I recently picked up a John Deere 2320 HST. I’ll be adding a front blade and forks to the pile. I’ve currently got a 200CX loader with quick attach and a 54″ bucket. Also a 54″ mid-point mower deck. I’ve got access to my uncle’s 3 point tiller and disk. I also recently added 60 acres to my cabin land and 6 acres to my primary home. Obviously I’ve got a lot to learn regarding land management. Where do I even start?
I think Grouse is in that biz somehow.
Make sure you have the correct rear ballast weight for your tractor when using the loader. The compact tractors need it to be useful. It also keeps you from overloading the front axle.
Make sure you have the correct rear ballast weight for your tractor when using the loader. The compact tractors need it to be useful. It also keeps you from overloading the front axle.
Is their literature around regarding that? The ballast box I was looking at is 616# when filled with sand. But I am not sure on the physics of how much to have.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Mr. Derek wrote:</div>
Make sure you have the correct rear ballast weight for your tractor when using the loader. The compact tractors need it to be useful. It also keeps you from overloading the front axle.Is their literature around regarding that? The ballast box I was looking at is 616# when filled with sand. But I am not sure on the physics of how much to have.
See if this link works for you. Section 15, required minimum tractor ballast
Congrats!!! I think you should start by determining what your goals with the land are, drawing out an accurate map or getting a good satellite print of it and start drawing out what plans for the land achieve your goals. As for the tractor, I’d start with smaller stuff until you feel comfortable in it and it’s capabilities.
Congrats!!! I think you should start by determining what your goals with the land are, drawing out an accurate map or getting a good satellite print of it and start drawing out what plans for the land achieve your goals. As for the tractor, I’d start with smaller stuff until you feel comfortable in it and it’s capabilities.
Honestly our goals at this point are to “feed the game”, not so much as a hunting plot but just provide good cover and food to support the game. we pretty much hunt elsewhere. So soil management and getting quality food to grow.
Congrats on acquiring the spread. As they say, they aren’t making any more land so a big step already taken.
Regarding the tractor, just a word of caution. I talk to hundreds of land managers every year and without a doubt, the #1 issue encountered with sub-compact tractors is overloading or overworking them and breaking them. With a lot of these tractors being 4WD, it is very easy to push loaders and blades way beyond capacity and then stuff starts breaking and fixes can be very, very costly. Know the tractor’s limits and stay well inside of them.
As far as the land itself, Werm is right. Start with sat photos and start putting together your wish list and game plan.
A couple of thoughts in no particular order:
– Size plots and habitat improvements bigger than you think you need. I have yet to met a land manager who says he wishes he had smaller food plots. Over-utilization is the #1 issue with food plots. Beginning land managers worry, “If I plant it, will they come?” Well, that phase lasts about 4 weeks after planting and then the next phase is, “Holy sh!t every deer in the county showed up to eat….”
With habitat improvement, the issue is sometimes what made sense to you doesn’t work for the animals, so doing more helps to compensate for the areas that didn’t work out.
– Never take food plotting advice from anyone with a southern accent! The majority of the food plot seed industry and all the big national names are based in the south. It is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT here in the northern tier.
I can’t tell you how many people call us after they have had years of failed plots because they tried to grow southern seeds and used southern planting methonds. If you want to grow cotton, ask a southerner. If you want to grow food plots in the northern tier, only take advice from northern growers.
– Think perennials first! If you watch the hunting channel shows, all they talk about are the big money annuals like soybeans and brassicas.
Clover is the food plotting equivalent of the ground game in football. You can always win with a good ground game. It’s not flashy and it gets no love from the TV personalities, but it wins every time. A good perennial clover blend like our Mega Clover Plus will last for years with only minimal maintenance. I have a MCP plot that is 5 years old and still looks great. This is a tremendous work saver because I can work more ground when I don’t have to plant all of it every year. Establish your perennial plots first.
– The most used land management implement is not the disc or the tiller. It is the sprayer. Choose wisely because the spray rig will get more use than all other implements. I use my sprayer almost every week in the summer. IMO, the best acerage sprayers out there are from Frost over in Wisconsin and no I’m not a dealer or sponsored by them in any way. Everyone who I’ve sent to Frost came back with some version of the comment, “This is the sprayer I wish I’d bought the first time.”
– Correct plot prep + seed variety + growing technique = success. You can’t be missing any part of this equation if you want to grow successful plots.
There is a lot of information that many growers find helpful on our blog at midwestmonster.us/blog. Call or email any time, the address and number are on the website.
Best of luck.
Grouse
I’m new to this also I will be planting food plots next year. Grouse you said a sprayer is your most use implement. What are you spraying and for what?
Sorry for jumping your topic. I will be following this one close.
I’m new to this also I will be planting food plots next year. Grouse you said a sprayer is your most use implement. What are you spraying and for what?
Sorry for jumping your topic. I will be following this one close.
It is very important to start with a clean seedbed when you plant plots because weeds are much more difficult to control after the plot has been planted.
Looking back on my log, this season I used the sprayer for some operation 12 times.
I spray annual plots like the brassicas and soybeans at least once before planting to kill existing weeds. Soybeans then get sprayed 1-2 times during the growing season (Roundup ready), some years as many as 3 times.
Clover plots get sprayed with clethodim once each year to kill grasses. They only get sprayed a 2nd time if needed for broadleaf weed control.
Cover cropped plots need to be sprayed to terminte cover crop before late summer planting.
Trails get sprayed to kill raspberries.
Thistle has to get sprayed out of switchgrass habitat plots.
Fencelines need spraying to prevent woody invasives from growing.
Basically, for every time I use the disc, I’ve used the sprayer at least twice in that plot. And then the clover plots just get sprayed most years, so that is more hours on the sprayer.
Make absolutely sure any sprayer you buy has a 100% duty cycle pump. Absolute necessity.
I now have an ATV 25 gallon sprayer with a 10-foot boom. This is sprayer #2 and I’ve completely rebuilt it already, so essentially I could have bought a Frost sprayer for all the money I’ve spent wearing out sprayers that weren’t up to the job and then rebuilding them.
Sprayers are the #1 implement that food plotters wish they had upgraded had they known how much they’d use it. Lawn and garden sprayers won’t last for anything other than very small plots.
Grouse
Here is a pic of 40 of the 62 acres. the other 22 acres are heavily wooded as well. Canadian Shield country. Big granite rocks, not a lot of top soil. the 2 acres around the storage building is tillable. We were thinking poor man plots around the acreage with connecting trails covered in clover.
Buyck.jpg
A little extreme image I took but you get the idea of the country. A lot of 1/4-1/3 acre bare spots where the rock your standing on is probably bigger than a large building.
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Thanks Grouse. A lot of good info. I submitted a request to Frost for info on a sprayer.
Derek, thanks. The ballast info was informative. I’ve been researching
Congrats Wade!! I really want to buy some land.. I’m no help with the planting, but as you know Mr. Grouse is a great source of information!
I’ll echo Werm by saying get use to your tractor! I sold my 1937 John Deere a few years ago and kinda regret it. The kids loved hay rides and, well, starting it was a blast! Spin that wheel!
Good luck and lean on Grouse for info!
The “Green bitch”
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