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20 lbs Tiller: The Mantis

Back when I was a younging 25 years ago,.. my buddy bought a Mantis Tiller for gardening,.. it is a lightweight 20 pound tiller,.. a portable tiller you can lift with one hand. I have used it and can attest that it works,.. it will blow your mind and if you are into deep woods food plots,.. it is pretty damn cool.

Is it as good as a 100 pound tiller,.. no! Is it good? Yes! it will do the job, you just have to go slower,.. the spinning blades will eat into anything except rock or solid wood.

25 years latter I called my buddy Rich and said hey do you still have that Mantis? Thinking I might try a few gorilla grows in the woods now that I have some clover experience in my first first food plot thread,.. He says ya I used it last year!,.. it is all yours.

So I guess my next quest will be to document a deep in the woods gorillia grow of clover. I see the biggest limiting factor now is how much lime can I haul in by backpack,.. !

Its coming! LOL

If you are not familiar with the Mantis tiller read up on it!!! Anyone who wants to do a food plot deep in the woods and cannot bring a big tiller,. this is the tool!

I never recommend a product I have not used.

Haha BB, throw back Thursday. Remember my 1st rototilling adventure, ratchet strapped 3hp troybilt to my 4 wheeler to get it out there then tried to break 100 y.o abandoned field sod. I will keep saying it, it's an addiction !

Ya I just bought a backpack sprayer,.. Cha Ching,.. and an electric EGO weed whacker,.. Cha Ching :(

My food plot is approaching $300 to 400!

Curse you Xi,.. and others who exposed me to this addictive hobby!!!!!

I almost made a plot on the town owned right of way heading into the woods next to my house. That was last year. Really thought about it, but decided not to... Now I'm glad. More money for my bikes and fly tying/fishing... and that new "light weight" jacket I want for early deer season :)

Fun watching you guys have fun with plots though, Jrdeerslayr too!

My 2 cents.

Soil test first. First-year spray to kill vegetation and add the appropriate amount of lime. ( lime needs several months to work) . the second year : Soil test for acidity again, start the tilling and fertilize etc. Killing the vegetation should make the process of tilling and results of planting desirable crop more productive.

Literally hit me at lunch... any of you "plotters" try "no till" methods? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/11/09/no-till-farming-is-on-the-rise-thats-actually-a-big-deal/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.285db1be59c1

I know zero about this stuff.. but it's a neat concept. My gut says it may only be doable on a huge plot of land... I mean, a backyard garden or small plot or creating a plot where it didnt exist just may not work... But it's an interesting concept.

I believe HunterMA is trying a no till little clover plot,.. he can keep us up on his experiences maybe?

Duplicate post

Research shows no till is good option,..

Don't till,.. seems like plenty of folks have good no till plots!

Maybe my next plot I will try no till and see how each performs?

Besides, all that tilling of the field does expose the buried carbon to oxygen which in turn creates CO2 and we don't want that. Right?

Will I just started a 2500 sq ft kill plot. It is technically a "no till" plot but NOT a "no maintenance" plot. So far Ive done the following Hinge cut 75% of the canopy,cut 90% brush and small trees, Raked leaves, duff etc, added pulverized lime, sent soil sample to be tested, bought ladino clover, chicory, oats, and soybeans ( just a tease), 500' garden hose, bought used solar electric fence. Hopefully put that up if it ever stops raining. So far I have about 3 days labor involved, not including triple bypass surgery setback in March from using chainsaw. Addictive? HELL YES! But cheaper than Maple Syrup Farming. Keep you posted...

MB,.. Please keep me/us up on it. Very curious!

Why the electric fence?

BB to keep the deer out. They will decimate the plot of its not big enough to sustain grazing.

This is my backyard no till plot. The clover that I planted is doing great and I left a big section in the middle to plant in the next week or so. I am doing a little experiment with the clover and trying to see if I plant later the deer will come later. More pics tomorrow of the clover coming up. Have sprouts around 2-3” in two different areas. The deer are already eating the young plants !!!!

Soil test results back, I thought ph might be on the low side, but not this low. The fertilizer I will find a happy medium and shouldn't be as back breaking or time consuming as the lime...

MB, how many tons of lime you think you'll need, and over what course of time to be effective.

Xi, for 2500 sq ft I'm thinking 1/2 ton. Maybe throw 100 lbs a month till next grow season. What's funny is the seeds I put out so far are all germinating great, Even with acid soil. The real test will be if anything is still left in October.

I am not an expert by any means,.. but here is my 2 cents,..

For strongly acidic or clay soils about 100 pounds of lime per 1000 square feet. Remember lime buffers itself so it is hard to use to much,.. over liming will not hurt your plot or plants.

If you can,... do a mix of hydrated lime (works right away on the next rain but also does not last into next year,.. its water soluble so all gone by next year) and dolomitic lime powdered white ground rock stuff (acts slowly but will be around for years).

Drsly,.. Looks great by the way,.. consider chopping back some of the nearby small trees to open up the light window even more. Hinge cut them, to provide browse and tuck/weave them like a living wall around the plot to help funnel traffic to where you want it to go.

Weather permitting, I am gathering hopefully this weekend at my plot with some fellow hunters to do that exact thing cutting/opening up/walling,.. going to cost me breakfast again,.. will post some photos on it.

BB... the price per pound of your backstraps is going to rival Kobe beef.

;o)

Had to remortgage the house for the food plot!

I might have a problem . . .

. . . it was on sale!

Hard to justify this to the Misses.

And did I mention it came with accessories?

MRW that is awesome,.. omg pretty cool,.. Looks like ya got a beast there,.. tractors are amazing in what they can do,.. this is from a guy who never used or worked with one all his life until recently.,..

Thanks for the photos,.. fun to see what you are up to,.. and I think I speak for many of us,..

BB

PS Tell the Misses,.. it is important to you,.. she will understand. You do the same for her!

PSSS do you shot off that deck with the bow? LOL I do mine.

Mark, if you think about it just about everything is on sale...

Come to think of it, didn't you stop and buy a new bow on the way home from the saddle get together?

Yes Bruce, you are correct. I need to pick out a sight and a rest, but I can't make up my mind . . .

Leaning towards an IQ 3 pin and a Trophy Ridge Revolution rest.

if you guys really have your heart set on no till options best way would to be clear area of leaves in fall and frost seed clover in march. this method works very well. most the no till products are gimmicks tho.....the more prep work you put into your soil prior to planting the better it will turn out. im the last 13 years with my plot i have tried every thing....

JD can ya detail best prep work practices that have worked for ya in the last 13

Thanks. BB

For example my first year i learned if your plot has rows of dips and hills you will have rows of clover with bare spots on row hill tops,..

depends on what im planting....for clover/ brassica procedure is this.... mow low, wait 2-4 days for a little bit of growth then spray with gly(round up) , wait till is browns up then harrow , after its harrowed up i drag with either a chain drag or landscape rake. once its smooth seed. the. best is to cultipack it( i dont have a cultipacker so i drive over it with the tractor) if its a seed tyoe that needs to be a bit deeper such as beans or peas i lightly harrow it in. with clover and brassica the cultipack step is one of the most important often over looked steps. it assures good seed to soil contact , it also creates divitts in the soil that help hold moisture and prevent seed from washing away in heavy rain. on clover when it gets to about 6" or so i sprwy with 24db and cleth these are clover friendly broadleaf and grass killers. clover once it is established is easy to maintain, but you need to mow it around 12" and no shorter than 6" hope that helps.....

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