Texas Hunting Forum

Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There?

Posted By: Ranch Dog

Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 12:46 PM

I like planting food plots, spring or fall, as much as I do hunting deer. Just a couple of pictures from this week's work.



Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 12:49 PM

Is that one of the foreign made roto-tiller/seeder combos? I have been using food plots since the early 90's for both spring and fall.
Posted By: Western

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 01:23 PM

Agree, working the land with a purpose, is the joy.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 01:53 PM

Some spring plots






Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 01:55 PM

Nice plots stx
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 01:56 PM

Some fall plots.






Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 01:59 PM

Originally Posted By: Payne
Nice plots stx

Thanks, but I want to get one of those tiller/seeders that Ranch Dog has. I found them on-line about 2 months ago but was worried about ordering one site unseen and then getting parts if needed. Found one made in USA that is priced a whole lot more than the foreign made ones.
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 02:01 PM

Thought you had a drill.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 02:05 PM

I do have an old John Deere Model B that works great. But this tiller/seeder will till, seed and pack at with one pass. I like the fact that is will work better in smaller food plots that where space is limited to turn. It will make a much better seed bed also.
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 02:07 PM

Gotcha, I'm going to go finish mine.

Pray for rain
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 02:12 PM

I took a chance last week(great forecast for rain bang that never happened and army worms all around) and planted my fall plots last Tuesday in prepared plots that had a lot of rain on them. I planted Iron and Clays 50# along with oats 100#/acre. Cowpeas were starting to come up last Friday and deer are hammering them now with lack of follow up rains. Had .25" yesterday but may be to late for peas, but the oats was just starting to come up. So I will have it, if the army worms don't get it first.
Posted By: Wilhunt

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 02:15 PM

Good looking plots for sure.
Posted By: TxAg

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 02:19 PM

Good looking plots guys.

Ranchdog, yu have a nice rig for it. I'm also curious about that Cultipacker. Width? Brand?
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 02:20 PM

Went with 100# oats 20# clover an acre in the honey hole. Straight oats with hand thrown rape in the others.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 02:33 PM

This the model from China I found when searching for the USA made model. I found others like Ranch Dogs after searching more. Various prices, models and HP requirements on all of them.
Posted By: Texas buckeye

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 03:04 PM

Oh this makes me so jealous. I can not wait to play farmer bob someday and actually have a place where I can do spring and fall plots with what I want and not what someone else wants. I have dreams, at least these pics spur them on and don't dash them.

Also interested in the implement. Any info about it other than pics?
Posted By: Western

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 03:19 PM

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
I took a chance last week(great forecast for rain bang that never happened and army worms all around) and planted my fall plots last Tuesday in prepared plots that had a lot of rain on them. I planted Iron and Clays 50# along with oats 100#/acre. Cowpeas were starting to come up last Friday and deer are hammering them now with lack of follow up rains. Had .25" yesterday but may be to late for peas, but the oats was just starting to come up. So I will have it, if the army worms don't get it first.


That is why I quit using peas, especially on my small plots, they are so fickle and deer can wipe them out like tossing a hunerd, oats OTOH almost always survive until a rain for me. I like them for helping improve the dirt, if they can survive long enough.. I have planted them with good results in the spring on larger areas though (bottom land)
Posted By: Navasot

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 03:32 PM

every year! my rig aint quite as fancy but she gets it done




Posted By: redchevy

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 03:35 PM

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Some fall plots.
[



Must be something wrong with your plots, it killed that buck grin
Posted By: redchevy

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 03:37 PM

I like food plotting, but don't have all the tools I would want and time is definitely a factor. Would like to add a tiller and a planter of some kind, but its not in the works at the moment. Just disking leaves a lot of native growth that will come back and we don't have a boom sprayer either. Some day....
Posted By: ChrisB

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 04:00 PM

Originally Posted By: redchevy
Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Some fall plots.
[



Must be something wrong with your plots, it killed that buck grin

I think he just got full and now he's sleeping.
Posted By: Western

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 04:27 PM

Hey NAV, same set up I have now, has been getting it done before even STX was born! grin
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 04:59 PM

stx getting all 21st century on his plots....











Let it rain
Posted By: swmays

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 06:04 PM

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
This the model from China I found when searching for the USA made model. I found others like Ranch Dogs after searching more. Various prices, models and HP requirements on all of them.


I would break that in a heart beat...
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 08:32 PM

Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 08:43 PM

bang
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 08:51 PM

finished a couple of hours ago, over a inch and it's still pouring.


good clean living
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 08:56 PM

When you have enough send a few inches or so my way. I need some on my plots and tank water also.
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 08:59 PM

it'll be there Monday at 1pm
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:04 PM

Thank you Jesus.... grin
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by stxranchman
Is that one of the foreign made roto-tiller/seeder combos? I have been using food plots since the early 90's for both spring and fall.

Nice pictures stx! Yes, I imported the this planter from China a couple of years ago. I found it by searching the web when I was considering another planter that was already imported and sold by a distributor in the US (tillerman1972 on eBay).

To back up, I wanted a tiller based planting system, one that would do it all in one pass; till, fertilize, seed, and pack. Every complete US manufactured system is made for a prepared plot or is harrow based. You can harrow my fields until you run out of fuel but it won't adequately prep the soil, the harrow simply reshuffles the clods. The machine I found does everything.

It is a 2BFG-14 Planter from Shijiazhuang Agricultural Machinery Co Ltd that is marketed for the hard soils of southwest Asia and Africa which makes it just about perfect for South Texas!



I've been real pleased with the planting results and it has cut down my time on a field considerably as I don't have to keep changing out implements during planting. If I could change anything it would be the size of the fertilizer box.

[Linked Image]

At the rate we typically use fertilizer, it should be about three times larger. The contact in China and I enjoy emailing each other frequently and he was shocked at the rate we apply fertilizers to the soil. With the conditions of our coastal waters I guess we should be concerned as well but when I get soil samples back I feel luck if the suggested rates are less than 200 to 300# of X-X-X an acre. They have helped me by changing the size and tooth count on the chain sprocket that drives the fertilizer box for the rate but at best you are looking at a capacity for 1/2 an acre. Still it isn't bad as most of my plots are not larger than that and I typically only load the boxes for was is needed for the specific field so that I ensure I'm not going long or short on product. I just load the bags on the catwalk behind the boxes.

Spare parts are easy. I ordered my first batch this past January. Honestly, I was sweating it but was really surprised. The parts are dirt cheap but the shipping high as it needs to go by air to avoid the Customs Port stuff. My order consisted of 33 different parts from sprockets to disc opener fenders to chains. The parts total was $34.50. Shipping was $79 for a total of $133.50 which my bank wires to their bank. I have Kubota, John Deere, and Brillion equipment and I would have expected to pay well over $550 for a similar mix of parts. The weird thing is that 2½ days later a DHL truck showed up and asked me where to unload the crate! I cannot order parts from MN and expect them here in less than 7 days for my other equipment. So, based on my experience, I don't think parts are a problem. I just emailed my contact about another order of spares, not that I'm consuming parts but when they are this cheap I will stockpile them, and my contact said it would be as quick and simple as before.

As far as the purchase, it was simple. Wire the money and they put it on a ship. It came into LA over Christmas which was poor timing on my part as the port is overwhelmed with ships waiting to unload. It didn't clear Customs there but the secure container is placed on a rail car to the Dallas Port. Dallas (at DFW) calls you when it arrives and you have 48 hours to pick it up or you start incurring storage fees. You use a broker to handle it through the ports. Shipping time was six week because of the delays in LA but it is pretty cool as you can track the shipment as it crosses the ocean via the shipping company's website. What was really a nice touch was that they sent me pictures and videos of the test run and packing just to help reassure me that everything was as expected. Their contact, Jerry Zhang was a straight up guy. Like I said, we keep in contact and share a lot of pictures of life on opposite sides of the world.

Cost? The planter was $3070, freight was $380, and broker & Customs bonds & fees $829 for a total of $4279. The fees could have been cut in half because I didn't understand the instructions as I arranged for a broker in LA and didn't need to, just DFW. It is not a total loss on that money as the LA guy did go personally go locate the container and ensure it got on a rail car. It might have sat there a month without a local guy. At the time, a 7' planter from the ebay guy was $3650 plus $587 for freight for a total of $4237. So I just broke even moneywise but I got the fertilizer application, complete seed metering, and disk openers for controlling seed depth and that is what I wanted to realize in the end.

I do have a 8' tiller from the tillerguy1792 and love it. Had he been importing this planter, I would have bought it from him even if it cost me a grand extra. When I bought the Chinese tiller all the old farmers around here scoffed and said it wouldn't last. Got news for them, it is going on 10 years and will chew through anything in it's path. It is what reassured me that this planter would be good to go.

They now have a larger planter-seeder and it does have me salivating!
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:16 PM

I really enjoy see all the work others are doing!
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:24 PM

Thanks for the info. The one I posted pics of is $1499 US dollars without the shipping and customs. The smallest one made is around 70" wide and takes a minimum of 60hp...not sure if that is engine or PTO hp.
http://m.made-in-china.com/product/Rotary-Seeder-721973295.html
This one is a minimum of two units for an order.
https://nonghaha.en.alibaba.com/product/...eat_seeder.html

What does yours take for minimum HP. I see a Kubota in the pics and I am guessing 85 to 100 HP. I may need to run over and see your unit in person.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:27 PM

What is your groundspeed when running it?
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:30 PM

Thanks for the info Ranch Dog
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:43 PM

Ranch Dog when I googled rotary tiller/seeder your video came up and I viewed it back a couple of months ago. The gearboxes on them seem to be very heavy duty also.
Also, do you shred first and/or pre-disc or plow your plots?
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:44 PM

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Thanks for the info. The one I posted pics of is $1499 US dollars without the shipping and customs. The smallest one made is around 70" wide and takes a minimum of 60hp...not sure if that is engine or PTO hp.
http://m.made-in-china.com/product/Rotary-Seeder-721973295.html
This one is a minimum of two units for an order.
https://nonghaha.en.alibaba.com/product/...eat_seeder.html

What does yours take for minimum HP. I see a Kubota in the pics and I am guessing 85 to 100 HP. I may need to run over and see your unit in person.

Offhand, I want to say it was 65 HP as a minimum. Yeah, I have the 8540 (85 HP) so it is quite comfortable.

Yeah, you are welcome to stop buy anytime.

As far as speed, it just depends on soil conditions. I use low range 1st through 3rd which is basically from 1.35 to 3.5 MPH. Normally I run the other tiller across the selected plots a couple of weeks out from planting and then go in with the planter and can operate in 3rd which is moving along at a pretty good rate. This year I was lazy and paid for it in 1st!
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:45 PM

Originally Posted By: Payne
Thanks for the info Ranch Dog

You're welcome.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:47 PM

Originally Posted By: Ranch Dog
Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Thanks for the info. The one I posted pics of is $1499 US dollars without the shipping and customs. The smallest one made is around 70" wide and takes a minimum of 60hp...not sure if that is engine or PTO hp.
http://m.made-in-china.com/product/Rotary-Seeder-721973295.html
This one is a minimum of two units for an order.
https://nonghaha.en.alibaba.com/product/...eat_seeder.html

What does yours take for minimum HP. I see a Kubota in the pics and I am guessing 85 to 100 HP. I may need to run over and see your unit in person.

Offhand, I want to say it was 65 HP as a minimum. Yeah, I have the 8540 (85 HP) so it is quite comfortable.

Yeah, you are welcome to stop buy anytime.

As far as speed, it just depends on soil conditions. I use low range 1st through 3rd which is basically from 1.35 to 3.5 MPH. Normally I run the other tiller across the selected plots a couple of weeks out from planting and then go in with the planter and can operate in 3rd which is moving along at a pretty good rate. This year I was lazy and paid for it in 1st!

Thanks for the info and feedback. Do you think those units I showed above would work as well and does the pricing seem legit?
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:53 PM

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Ranch Dog when I googled rotary tiller/seeder your video came up and I viewed it back a couple of months ago. The gearboxes on them seem to be very heavy duty also.
Also, do you shred first and/or pre-disc or plow your plots?

Yeah, the boxes are a tank. They are 100 HP gear boxes. On my straight up tiller I decided to change the oil this year. Like I said it is 10 years old. I opened it up and it was as clean as if new. I went ahead and changed it anyway. The box takes 2½ gallons of 80-90W. Just old fashion gear oil.

Here is what I actually like to do. I spray and burn the plots about a month out from planting. Usually, I haven't done a thing to them from the previous planting. My preference is to use the straight up tiller for that work. That statement causes me to wonder about using the tiller/planter as a straight tiller? If you did, I would pull all the disk openers off to avoid damaging them if the ground was really tough. That would take about 15 minutes.
Posted By: txbobcat

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 09:55 PM

Here's my food plot pics from this year so far. About 80 acres down and about 5 more to go.

100 HP JD Tractor Oldie but works good.



Plowing



One field before shredding



This is planted and ready to go overlooking the river bottom.




One of the other river fields


A few I planted about 10 days ago have had about 2" rain on them and already up.



Drag I built and use a lot

Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 10:03 PM

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Thanks for the info and feedback. Do you think those units I showed above would work as well and does the pricing seem legit?

The best thing to do is contact the outfit and see what response you get as I really would hate to speculate on doing business with someone I have not worked with. As far as choosing one, make sure it is going to do everything that you want it to do. Beyond horsepower you want it as wide or wider than your tractor. Another consideration is concerning the seed boxes, just what type of seed it can handle and is the rate of drop adjustable. Mine handles large or small seed or mixed seeds with complete rate adjustment. Also look at how many rows are planted and the spacing. Can you control row spacing, mine uses cutoffs of the meters, same with the fertilizer boxes. The planter in MO (eBay) lacked all these control points.

I will say that if the manufacturer doesn't overload you with info & videos, I would be hesitant to send them money. My experience was that everything thing was covered in detail. They had videos of the planters being manufactured and in the field. Ask for reference, who has imported one to the US. I was the first with this outfit and they have since had a fellow in NJ buy one. Him and I share information, he operates a truck farm.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 10:08 PM

That works txbobcat! Looks good!
Posted By: txbobcat

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 10:13 PM

Originally Posted By: Ranch Dog
That works txbobcat! Looks good!


You have me interested in those all in one units now. Going to have to research some.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 10:16 PM

Originally Posted By: Ranch Dog
Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Thanks for the info and feedback. Do you think those units I showed above would work as well and does the pricing seem legit?

The best thing to do is contact the outfit and see what response you get as I really would hate to speculate on doing business with someone I have not worked with. As far as choosing one, make sure it is going to do everything that you want it to do. Beyond horsepower you want it as wide or wider than your tractor. Another consideration is concerning the seed boxes, just what type of seed it can handle and is the rate of drop adjustable. Mine handles large or small seed or mixed seeds with complete rate adjustment. Also look at how many rows are planted and the spacing. Can you control row spacing, mine uses cutoffs of the meters, same with the fertilizer boxes. The planter in MO (eBay) lacked all these control points.

I will say that if the manufacturer doesn't overload you with info & videos, I would be hesitant to send them money. My experience was that everything thing was covered in detail. They had videos of the planters being manufactured and in the field. Ask for reference, who has imported one to the US. I was the first with this outfit and they have since had a fellow in NJ buy one. Him and I share information, he operates a truck farm.

The links I posted say you can detach the seeding unit to use just the tiller. I will check with them and see how much info I can find out.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 10:40 PM

Originally Posted By: txbobcat
Originally Posted By: Ranch Dog
That works txbobcat! Looks good!


You have me interested in those all in one units now. Going to have to research some.

Might have to go in as a group to see about pricing on more than one unit. The one link I posted shows 2 units minimum to buy.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 10:58 PM

A group buy on tillers, that would be cool. They are gon'na go into DFW so that should work for most.

I've been looking at the two links you sent and I would think that the pricing on the $14XX unit isn't legit. Also have some comments on the units themselves after looking at them on zoom but I've got some family stuff to do. Might be in the morning.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/23/16 11:07 PM

Originally Posted By: Ranch Dog
A group buy on tillers, that would be cool. They are gon'na go into DFW so that should work for most.

I've been looking at the two links you sent and I would think that the pricing on the $14XX unit isn't legit. Also have some comments on the units themselves after looking at them on zoom but I've got some family stuff to do. Might be in the morning.

That was my thoughts on pricing as well. That is why I asked about your pricing first. I would think that price is good for either the tiller only or the seeding unit only.
Posted By: dogcatcher

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/24/16 02:53 AM

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
This the model from China I found when searching for the USA made model. I found others like Ranch Dogs after searching more. Various prices, models and HP requirements on all of them.


There used to be a guy that was around here that took the full size drills and made 2 out of them. These were just for food plots, with a good tractor I think a disc plow could be used in tandem with the 1/2 sized grain drill.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/24/16 02:58 AM

Originally Posted By: dogcatcher
Originally Posted By: stxranchman
This the model from China I found when searching for the USA made model. I found others like Ranch Dogs after searching more. Various prices, models and HP requirements on all of them.


There used to be a guy that was around here that took the full size drills and made 2 out of them. These were just for food plots, with a good tractor I think a disc plow could be used in tandem with the 1/2 sized grain drill.

Lot of cattle guys down here run a disc with the same width grain drill behind it to plant haygrazer or small grains for hay/grazing. Takes a lot of room to turn and my plots would be to small for that. I think my JD grain drill is only 10' wide and plants 9' more or less. I wanted a smaller one but they were to hard to find when I was looking. They get expensive since guys want the older mechanical lifts to pull behind an ATV or smaller tractor for food plots in the midwest.
Posted By: billybob

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/24/16 11:03 AM

Good info...i haven't done mine this year. Use a 2 step process disc with chain harrow...then 3 point spreader with chain harrow upside down. almost exactly like paynes
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/24/16 01:22 PM

If I do any prep work on plot, I use a 10' JD-BWF disk harrow pulling a 10' tooth harrow. I also have a 14' Brillion cultipacker and a 8' tiller. So I use whatever is needed to precondition a field that has been dormant. It really all comes down to how much rain & sun has hit the ground. At one point I had both a grain drill and a 4 row planter and would use a large 3pt spreader or the Coop's buggy; whatever was needed.

I wanted to narrow the actual planting; soil surface turning, fertilizing, seeding, and packing into one pass as at one point I had 12 food plots, ½ to an acre, strung out over a two mile distance. With a single tractor and no help it was tough keeping implements where they needed to be when they needed to be. A rain forecast in this area is pretty solid for three days so I wanted to be able to accomplish it all in that period which I couldn't with the plots and equipment spread over that distance. The 2BFG-14 solved all that for me as from start to finish I don't change anything.



Allow me some comments of the above planter based on my experience with my 2BFG:
  • I don't like the length. Two separate implements have been "3 pointed together" and the total implement is too long. The weight moment given the arm of the total implement is going to cause traction problems during turns unless substantial weight is added to the front of the tractor. The 2BFG has the boxes above the tiller and with my Kubota 8540 weighing in at 6000 lbs it skids out of turns unless you are in first gear. These planters are heavy, especially one that is using two complete frame set. My 2BFG weighs 2100 lbs. Even if the combined weight is the same as the 2BFG, the fact that the weight is spread out across a longer "arm" means that the effect or moment of that weight is going to be greater on the tractor than the more compact unit. I would need additional weight on my tractor to be able to turn with my tractor based on what I experience in the field.
  • Being this system is piggybacked, the fertilizer is being dropped behind the tiller and depending on small disks to harrow it into the soil ahead of the disk openers. The fertilizer should be dropped before the tiller so it is completely mixed into the soil.
  • It is tough to tell for sure but in one picture I found of this unit both the seed and fertilizer auger sprockets are fed off a single chain on one side of the cultipacker. I think this will put quite a load on one side of the cultipacker and that it will probably cause the packer to level the dirt with a slight slope to the drive side. Might not be important but it seems to me that they are trying to cut some costs here.
Posted By: Navasot

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/26/16 02:55 AM

How sharp are you trying to turn with it? Just about any 3point digging/tilling equipment wont want to turn while working. For such an OCD plot planter i wouldnt expect that grin
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/26/16 07:39 PM

Originally Posted By: Navasot
How sharp are you trying to turn with it? Just about any 3point digging/tilling equipment wont want to turn while working. For such an OCD plot planter i wouldnt expect that grin

I'm talking about turning with the planter raised. A lot of the tractors used to plant food plots will not be able to steer with that particular implement on the tractor, not enough weight on the front tires.
Posted By: Rustler

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/26/16 08:12 PM

That's why they make front brackets and suitcase weights, or, if you have an fel scoop up a full bucket for weight while working.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 01:33 PM

Exactly, just pointing out the need for those with lighter tractors.
Posted By: Navasot

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 01:38 PM

Originally Posted By: Ranch Dog
Originally Posted By: Navasot
How sharp are you trying to turn with it? Just about any 3point digging/tilling equipment wont want to turn while working. For such an OCD plot planter i wouldnt expect that grin

I'm talking about turning with the planter raised. A lot of the tractors used to plant food plots will not be able to steer with that particular implement on the tractor, not enough weight on the front tires.


cheers

Have you filled your front tires with water yet?
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 02:26 PM










Posted By: Navasot

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 02:47 PM

lookin good is that clover or chicory
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 03:12 PM

Clover
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 03:27 PM

Looks great Payne. My oats is just trying to come up after the .60" I got over a 4 day period. The deer wiped out the first cowpeas that came up about 12 days ago but all the rest are now coming up really thick. Funny thing is that the deer ate the all the tops off of the cowpeas but many are sprouting new growth. Never seen that so the little rains must have hit them at the right time. I found army worms in the bermuda grass in my front yard on Monday. eek
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 03:44 PM

Originally Posted By: Navasot
Originally Posted By: Ranch Dog
Originally Posted By: Navasot
How sharp are you trying to turn with it? Just about any 3point digging/tilling equipment wont want to turn while working. For such an OCD plot planter i wouldnt expect that grin

I'm talking about turning with the planter raised. A lot of the tractors used to plant food plots will not be able to steer with that particular implement on the tractor, not enough weight on the front tires.


cheers

Have you filled your front tires with water yet?


Yeap, my tractor has a weight bar as well.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 03:45 PM

Nice work Payne!
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 03:53 PM

Thanks y'all
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 03:56 PM

They will find it soon Payne... bolt
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 03:57 PM

uh huh I'm waiting for a 220+ on the low fence.....
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 03:59 PM

Originally Posted By: Payne
uh huh I'm waiting for a 220+ on the low fence.....

That's a might hot electric fence... grin Oh, you are talking about a buck..clap
Posted By: Payne

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 09/28/16 04:00 PM

220 221 whatever it takes
Posted By: Navasot

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/01/16 01:32 PM

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Looks great Payne. My oats is just trying to come up after the .60" I got over a 4 day period. The deer wiped out the first cowpeas that came up about 12 days ago but all the rest are now coming up really thick. Funny thing is that the deer ate the all the tops off of the cowpeas but many are sprouting new growth. Never seen that so the little rains must have hit them at the right time. I found army worms in the bermuda grass in my front yard on Monday. eek


The worms are bad here this year too
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/04/16 01:41 AM

Ranch Dog did the weekend "rains" get you plots up?
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/04/16 12:36 PM

Yeah, it did get them moving. I'm not too excited about the 90º we are supposed to see this week. I will get some pictures of the growth and sprinkler run on Wednesday.



The worms let up? This weeks weather with the expected highs and 60ºs at night might cause another hatch of the critters. Got a question about the boundaries of your plots where you experienced the worms, what is the growth outside of the food plot; grass, brush, etc.? I've been thinking about sacrificial/beneficial plantings and also about the sage advice given to me by my old neighbor that enjoyed coming over to watch the work. One piece of advice I received was not to mow around the plots, just to let it go in advance. As you can see in that photo the grass outside the plot is about 9" high. What do you make of that advice? I always considered it as an erosion barrier for the probability of late tropical weather, something along those lines, but now I'm thinking more along the lines of giving pests something else to eat.

In the spring I use the beneficial wasps, the eggs on the strips of paper, to control web worms on my pecans and live oaks that line the road. One little piece of cheap paper is the difference of having the worms or not. Just been thinking about some easy fixes to an old problem and wondering if I'm already doing it.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/04/16 10:18 PM

Luckily they have only hit the Bermuda grass in my yard so far. The moths are not as active right now but I still think I will have army worm problems in my plots before it cools down a lot more. It is 94 here right now. IME with army worms and plots they hit them at random. Some plots have had brush, trees, weeds or tall grass around them. Some had coastal bermuda on one side. No cattle grazing or haying on any of the ranches where I had the army worm problems. Most of the time I see a yellowish bare spot in the middle of the field and the worms seem to start there. One plot they were already eating the plot and the coastal on the outside edge before found them. I have seen them from late Sept till early November start on plots. Seen them eating oats in a plot that was standing in water after a rain in late October one year. What I have seen is they like short, fresh growth on coastal or other preferred grasses they start on. The especially like clovers/alfalfa that I have mixed in with oats. Field with no clover they seemed to leave alone the same year when they wiped out the clover /oats fields. I also think they prefer fertilized new growth over non-fertilized IME. So nowadays I top dress with granular when it cools off and I have great chance of some rain. Seems like years I put out oats and fertilizer at the same time I had more problems with army worms. So who knows the answer, what works for someone in your area vs what I have had work or not work for me. I just check my plots early in the a.m. then later in the afternoons daily right now. It just seems like we have had more issues the past 8-10 years than I can remember in my lifetime with them. Maybe just the way the dry times and rainy periods are hitting.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/05/16 12:36 PM

Well for sure the temperature isn't helping. It was 95º in the shade while I was sighting in a rifle yesterday.



I think the only thing that the water did was to intensify the early browsing within the area of the spray pattern. Within these areas everything is being mowed down. I should have put my fence up, I do the same as you and can run them out quick as the corner posts stay up. Thinking about that today.



The plant in the white ovals concerns me given the heat. It is more than likely pigweed, to be specific, Spiny Amaranth due to its red stem. This is a common spoiler here. I shouldn't have put the water on it Sunday but the forecast just didn't call for what is taking place. Today is going to be a scorcher as the humidity has been very low but there is a heavy blanket of fog right now.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/05/16 01:59 PM

I used to by Pigweed seed to plant for deer...lol..it is very high in protein and deer love it..as well as cattle and other livestock. Seed was cheap and low seeding rate per acre. The seed I got had Redroot and one other type in it. The only places you see on ranches here is in the cowpens usually. Farms might have it fence rows if they do not have a lot of deer.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/05/16 10:09 PM

You hit the nail on the head, that field above the house is an old cowpen. My experience is that deer love it until a certain point. It can cause quite a few problems with cattle, poison them (nitrate), but it produces a heck of a lot of seed for quail. It does crowd everything else out for sure. It took me about two years to get rid of it from the start but haven't seen it for 8 years now.

Heck, deer will eat bull nettle when it is growing but I durn sure don't want it in my food plots.

The guy I work with at the Nature Conservancy confirmed my identification. He suggested that I water the heck out of it while it is hot and get it up high enough to use a crop wiper on it. I always wanted one to attach to my bucket so that might be an option. The only other thing I know to do with it is watch it and once the deer stop eating it turn it under. That kind of starts the process that I went through a decade back but like you noted you are producing something of food value. Once it gets cold I could also go back in and plant something else.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/05/16 10:27 PM

Here is the pigweed in the morning. It looks red as the leaves are folded toward the sun exposing their underside and the stem.



You can see the purple underside of the young plant on the left.



Outside the old cattle pens, back in the back, things aren't doing too bad despite any additional rain. Here is one of my half & half plots. Have for fall/Winter & half for Spring/Summer. The entire plot had been turned with my 8' tiller about a month before planting the left half. Sorry about the picture, camera was into the morning sun but the cereal grains and peas are up and going.

Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/05/16 10:29 PM

Oh, decided to make lemonade out of the lemons. I turned the sprinklers on the irrigated plots. In that I can monitor them from the house I will see if the deer will use them. If not I will deal with killing the weeds. Checking on a wiper system as well.
Posted By: ccc_carter

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/07/16 07:11 PM

Good looking machine.
Posted By: Son of a Blitch

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/07/16 07:52 PM

Just planted some oats. Here is one of the latest pics.

Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/07/16 08:27 PM

Ranch Dog did the rains yesterday catch you? They went just east and then north of me. Today they built up just west of me and raining pretty good as they move SW.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/09/16 01:18 AM

George, looks good!

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Ranch Dog did the rains yesterday catch you? They went just east and then north of me. Today they built up just west of me and raining pretty good as they move SW.

On Thursday afternoon we got .2", nothing since.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/09/16 02:44 AM

Originally Posted By: Ranch Dog
George, looks good!

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Ranch Dog did the rains yesterday catch you? They went just east and then north of me. Today they built up just west of me and raining pretty good as they move SW.

On Thursday afternoon we got .2", nothing since.

That is .20" more than I got out those two days. I did get a little over an inch in Live Oak County yesterday though.
Posted By: Daddybigbuck

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/13/16 03:37 AM

Looking for some advise from the "Food Plot Nerds". I have 2 fields that will be planted in wheat soon. One is about 100ac the other 15 ac separated by several hundred yards of native brush/pasture and was thinking about doing a more traditional food plot along the edge (one side) of the wheat fields totaling about 10 ac. Do you think this will be any more of a draw than the wheat? I would think that the food plot would provide some late season nutritional value that the wheat will not. Thanks in advance.
Posted By: okiehuntr

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/14/16 01:32 AM

Originally Posted By: stxranchman
This the model from China I found when searching for the USA made model. I found others like Ranch Dogs after searching more. Various prices, models and HP requirements on all of them.


How much are the foreign models and where are they available (near Tx.) ?? I really do not mind changing attachments that much.
okiehuntr
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/14/16 11:11 AM

Originally Posted By: Daddybigbuck
Looking for some advise from the "Food Plot Nerds". I have 2 fields that will be planted in wheat soon. One is about 100ac the other 15 ac separated by several hundred yards of native brush/pasture and was thinking about doing a more traditional food plot along the edge (one side) of the wheat fields totaling about 10 ac. Do you think this will be any more of a draw than the wheat? I would think that the food plot would provide some late season nutritional value that the wheat will not. Thanks in advance.

May be someone from northwest Texas can offer advice but I do not see any negative to providing the variety.

Originally Posted By: okiehuntr
How much are the foreign models and where are they available (near Tx.) ?? I really do not mind changing attachments that much.
okiehuntr

Mine came from China. The only tiller based planters that I'm aware of being sold are those imported by Trucking Enterprises Imports. A 7' tiller/planter is $4150 plus trucking from MO. They also offer 6' & 7' models as well.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/14/16 11:39 AM

My planter is back from the welding shop with a couple of additions.



  1. Added the plate that the I had suggested and the factory starting to incorporate into newer machines. They supplied the mount brackets. I decided to reduce the lower end of it as all I want it to do is eliminate the trash being kicked up against the disc openers and not act as a blade ahead of them.
  2. Jack stands
  3. Grease fitting on the middle sprocket axle.
  4. D-rings on the front and aft frame so that I can use straps to lift the tiller into my trailer or move it in my barn with the pallet forks on my loader.







Jerry, the sales guy in China, and I emailed back and forth last night. I suggested that they come up with an assortment of upper sprockets sizes (different tooth counts), the sprockets mounted on the fertilizer and seed box augers. These things are super easy to pull. Loosen a nut, slide the holding bracket out of a groove on the sprocket shaft, pull the sprocket, and replace it. I think they are going to do that. With the seed meters being easily changed from small to large and the existing opener adjustment, this would provide a crazy (good) range of possibilities.

I think I will use the planter to till up the pigweed next week just to see how the plate performs.
Posted By: txbobcat

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/14/16 01:13 PM

Originally Posted By: Ranch Dog
My planter is back from the welding shop with a couple of additions.



  1. Added the plate that the I had suggested and the factory starting to incorporate into newer machines. They supplied the mount brackets. I decided to reduce the lower end of it as all I want it to do is eliminate the trash being kicked up against the disc openers and not act as a blade ahead of them.
  2. Jack stands
  3. Grease fitting on the middle sprocket axle.
  4. D-rings on the front and aft frame so that I can use straps to lift the tiller into my trailer or move it in my barn with the pallet forks on my loader.







Jerry, the sales guy in China, and I emailed back and forth last night. I suggested that they come up with an assortment of upper sprockets sizes (different tooth counts), the sprockets mounted on the fertilizer and seed box augers. These things are super easy to pull. Loosen a nut, slide the holding bracket out of a groove on the sprocket shaft, pull the sprocket, and replace it. I think they are going to do that. With the seed meters being easily changed from small to large and the existing opener adjustment, this would provide a crazy (good) range of possibilities.

I think I will use the planter to till up the pigweed next week just to see how the plate performs.



JERRY ?????? lol
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 10/16/16 02:49 AM

He can call himself whatever he wants. The customer service he provides is first class.
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 11/18/16 09:07 PM

Update on the pigweed wars. Used the tiller set at about 3" to remove the redroot. Plot sat for 30 days with no further growth so I planted replanted on the 16th with oats from Pogue Seed. My seed supplier said to just use my tooth harrow to break up the soil, my broadcast spreader to spin the seed out, and then my packer to set the seed bed. I wish I'd of thought about this a bit more before I started and just used my planter.

Ended up going over the two plots totaling 1.6 acres twice to get the soil right. The pass with the broadcast spreader was easy but another implement to hook up and take off. Things changed with the packer. 50% of the seed was still on the on top of the ground which isn't good for seed that needs to be 1" to 1½" deep. So off with the packer and back on with the tooth harrow for two more passes. Then packed it. Took 3.5 hours of tractor time and with the equipment change I was out 5 hours of work. It would have taken the planter an hour. Oh well, live and learn.

Had a morning of gentle rain from the south that should have set the seed bed pretty good and now getting frontal passage. The temperatures are supposed to come back up next week and if the pigweed reappears I will spray it with 1 pint of 24D/acre. If it doesn't, any work prepping these two plots in the future will probably be done fairly close to the surface so as not to wake up the pigweed.

The planter manufacturer in China liked my idea about the set of auger sprockets and asked me to suggest the extreme rates, low and high, that food plotters would encounter for both fertilizer and seed. Given the current rate adjustment of the seed and fertilizer meters, two sizes of sprockets will more than cover the ranges. Crazy how fast they bring something into production and as a thanks, my set is on China Air crossing the Pacific right now. That's crazy customer service.
Posted By: Navasot

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 11/24/16 05:04 AM

Love the grease run add on.. Lots of new equipment these days lack grease fitting in the most obvious spots. Auger ideas are well thought out too. Do you still pack even behind the planter? Do you see big results from it or more just to keep things level fewer slump spots for water to gather?
Posted By: Ranch Dog

Re: Any Other Food Plot Nerds Out There? - 11/25/16 04:32 AM

Originally Posted By: Navasot
Love the grease run add on.. Lots of new equipment these days lack grease fitting in the most obvious spots. Auger ideas are well thought out too. Do you still pack even behind the planter? Do you see big results from it or more just to keep things level fewer slump spots for water to gather?

Thanks.

Don't run my Brillion packer behind the planter because the planter has it's own. Packer rotation is what drives both the fertilizer and seed augers.



I like firm seedbeds, good soil contact with the seed gets things started right and fast. The flat seedMy beds create the bonus of no low spots like you mention. My oats are up and growing.
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