Ground Breaking Advice

Hi, new member from Washington State. I have property in eastern Washington that I bought for recreational time with the family and after spending the last year and a half putting in 8' wide atv/utv trails, campsite and gravel roads, I'm ready to start on some food plots thsi spring. The atv/uyv trails were necessary for access as the property is a giant hillside with farm fields, draws and timber.

Need some advice. First off I have a really nice 1955 Ford 640 tractor with the following implements that I picked up over the past year. Rhino SE5 Bush Hog, Dearborn 2 bottom plow, Pittsburg 7 blade cultivator , Woods heavy duty back blade, Woods post hole auger and 3 bits, Weinbach 16 blade disc harrow. Oh and luckily for me the 640 has power sterring.

Just off the 8' wide atv trail there is a 30 foot strip of pasture grass bordered by my neighbor's fenceline. That strip is divided by an electric fence about 10' to the right of the trail edge. From that electric fence to my neighbors fence I have 20' or slightly more. I want to plant that 20' strip into a food plot. It runs about 450' off in the distance. It's relatively level and feel comfortable with the Ford 640 doing the work.

My plan is to mow with the bush hog, wait a couple weeks and then spray with Roundup, followed in a couple weeks by using the disc harrow to tear it up. Continue to work lime amd some fertilizer into the soil at the same time. Seed when weather is right, probably mid April and gently fold seed in with dixc. Then gentlly level with the short spike side of a drag harrow behing the tractor or utv.

Am I on the right tracK? Should I just tear it up instead by plowing with the 2 bottom plow or perhaps the cultivator? Soil is rock free sandy loam. Thought some here might have some good advice. I tried to post pictures, but it won't work, probably because I'm new here. Thanks
 
A plow deals with sod the best. It leaves the ground very rough, needs a disking or two after, and then a harrowing (drag) to really finish smooth.

Your way can work, in my clay hard soils the disk won't do much to a sod patch; but a more forgiving lighter soil like yours that would probably work to disk a few times and level out.

Paul
 
Thanks Paul. It looks like from some of the videos I have seen that the 7 blade cultivator I have might tear the ground up pretty easy as well without making it too rough like the 2 bottom plow. It's fairly heavy duty and has the large springs.
 
I'd get a subsoiler and at least subsoil the outside of the plot to kill off the tree feeder roots and subsoiling the whole plot will make a big difference in how well your new plot
produces.
 
7 shank cultivator..... Blades on a disk, shanks on a pokey implement.......

Yea, those things are sort of a cross between a heavy cultivator or a light chisel plow, if it is like the one I got. Sod never really comes out 'smooth' but you won't have to deal with furrows and such from the plow.
 
Meant to ask, how does one upload pictures. I can use the browse function down below where it shows upload photos/videos and it will display the thumbnails, but where it says upload photos, nothing to click on to add to post. Thanks.....
 

I have great problems uploading pictures also and what I have found is that you MUST give the process time to LOAD in each process...

Last time, I suddenly found I had uploaded 4 pictures of each view...!!!

That is about all I can give you as far as help...!!
 
Trying to post a picture. The strip I decribed behind the tractor with me and my granddaughter on it.
a152414.jpg
 
You can see why I had ATV/UTV trails put in with a cat. My property is pretty much the hill in distance. Approximately 62 acres tillable, and the remaining 56 acres being non tillable and timber ground. If you look dead center in the photo where the bottom of that big field is, you'll see what appears to be some brushy trees. In the previous picture the tractor is sitting just behind those trees where the bottom of that field is visible on the right side. Think my Ford 640 could tackle that big field with the slope......lol....just joking.
a152419.jpg
 
You have some pretty property there. A little bit strong on character for farming it, but sure looks nice! :)

Yea, that is like my cultivator, mine has a Ford label on it, lot of them made those.

Paul
 
On the subsoiler. After 37 years of applying what I learned at "Hard Knocks U." I have settled on 3 implements for a perfect seedbed that weren't in the curriculum.

1. Hay King Renovator, runs about 10 drawbar hp per leg with coulter.
2. Anybody's quality 3 pt mounted rototiller, gear driven like old hand operated rototillers were.
3. Currently popular flexible drag type spike harrow.

4. Non ground engagement, rotary mower.
 
For down here in Alabama your on the right track. Cut it, kill it, then disc and plant. Our food plot mixes here just get barely covered, most call for about 1/4", so we don't have to dig very deep. I do suggest a soil survey to see if you need fertilizer/lime and how much.
 
Beautiful country! If you are looking to level and have a good seedbed the 2 bottom plow would probably be best. May need to harrow beforehand to keep from having large clods turned under. Mowing before all this would help also. If you are just looking to get a food plot going you could probably avoid the bottom plow and just work it up with spring shank cultivator and disk. Won't be as good as seedbed but will work. Just my opinion.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top