Which ATV Disc?
Whitetail Deer
Looking for recommendations on an ATV disc from those with experience. Suggestions With pros and cons appreciated!
Looking for recommendations on an ATV disc from those with experience. Suggestions With pros and cons appreciated!
Get a heavy one. I've used an old Brinley and Hardy lawn tractor disc and old ones from farm auctions and they seem worthless.
You have to have reasonable expectations going in. An ATV ain't a tractor and an ATV disc ain't a farm impliment. I owned the big King Kutter model, I think it was 48 inches for several years before I could upgrade to a tractor and full 8 foot 3 point disc. It worked fine as long as you don't expect it to turn dirt like a plow.
I made 2 cement weights using 5 inch PVC pipe filled with cement and then clamped these to the disc frame. This added over 150 pounds of weight and they stayed mounted right where I put them.
ATV discs are WAY more effective on damp ground. The best conditions for me was to have the ground JUST damp enough so the discs would cut into the soil on their own when the disc was lowered, but not so wet the machine started slipping too much and lost traction. It was a fine line, but damp ground makes a huge difference.
Obviously, you need to do multiple passes. To break up old clover for replanting, I figured on having to go over the plot at least 4 times. More was required for thick vegitation or if the ground was dry.
As NO says, weight is your friend, but understand that I don't care what kind of power your ATV has, dragging a food plot disc is TOUGH on a machine, especially the drive train. As I said, ATVs aren't tractors and eventually if you pull something heavy enough, long enough, you're going to break stuff. Go slow and take it easy on the machine and keep up on your maintainance. The Groundhog and Battle Ax discs both work well for small plots as long as you don't have rock. Main problem with these is they are very narrow, but they do a good job of penetrating the soil and turing it. Just don't hit a rock.
Grouse
The grouse covered it above very well. Something that helps somewhat, is to try and get rid of as much of the dead thatch as you can, before discing. Too much thatch, and your blades just roll over the top of it, for the most part. The best way usually, is to burn it off. . A small farm tractor such as a Ford 8N, M Farmall or something similar, can often be bought for $1,500-$2,500, and will do a much better job than an atv.
I have a King Cutter compact for an ATV. As mentioned above it is not great but will do an okay job. I had to add lots of weight to it and also drive it quite a bit faster than recommended while zig zagging to tear up the ground. Ive probably spent 2-3 hours on a 1/2 acre parcel. I would recommend killing everything before trying to disc it up too. Im always looking for an affordable old tractor now after my neighbor came over and tilled it up for me in about 10 min.
I just use a generic kind from the local Farm Supply store. Nothing fancy, and throw 3 cinder blocks on top. Like mentioned before, take your time and don’t over work your ATV....a new one is expensive. I’ll also echo that damp ground makes life much easier while discing, as does mowing and getting a good kill on whatever it is you’re discing prior. I prefer to disc in a Figure 8 pattern and seem to do better this way.
Peas and beans germination without soil disturbance.
Peas and beans germination without soil disturbance.
I’ve been planting 2-3 acres for years on marginal soils without using a disc. I didn’t have a tractor or disc in the beginning. What are your goals? How is your soil? What’s growing there now? We have had a very dry summer and my soil was more like concrete than soil. I planted large seeds anyway into last years Winter Rye and sparse buckwheat. Plant residue is just as good at achieving germination and a whole lot better at retaining moisture. I would be a whole lot more comfortable recommending anything if I knew the location and soil conditions.
Totally agree with t-roy regarding a tractor. A good old tractor will seem like an absolute bargain when you tear up the transmission on an $$$ ATV.
I'm a seed dealer for both ag and food plot seeds, so I talk to hundreds of food plotters every year. Their experience seems to fall in line with mine, once you get above 2-3 acres of food plots, it gets very difficult to do it with an ATV. Now I did NOT say impossible, I said difficult. If you have the time and don't mind working the machine like a rented mule, you could do 10 acres if you wanted to. My point is most reach a practical limit beyond which ATV tillage is just too time consuming and hard on machines.
My ATV had plenty of power, but you could just tell by the temp and heat of the engine that pulling a disc was HARD on it. I have a pretty good feel for equipment an I could tell I was running on borrowed time dragging a 4 foot disc over acres of ground every year.
I bought a 1965 Deere 3020 gas tractor with loader for $4500. I've had a few repairs on her, but nothing I can't handle and she hardly gets warmed up pulling an 8 foot Howse 3 point disc that weighs in at 850 pounds. Needless to say, turing over a plot requires about half the number of passes.
So at the right scale an ATV disc works fine, just go easy on the machine.
Grouse
Soooo. The OP just asked about an atv disk.
Nothing else. No tractors, no techniques. Just a disk. :)
What a novel idea..... discussing all options available to the OP just in case he/she hasn’t thought about it. Let’s rebuke posters for their attempt at trying to save some wear and tear on expensive machinery. Well done.
I’ve been using half of an old drag disc I got for free. Works better after I notched the blades. I have to use anywhere from one hundred to three hundred pounds on it to cut, depending on soil conditions and vegetation. But, yeah, lots of passes required.
Thanks for the replies guys. To be clear, I understand a tractor is optimal but in this situation these would be small areas tucked away in timber that you can’t get a tractor to unless you take a lot of timber out. I really just want to scratch some areas out for poor man’s plots. We plan to burn some of these areas in the off season too. It’s fairly rocky soil, with little loam in some areas closer to the creeks.
Good luck and have fun at it, Aaron! It’s addictive!
I own a Kingkutter and use it for what you intend to. GL!
Been using a king kutter for years add 100# u r good to go
i"n this situation these would be small areas tucked away in timber that you can’t get a tractor to unless you take a lot of timber out. I really just want to scratch some areas out for poor man’s plots. " I tried this for a couple of years. My experience: i had to add weight to the front of the ATV for traction while the disc was cutting dirt. The pull of the disc wanted to squat the ATV rear causing bigger turning radius. The stopping and backing with the disc in tight spots got old.
For those areas way back in what about a garden tractor and a tiller? It’ll do a thousand times better job than an atv disc. We have a little 12’ disc we pull behind a small tractor and even that isn’t heavy enough to do a “good” job. Definitely spray and burn the area before using the atv disc. Growing up in a farming family food plots are kinda a joke for us. Discing an acre plot is a 3 minute job. Spend more time turning around than discing. Lol I will be the first to admit how spoiled we are for food plot prep too...
