Going to put in a food plot for the first

[robviscera]

Finally going to put in a food plot this year on my father's property. We're in 3H, the ground has never been worked before and there are a lot of hidden rocks. To break up the ground my father suggested a pull behind rototiller. I said to disc it. What would you guys suggest? All we have is a Artic cat 300 and a Suzuki 700cc.

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[land 1]

I did food plots for a first time this year bought a $400.00 dollar disc for my 4 wheeler even with weight added didn't brake up the ground at all. I ended up using an old drag with curved prongs on it the disc worked to make the soil into finer pieces but wasnt what you wanted to break up the ground. My best results came from spraying it twice with round up let it ry put a match to it then drag and wait any weeds come up spray and drag...and the ferns without a good spraying will be right backup in no time

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Yeah you need to bomb that place with Roundup before even attempting to till or disc. Tiller and rocks don't mix well. That area would need a healthy dose of lime and Fert I'm sure. Your soil test will tell ya what ya need. Kill all that vegetation and then see what ya have

[WNYBuckHunter]

If you have alot of rocks, Id advise against a tiller. Your best bet would be a disc with some additional weight on top of it. First you are going to need to make sure you are getting enough light in there. If not, you will need to take some of the trees down so that you do. Second, you should be killing off the existing vegetation. Round up does a great job with that. Third is going to be soil testing, and purchase of all lime/fertilizer that youll need. Then you can start discing and planting. One crop that I would suggest for a fall plot, would be Winter Rye (the grain, not rye grass) and Groundhog Radish (Daikon Radish). Both of which will do ok with a minimum of fertilizer and lime, and they will help to breakup the soil. Deer love them to boot.

[Chef]

Finally going to put in a food plot this year on my father's property. We're in 3H, the ground has never been worked before and there are a lot of hidden rocks. To break up the ground my father suggested a pull behind rototiller. I said to disc it. What would you guys suggest? All we have is a Artic cat 300 and a Suzuki 700cc.
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Where in 3h are you? Looks exactly like my woods, I rented a bucket loaded with a hoe and tore up rocks and Small plants all at once


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[robviscera]

Where in 3h are you? Looks exactly like my woods, I rented a bucket loaded with a hoe and tore up rocks and Small plants all at once


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Livingston Manor

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[Chef]

Livingston Manor

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Ah not far from me at all, in just over the hill in jeffersonville, glover took really well in my soil with 0 Lyme


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[Swamp_bucks]

I did throw and grow so I mowed and weedwacked it as low as possible. Raked up extra weeds/brush then set tiller on highest setting (tons of rocks) and just went over it a bunch of times. Picked the rocks and threw seed and fertilizer down.  But i dont know how it will work never did it this way before. Good luck. 

[jman22]

Like others have said, I would also recommend hitting that with roundup and also getting a soil test done to see how much fertilizer and lime you need.  I'd also go with the disc instead of the tiller.

If you don't want to bite the bullet on a disc, you could burn off that plot when the roundup has made things dead and dry ( Do a little research as to the proper ways to do this safely or bring along someone who has done it before!).  If you get a good burn and the soil is exposed, you can plant right on top of that.

[SplitG2]

hit them with 4% glysophate.  3 oz to a gallon of water.  Don't plant anything until you get them under control

[SplitG2]

that's 41% glysophate

[robviscera]

I can probably only spray this year. Planting probably won't happen until mid to late August. Should I just use the no plow seed for this year?

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[land 1]

I would say spray is a must then use a control fire burn it off. you can use throw and grow after that but better yet use a heavy hand rake rough up the soil plant during or just before a good rain

[growalot]

Curious..have you put up any cams in the area...I only ask because it looks like a good bedding,even bird nesting area. That is bedding early season. Just wondered if you know how they use travel it. We have an area at camp like that..its where that broken up 9 pt our friend took last year. Where I spring turkey hunt down there.

[robviscera]

no cams up.

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[Chef]

I can probably only spray this year. Planting probably won't happen until mid to late August. Should I just use the no plow seed for this year?

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Ladino clover is much better then any of the no till mixes go to the agway in liberty


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[sailinghudson25]

Mid to late August is pwrfect.

My vote is to buy an old spring harrow.  I love mine.  Or, get a big tire, drill holed and put a bunch of bolts in it.  Maybe the bolts stick out 1.5 inches including the nut past the rubber.

Clover with winter rye or wheat.  Deer by me like wheat better.

2nd vote to spray too.

Do what you can.  A spray, then fertilize and seed the next day, then run that drag. Might not be perfect, but it'll work.  Try clearing out some trees to the south.  Weekend before muzzleloading weekend, down a few maples to the south.  Deer will be in the fallen tops eating budd. 

 

Get an extra bag of fertilizer and 4lbs of clover per acre for frost seeding.

 

[sailinghudson25]

There is no thing as no till.

In farmers terms... no till mean no deep cutting into the soil.

The seed needs contact.

At extreme minimum......

Spray the ferns dead, hand rake the leaves off, not perfect but you can see more soil than leaves. Maybe drag something behind the atv to scratch the soil.  Spread oats or winter rye with clover.  3 bags 15-15-15 per half acre.  Then drive the atv for an hour over it.  Push the seed in with the tires.  Increasing tire pressure on the atv helps dig them on more like 8-10psi vs the usual 4psi.

If leave raking won't do, spray, then add 150lbs per acre of oats, the fertilizer, and just tear it up on the atv over it.  Extra seed cause half won't survive the poor contact.  Without bare soil, clover or most seeds don't have a chance.  Winter rye is better than oats, or buy both.

If you know someone with a tractor, you can use the front bucket dragging backwards.

Ferns almost always means low pH....

If you know someone who heats with wood, use their ash.

Also, any application of anything via spreader, get a good face mask for breathing.  Like the 3M dust masks with exhale valve.  Home depot has them.

 

[LET EM GROW]

Mid to Late August. Id plant winter Wheat or a triticale with a clover blend. After spraying it off. Like Sailing said you can make your own drags for cheap. lots of ways to scratch soil  and all you have to do is scratch the surface to get good seed to soil contact. Ive made a couple different drags in my younger years. Google homeade drags if you want other ideas. But ive said it before i plant all of my seeds without scratching soil at all. First time plots are tougher this way, so I might use something to break soil up for first time plots but that is it and seldom do i do it then. Ferns usually mean low PH  so Lime will really help.  Cutting some trees will help you as well.. 

[growalot]

Do you have any idea how what or why an animals use that area?

[sailinghudson25]

implements on the cheap...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_harrow

 

 

Even using some chain to join a few 6 inch round 3ft long log section together.  Maybe 3 sections with a few inches of space between them.  Take a chain saw and make an aggressive  surface on the bottom of them.