Digger use for food plots

MRinMN

Member
Here"s a new field I opened up in the alder brush, I"ll spread pelletized lime on it in the next few weeks, my question is, has anyone tried a 3-point digger in these kind of conditions? Its heavy soil with some rocks and brush roots. I know if I run the disc over it several times it will loosen it up enough for seed. Just wondering if its worth the trip of bringing the digger up north, bought one for 75 bucks 10 years ago, have only used it in my garden at home once, but my soil there is rock and root free.
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3 point digger???????????????? What the heck you talking about??? A plow or a tiller or what??? Hard to answer a question when it opens many other questions as to what your talking about.
 
I'm assuming he means a 3 pt cultivator.
Often called a digger or even a sometimes quacker.
MR,
Yes a digger would be an effective tool for that type of use.
Better actually than a plow as I suspect the plow would hang up a lot on roots.
Best would be to have an 8N or other tractor with position control so you set the height of the shovels and make several passes - each one progressively deeper.
 

I know what you mean by a digger. I am really old, not a youngster like that whipper snapper Old. The big thing is that you will be catching more roots than you can believe. It will enable you to get a lot of roots pulled out and put on a burn pile but not with out plenty of work.
 
Must be talking about some sort of root crop if it is for harvest time.

I have heard of a Middle Buster being called a Potato Plow and it is used for planting and harvesting. There have been lots of more fancy and efficient harvesting tools, but each crop is a little different. Inquiring minds want to know.
 
a quackdigger might get the job done, but it will be a chore. The more you go the better it will get. The first run might be agony. In conjunction with a disc you might get a reasonable seed bed.
 
If it is going to be a food plot for deer, I would just level it the best I could and then keep it mowed for a few years. Then if needed you could spray with a contact agent and disc your seed bed.
 
If you are talking about the field cultivator, I have used it on deer food plots. The rails on mine are 7' and I adjust the cultivators as tight as they will go. It roughts up the soil good enough to get the seed down even in the rocky areas. I have also used the box blade with scarifies which work well.

Kirk
 
IF i personally was breaking a place out that was full of roots to actually plant, i would look for something like a subsoiler to tear up the roots first,then go in with a field cultivator or the like to rake the roots out. of course simply mowing down standing timber or mature brush type plants makes a mighty good food plot by itself, simply because the deer will browse the new growth.
 
Digger, as in a piece of 3-point equipment that is about 7 feet wide, has about 10 or 12 curved blades about 18 inches long. Some have a single disc in the center. Digger! What do you call it? Thats what the farmers around me when I was young called them, most were on wheels with a hydraulic cylinder to raise and lower.
 
What you describe I still have no idea what your talking about but maybe something used up in MN that is not used down here in Missouri and it has been to many decades since I was up in MN to be able to picture it
 
Here's another term. Looking at the picture of the tree left in the middle of the field, when I was a kid deer hunting I heard a old fellow call one like that a "school marm tree". I asked "why do you call it that?" They just laughed. A few years later while walking through the woods I saw another one, it finally dawned on me, and I had a good laugh.
 
You're right Zane, I punched in Field cultvator, and the picture is the same as what I've always called a digger.
 
the spring tooth cultivator will work but when i tried one it tended to find soft spots and suck down into the ground then bring up large chunks of dirt, what i found that works better if you dont need to go too deep is a box blade, with the rippers fully extended, keep the blade just above the dirt,and put some weight on it, at least 500 lbs, it will still help level the field some and the rippers will open the dirt, drag up some roots at least enough to show you where they are, you'll still need to clean and disc the field before you can plant in it , one thing i also found with a spring tooth cultivator is if your saving on fuel cost and your tractor tends to be more of a pony than a horse the spring tooth cultivator can and will plant you and your tractor in place , sometimes you can back out of it, other times you and your shovel are going to have a busy day , the cultivator isnt meant to be a deep tillage tool, lol
 
Yup heard them call diggers, field diggers, spring tooth harrows and field cultivators. For those still wondering, think of a 3 point cultivator without the gaps for row crops. Can also be wheel mounted and towed. Still being used today.

I have 2 cultivators for my 8N's. One for row crop and one set up as a digger.

Rick
 

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