disc

[clover]

Has anybody used the king kutter or cabelas atv disc?Looking for input.

[bjmad]

I use something like this.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21412&id=0006010520605a&navCount=2&podId=0006010&parentId=cat20151&navAction=push&catalogCode=IF&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20151&hasJS=true

I found that the smaller discs like to rock back and forth. Weight helps to keep it down and to lower the speeds. This is the only thing I have to disc about 4 acres. My soil is sandy but it does a pretty good job. I found one at a local implement shop for $375 two years ago. I hope this helps.

[clover]

Thank-you mad.That's the one I'm looking at.

[hunter7504]

I purchased a King Kutter disc from TSC last fall for under $450.00 It was after I had my fall planting in. My tiller broke down and I needed something new . I have a friend that has the same unit and said it works great for a ATV disc. I added a 80lb bag of cement on the back to get a little more weight, now around 400lbs. Here is the link for more details.

http://www.kingkutter.com/WholeGood.asp?item=ATV%20Disc

Rick

[Trophy Specialist]

I don't know much about the King Kutter, but I have a Monroe Tuffline disc. It is very well made, but I had to modify it to function properly. I took a peice of chain link fence and wired it to the top to form a shelf to add weight. I Then put a sand bag on each side (about 150 pounds total) and that makes a big difference in discing hard, compacted clay, soil like I have in the U.P. With the added weight it digs in much better and works very well. It took me about two hours last year to completely break up a three acre plot.

[brooksie]

I bought the KingKutter ATV disc last spring. I've been real satisfied, though I went ahead like most of these guys and modified it a little. I made a shallow wooden box for the top and fitted 3" thick patio blocks on edge to get about another 180#. It sinks in the dirt real good now. I planted a one acre plot last year with it last fall. Broke ground with it, then sowed my wheat and oats with it. The height adjustment really helped. Good luck.

[NorthJeff]

Anybody use any of these things with an ATV to break sod...say an old farm field or CRP field?

[hunterrep]

I haven't used that brand but use a Plotmaster which is substantially heavier at 600 plus pounds. Sod is almost impossible to break with any kind of disc unless the sod and roots have been killed off completely and the roots are decomposing. In my experience, sod really needs to be mowed, sprayed heavily , then turned over and then disced. Then let it sit and kill whatever comes up the next several weeks. (You will expose dormant seeds and you need to rid the plot of these.)
I would personally recommend a disc that has a height adjustment on it that can be used without getting off the ATV.

[Trophy Specialist]

[QUOTE=hunterrep]I also recomend spraying a sod field at least once, preferably twice or even three times before discing. As long as the dirt is not to dry and compacted then a good disc will break up dead sod. My U.P. clay must be moist though before I can do much with it. Even with the weighted Monroe disc, when it was dry last summer it would barely even scratch the surface. A month later when it rained and softened the soil, it busted it up well. If you plant clover, which is herbacide risistant (Roundup and some others) then you can do maintainance spraying to knock back weeds and grass as they poke up. That's one reason I like clover.

[Lew]

I have the KK and my hunting partner has the Munroe. Both need added weight to work well. As TS mentioned, the condition of the soil is very important and trying to disc thick sod is not going to work. I have found that an ATV will do a good job for up to 3-4 acres, beyond that you need a tractor. To go with the ATV I would recommend a sprayer, a disc, a fertilizer spreader and a flexible harrow. For seeding small seeds I prefer a hand spreader. Can't wait for spring to get started. Lew

[NorthJeff]

That sprayer is probably about the most important tool in your food plot arsenal...even a backpack sprayer.

[Swampview]

If you're still shopping, here's what we bought at Northern Tool. Weight out of the box is 350 lbs. Did bounce and rock a bit on dry old sod, but eventually dug in with slow speeds. Worked good on last year plots that already had been tilled. Like other posts, we will also add weight to improve performance.


http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=200038374&R=200038374

[clover]

Thanks for the input folks.I kinda like the angle on the disc from cabelas but have no idea how well it's built.The king kutter seems to be a popular brand.

[Lew]

Clover, I have seen the Cabela's disc at Dundee and looks like a well built unit. With added weight, I'm sure it will do a good job. It is compareable to Monroe and KK in quality. One reason I chose the KK is it fits on my trailor with my ATV. Lew

[NorthJeff]

Something to consider is not using any disc at all. Treatments of herbacide can be used to prepare a field for a late summer planting and often a high quality ATV sprayer can be purchased cheaper than a disc. If you don't have either, I'd definately buy the sprayer first and you will experience very high success rates. This is a picture of a plot in the middle of a CRP field in WI. You can see on the edges how high the weeds grew, but this field was never tilled, disced, or dragged in any way. The plot was sprayed once in May, once in June, and one more time in early August, at which time a brassica mix was then broadcast with approaching rain in the forecast. The brassica grew to over 30" by mid-October in the middle of what had once been a heavy sod base of weeds and pasture mix, with absolutely no tilling of any kind. The field was 400 yards long and totalled around 2 acres. The seed and fertalizer was broadcast by hand and again there was no soil disturbance in anyway. We planted another field a month later in a rye and wheat combo, with a center strip of rape down the middle that grew just as well. The wheat and rye field was hit early in the hunting season, and the brassicas were getting hammered in December when I shot a couple of does on the field. We plan to include both fields next year in a wheat and rye/brassica rotation of each 1/2 of the field and other than possibly a bed-spring or spring-toothed harrow to work the rye or wheat into the soil, both plots will be planted with very little equipment.

Clover and chicory could have been added to extend the life of the plot to be maintained for 2-3 years or more, but the surrounding CRP fields and pasture mix have plenty of high quality summer browse growing within, but our limiting factor is fall through spring..so that is what we are going for. Also, by using a disc you have the potential to stir up more weed seeds.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/bigbrass.jpg

[Brad Gehman]

Many folks think you really need to rip and tear soil up to get a good plot. Like Jeff says, the sprayer is your best friend. I might go a bit further. If you run a disc over a killed field, just enought to get little "slits" into the soil, your seed, when broadcast and rained on, will settle into those slits. The field, after germination, will look like the seed had been drilled in. You'll get a VERY successful plot, without the all day discing.

[NorthJeff]

"If you run a disc over a killed field, just enought to get little "slits" into the soil, your seed, when broadcast and rained on, will settle into those slits. The field, after germination, will look like the seed had been drilled in. You'll get a VERY successful plot, without the all day discing."

Great suggestion Brad!

Depending on conditions, a cultipacker can work very well for that too. If the soil is too hard it doesn't, but most of the time the cultipacker can be a great tool as well.

[Ed Spin04]

The lighter the soil the more effective will the disc be.

As Trophy Specialist noted heavy soil, loamy clay, can be a task. It may be wise at times to never till heavy soil when one has light duty tillage equioment. No-till broacast seeding works better the heavier the soil. I have had good experiences doing this and seeding from late March, (frost seeding) mid summer, (providing there is pleny of dead trash laying on the soil surface and a decent recent rain) right to earlySeptember.

As mentioned by others posting here, spray with Roundup. For early spring frost seeding, spray three time the previous year. For mid summer broadcasting, spray with Round up twice with the secind spraying being the day you broadcast seed. For fall,spray three times with the last spraying, (early September) being the day you broadcast seed, (grains). If you are lucky you will seed with the soil moist and this gives you the opportuity to take two slow passes with that indispensible tool, cultipacker.

It can be as easy as you this info hints.

If you insist in discing the heavier soil the best time is the fall and after you have sprayed that field at least twice, with the first spraying being at least 8 weeks before discing for root dcomposition.

[NorthJeff]

This is a picture of our wheat/rye field with the strip of brassica...and you can see the all-brassica field in the back. By spraying your fields 3 times during the summer you can set yourself up beautifully for a late summer planting of just about anything you want. I personally like the brassica/clover combos, or grain/clover combos, but it just depends on your property needs. Success rates can be extremely high using this method and you will greatly enjoy your hunting season. In total these two fields cover almost 800 yards in a twisting 80-100' strip that follows the countour of the iregular shaped 65 acre CRP field...and no disc was used.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/WIPlots.jpg

[clover]

Thanks lew.How big is your trailer?Mine is 7x8 so I do have to consider size.

Jeff,I have the sprayer and it does a great job.I feel like I must disc because the ground which is old strip mine is so hard.Don't you use a disc at all?

[NorthJeff]

I actually use a PTO mounted tiller on my property...but in other areas like my lease in WI, remote plots on my property, or on plots that I've recommended to people for their properties and minimal equipment, the method I describe can be very successful. When you plant in late summer your moisture increases as the season progresses, followed by winter dormancy, and then another shot of great moisture in the fall.

Those field in WI were on hard clay soil. We did have the luxary of planting before a good rain on the brassica field, but at the same time there will still be a lot of decaying trash on the field that the seeds will work their way down very easily after the 3rd spraying.

You can do what Brad suggested and lightly go over the field with the disc jsut to cut some grooves..and then plant your seed. The seed will work it's way down into the grooves, or will be washed there with rain and your crops will grow in rows.

The only reason I don't use all chemicals, instead of any tilling at all, is I like to rotate my crops more frequently and don't like a portion of my food plots to be out of the rotation during the summer months while the plot is being killed enough to expose the soil to plant in the late summer.

I wouldn't plant without rain in the forecast though. You can go with brassicas, or a brassica/clover mix earlier, and if that fails, there is not enough moisture to plant, or is consumed, you can then go with a grain(rye,wheat,oats) or grain/clover combo later.

[Lew]

Clover, I have an 6x10 trailor and I put the Disc in front sideways and then load the ATV. I can even roll up my flexible harrow and put on behind, tight, but it all fits.
Jeff, How do you use buckwheat in your program and when do you plant it ?? Lew

[NorthJeff]

Lew,

I like using buckwheat June 1st when the field is brand new and the soils are poor. If I need to build the soil, then I will improve the ph and the fertility at the same time with crop rotations of buckwheat and rye. On good soils, like out in WI I just do the 3 sprayings 4-6 weeks and then plant whatever crop I want in late summer/early fall. If I created the plot during summer, I'd spray if weeds came up, then I'd plant rye, then spray the following spring, plant buckwheat, spray, and then plant a more premium planting in the late summer.

[Lew]

Jeff, I was thinking along the same lines. This spring I will be adding or expanding foodplots. So I plan to lime and spray the new areas and plant buckwheat to have something growing during the summer. In August, I will spray, till and plant a mixture of brassicas. The brassicas should out compete most of the weeds and give good forage for the Fall. The following spring I will then rotate to a clover mixture to build up the soil.

[clover]

You guys have been very helpful.
Ed I have your book and it's great in getting started.My first clover plot was done in late May after lime,spraying and fertilizing.It turned out great!So now I lean toward planting in spring again.But you guys seem to lean toward a fall planting.Any comments?

Jeff I got your PM and sent one back at ya.
Thanks lew.
Brad,I know you from somewhere but can't quite put my finger on it.:)

[clover]

I should add something here.I got started in food plots a few years back but am still learning.I have to give alot of credit to Brad in getting me started and to Ed's book.Planting food plots is a great experience and I now have my sons involved.

[NorthJeff]

Clover,

Personally, I rarely plant in the spring whether it's up here in the U.P...or in more southerly ag locations. There are several reasons to wait for fall to plant:

1. Weeds. In the spring and into summer weeds are often at their worst. As fall approaches though, weeds start dying, and this can be a great time for you plants to get a head-start.

2. Moisture. Most areas experience some type of drought during the summer months. Last year we experienced enough of a drought that many successful spring planted plots died during the summer. Spring offers great germination rates...but moisture slowly decreases. On the otherhand, when you plant in the late summer/fall, moisture increases, instead of decreases, followed by winter dormancy, followed by another round of moisture in the spring. By the time a summer drought may come your perennials should have an adequate root structure to avoid a potential drought.

3. Plot preperation. By waiting until the end of summer you can build your fertility levels up, if needed, and address potential weed problems with up to 3 chemical sprayings. If your soil is poor, you can improve it with rotations of warm and cool season annuals, such as rye and buckwheat, with chemical applications between to take care of potential weed problems. If your soils are great, you can spray 3 times, and plant in the late summer/early fall.

4. Hunting season attraction. The further north you go, the more fall through spring is the limiting factor for forage in the whitetail woods. Clover is great for summer, but often this is at a time of abuncancy in the whitetail woods. By planting in the late summer/early fall you can establish a perennial stand for the coming years, but you can establish that stand with along with a cool-season annual to act as a "nurse crop". That nurse crop will offer you an exception hunting season attraction, while at the same time offering an increase in cold-season nutrition on your property...which helps both you, and your deer herd. Clovers, and even chicory can be combined with grains such as rye,wheat,oats, and at the same time brassicas to effectively offer much more plot utalization over the course of a year than a single perennial planting alone.

5. Overall Success. Fewer weeds, dependable moisture, and overall plot preperation can lead to a high level of success with a late summer or early fall planting.

I add brassicas to late summer planted blends the following May sometimes, might plant a brand new poor soil plot in the spring, or maybe even will manage an existing old plot that has some tough weed problems with a killing/planting/killing/planting practice during the spring through summer months, but the bulk of my plantings are completed during the late summer and I've always experienced very high success rates.

Also, as far as the discing....I'd rate weed control with a sprayer much higher in importance, and it's not to say a disc is a bad thing...it's just many times a disc is not a vital tool to food plot management and can be difficult to use with just an ATV depending on the time of year, soil, and sod base.

[Brad Gehman]

I should add something here.I got started in food plots a few years back but am still learning.I have to give alot of credit to Brad in getting me started and to Ed's book.Planting food plots is a great experience and I now have my sons involved.

LOL Rich, nice to see the boys are taking some of the load off the "old" man. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[clover]

I'll plant the clover in fall this year jeff.Seems like the better option.Thanks


I let them do the hard work Brad.I need some apple and peach trees planted this year.:lol: