buying. Below is a list of all the implements that I have and how much use they get. BTW, I would also like to get a cultipacker but so far I have accomplished the job by simply driving over every square inch with my tractor. 1) Front end loader- This is almost a must have. I don't know how I'd get along without it. It is a 72" bucket and moves a lot of material. Gravel, lime, dirt, snow you name it. It is also the best wheel barrow you'll have. Great for moving fire wood. 2) Grapple 48"- This is probably my favorite tool. You can pick up mass quantities of brush, logs, rocks and all sorts of debris. You can also use it for tearing out trees and roots when clearing out land. Very useful. 3) Backhoe- Some people don't have much use for one but I use mine all the time. You can dig out stumps, break the roots of big trees and then push them over thus removing all the roots, dig trenches make ditches etc. I also have a thumb on mine allowing me to pick up large stones, logs and other objects. The wife and I built a 50 foot long stone retaining wall in about 4 hours with it. Hint- It is always cheaper to buy this attachment already on the tractor. I also make money doing side jobs with the backhoe. 4) Rototiller 72"- King Kutter ll was the best deal at the time. I believe that KK makes County Line tillers also but they have less tines. Do your research. These tillers are more powerful than you think and can chop up some stuff. 5) Bush Hog 6'- Mine has a 2" cutting capacity but I found that it can do more by accident. Great tool for keeping roadsides, driveways or fields in shape but can also be used to cut clover or mow over last years crops. Also make money on the side with this. 6) 3-point broadcast spreader- I believe that mine is a KK brand. It will hold about 800# of fertilizer. I just got it last fall and have only spread fertilizer with it. I plan on spreading lime and some seed with it as well. Saves a lot of time with how far it can broadcast. 7) Grading scraper 7'- If you don't maintain a good sized driveway or easment you may not have much use for this. I maintain a 600' driveway and a 1/2 mile long easment and it is perfect for the job. I also touch up my trails in the woods with it. 8) landscape rake 7'- This is handier than one might think. You can rake up debris, touch up driveways, scratch up food plots etc. I use it a lot and it was cheap. Fleet Farm is a good place for some implements. 9) Rear Blade 7' - This is a extremely heavy duty all hydraulic implement. A Land Pride. It will move big amounts of material in no time. Tip- get skid shoes with it. Now days I mostly use it for plowing snow. If you think you only need x amount of hp, go up a size. Bigger is better. 80 acres can stand a good sized tractor. I have my implement wish list as well. 3-point wood chipper would be pretty sweet. Any questions just ask.
Thanks Greg. The tractor is already picked out because it is basically free. It is a mid 80's Ford 1910. I just have to wait for it to be able to get shipped here. Long story. It comes with a loader, post hole digger and brush hog. I will need the rest.
