Plan on opening up an area for food plot

[Kenockee 8N]

Hi all. I have about a 3/4 acre area of my property that I wan to work up for a food plot this year.

The area is currently scrub land with waist to chest high weeds and small saplings.

I currently do not have a rotary mower but hope to change that here shortly.

My question is about the saplings. Weather I cut them down with a saw or they are small enough for the rotary mower, does the trunk/roots pose a problem for the food plot?

Should I plow the area or is discing enough?

 

[Tim PloughNman Daley]

First thing I do no matter if 1/2 an acre or 120 acres is walk the entire area and observe where, if any, obstructions are. Hidden logs, stumps, car parts, and dead bodies will tear up your tractor and equipment. Small saplings and such will cut down with a brush hog, or as you call it, a rotary mower. You might be able to borrow one locally or from the rental place in town for a day. It'll probably take two or three passes with the first and second passes in a raised position. If you have deep pockets, you could spray the area first with Round Up and let it kill the weeds and trees. Round Up ain't cheap, buying in bulk is always better, and often you can get one of the local large farm owners who use it to hit your small parcel for a cash contribution. Ditto with the brush hogging and plowing. I usually proceed after the weeds are gone with a) plowing or rigid shank cultivator b) discing c) sprig tooth dragging d) planting with hand seeder or Scotts push along grass seeder. A light discing after seed is down will help bury it. I do this by setting the disc harrow so only the rear gangs are engaged and very lightly into the soil. Once an area has been worked up and planted, you will only need to use the disc or cultivator to work up the ground. I do my plots and gardens once in the spring and once in the fall. Everybody uses their own methods but I've been doing this for 25 years now and it works for me.


[i:654c4848f0][b:654c4848f0]<font size="4">Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)</font>[/b:654c4848f0][/i:654c4848f0]<table width="100" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"><tr><td height="25" colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC0000">

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="3">*9N653I* & *8NI55I3*</font>​

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[Jim in Western MI]

If you have a plow, that would be the best since it would turn more soil and go deeper than a disc. You'll still need to disc it or course. That said, since food plots are mostly shallow-rooted plants (clover, brassicas/turnip family, chufa, oats, etc.) you can disc several times over several weeks with intervals to let the upturned plants die. That will be adequate though not the best in my experience doing food plots. A bush hogging first will get you off to a good start; if you can control a burn of the brush without danger to surrounding woods, that is also helpful. Don't fret on the saplings' roots, plowing or several trips with the disc will cut them up. Good luck, fertilize as recommended and you'll be happy with the results.

 

[wellmax99]

be careful cutting those small trees with a rotary cutter. It will cut them off with a rough or uneven, maybe even a Sharpe pointed stump sticking up about 5".
Next trip over the field they can puncture a rear tire.

would be best to turn them over, flip them out with a plow or better yet an old disc plow.

lot of work, but then go back and care them out of the field

I have had a small tree stump puncture a rear tire,

maybe try disking them down in the direction you are going to plow that way they are leaning over, might help you cover them better,

 

[Skip Burney]

If all you are talking about is 3/4 acre get a chain and pull them out by the roots pile em up off to the side and burn them. Run a disc harrow over it till it is cut up and plant it

 

[HFJ]

[b:286f41e8dc]"be careful cutting those small trees with a rotary cutter. It will cut them off with a rough or uneven, maybe even a Sharpe pointed stump sticking up about 5".
Next trip over the field they can puncture a rear tire."[/b:286f41e8dc]

this is why i was advised to leave my blades dull for clearing brush. rather than shearing things off, leaving a dangerous stump, it shatters the base of the trunk, leaving behind something that u can drive over safely, and even remove more of with a finish mower if u want to.

 

[Ken(Ark)]

All good advice , just depends on what works best for you .

For about $80 online , I bought an inline slip clutch that bolts on the input shaft of the mower and has a splined shaft that the PTO shaft connects to . It helps a lot for hitting limbs and saplings .

Glyphosate ( roundup ) is a good option since it can kill the plant and its roots . Atwood's sells it by the gallon for $20 . Read the label and get the stuff that is about 40% , it will make 100 gallons of spray . The $8 bottles at Walmart will make 6 gallons so look at the % . Glyphoste will take 7 - 10 days before you see results , don't give up too early . 1/2 ounce of dawn soap per gallon of water will keep the spray from beading up and rolling off the leaves .

You can go slow and mow over the same area 10 times and it is still going to look bad . Plan on going back in a week or two and mowing again .

Physically working the soil is the best method but may not be an option . Just mowing and hand seeding would get you started but would take a few years to get great results .

As far as the sapling stubs , it will depend on what they are . 1" pine stobs around here rot out in a years time and are easy to take care of if you drop your blade an inch lower than you cut them the year before . Most of my bushy stuff just trys to regrow .

 

[RobCons]

I would spray with roundup first. That can be done with a pump up sprayer for a field that size. It will take a minute but give you a chance to look for obstructions and stump holes. Give it a week then cut it with a bush hog if saplings are less than a couple of inches, otherwise pull up the big ones. Drag cut debris out of the way and disc, spread seed, cover with the disc. An adjustable angle works good for this. Set the angles small and it will not cut very deep. A soil sample is also a good idea to see if you need fertilizer and how much.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Lot of good advise below.
If you are just getting into this and dont
have a plow and disc yet you might look
for an old Dearborn or Ferguson
cultivator.
It will definately rip up the soil enough
to get a good enough seed bed for plots.
Another advantage is if you have a lot of
sapling roots it wont hang up like a plow
will. Plowing a jungle like that would be
tough the first time.
There are a lot of guys doing plots with 4
wheelers and you have a real tractor
that's made for work like that.
Whatever you do beforehand - burn, spray,
etc. Then till. Then I just use a hand
seeder and used to use an old bed spring
to lightly cover the seed. You could use a
chunk of chainlink fence too. It doesn't
have to be fancy.
We have been plotting for 9 or 10 years
now.
It makes a big difference in our success
rate.
According to the MN DNR only about 38% of
deer tags get filled in any given year.
Since we started plotting our success
rate is about 68%.
I plow and disc then seed. Then I use a
cultipacker. Looked for 8 years before I
found one that wasn't scalper priced.
Photos of the cultipacker in use and the
old hand crank seeder I use. Bought it
for $5? at a flea market and put a new bag
in it. It works good.

 

[Royse]

Too bad you're more than an hour away from [b:52122506ce]this guy[/b:52122506ce].

 

[Skip Burney]

Get some pigs then you wont even have to disc or plow

 

[RobCons]

Ultradog that's a nice cultipacker. I have been watching for one but as you say scalper priced ones seem to be the most popular.

 

[Bill M. From Illinois]

A single shank subsoiler will drag up roots from saplings and small trees. It is a fairly inexpensive tool and will break up clay hardpan for better
drainage if you have that type of soil. The saplings will continue to sprout out from roots unless you use a chemicle to kill them. You can go as
far as you want for a seed bed but removing roots will help give you a clean start. It is possible to break points off plow by hitting stump.

 

[R Geiger]

(quoted from post at 14:52:44 04/05/17) All good advice , just depends on what works best for you .

For about $80 online , I bought an inline slip clutch that bolts on the input shaft of the mower and has a splined shaft that the PTO shaft connects to . It helps a lot for hitting limbs and saplings .

Glyphosate ( roundup ) is a good option since it can kill the plant and its roots . Atwood's sells it by the gallon for $20 . Read the label and get the stuff that is about 40% , it will make 100 gallons of spray . The $8 bottles at Walmart will make 6 gallons so look at the % . Glyphoste will take 7 - 10 days before you see results , don't give up too early . 1/2 ounce of dawn soap per gallon of water will keep the spray from beading up and rolling off the leaves .

You can go slow and mow over the same area 10 times and it is still going to look bad . Plan on going back in a week or two and mowing again .

Physically working the soil is the best method but may not be an option . Just mowing and hand seeding would get you started but would take a few years to get great results .

As far as the sapling stubs , it will depend on what they are . 1" pine stobs around here rot out in a years time and are easy to take care of if you drop your blade an inch lower than you cut them the year before . Most of my bushy stuff just trys to regrow .

Roundup is pretty usseless with woody plants, good on grasses tho.
Crossbow is better for woody plants.

 

[Kenockee 8N]

So how long after the roundup is applied is it ok to seed without fear of the roundup killing that too?

 

[R Geiger]

(quoted from post at 06:56:08 04/06/17)
So how long after the roundup is applied is it ok to seed without fear of the roundup killing that too?

That would depend on the type of roundup. there is one that last for a year, read the label, it tells all.
Use crossbow or some similiar for woody plants, I usually spray a mixture of roundup and crossbow.