Groundhog Max Food Plot

[53Izzy744]

Picked one up on sale a while back and finally got a chance to try it out this weekend and i gotta say, it is the real deal lol

Ground was softened by the rain the day before but this is virgin land that never has been disturbed. Luckily it isnt very rocky! The grass was still wet when i started in the morning but by the time i was done the sun had dried out most of the dirt.

Started with a fairly shallow setting just to get the hard ground started. My dad didnt want to roundup anything so i had fresh weeds and wild grass to deal with. The groundhog max (GHM) cut through it fairly easily but did require a few passes to start seeing a difference. So i decided to set it deeper by one level. That made a big difference and was actually starting to till up some good dirt. Going fast helped prevent the discs from getting clogged with the soft earth.

My atv is an old kawasaki prairie 400 but it was doing well with the heavy work. Up until about an hour in. It started getting warmer as i worked and at around 20 degrees outside with full sun, my atv started having fuel issues. Either my vent cap wasnt venting properly or the gas i had in it was old enough to start boiling and giving me vapour lock. Either way, the remaining work was slow going.

I set the GMH even lower for a good deep till and it was really making a huge difference. Except every 5 minutes i seemed to have to rest my atv. It was just too much for my atv to keep the gas in the carb or the tank cool between the heavy work and hot sun.

Overall i am super impressed with this tool. I will figure out my atv issue before hitting the plot again and then planting. It took about 2 and a half hours to do roughly 0.2 acres (40m x 20m) tilled and then dragged with a chainlink gate with a pallet on it to level it out a bit. But again, if i didnt have that fuel issue with my atv and if i had done the deeper setting on the 2nd pass instead of the 3rd (by pass i mean entire area over a few times at the same depth not just one lap around), it would have saved a bunch of time.

Foreground is the type of ground that i had to begin with, lots of grass and weeds.

Good soil tillage! This was about an hour in, dropped the setting of the GHM to a couple notches deeper

About 2hrs and first attempt is tilled and dragged. The next time will go much quicker now that the ground is broken and my atv will be running better lol

The gear i needed to be able to get my atv and trailer back to this secluded spot, chainsaw for the downed trees, brush cutter with chainsaw toothed saw blade for all the small sapplings to make the trail wide enough to get the atv and trailer back there with the drag equipment as well as a cooler and a camp chair and extra shìtty gas lol

 

[Jaaska]

I have one of those . I use traditional equipment for 3 larger plots with a tractor and the groundhog followed by a spike chain harrow for a couple of smaller plots that are difficult to get the tractor to . In addition i have 100 pound feeders on each of my plots that i don't start using until mid-September .

 

[53Izzy744]

I have one of those . I use traditional equipment for 3 larger plots with a tractor and the groundhog followed by a spike chain harrow for a couple of smaller plots that are difficult to get the tractor to . In addition i have 100 pound feeders on each of my plots that i don't start using until mid-September .

Do you use roundup first before using the GHM? What do you plant on the smaller plots?

 

[Jaaska]

Yes i use glysophate about 10 days before cultivating . I plant the smaller plots with Imperial White Tail Clover . Do a soil test . I mow the clover about twice per season and spray with Slay and Arrest mixed with crop oil twice per season also . The clover is perennial and with the right soil and fertilizer will go 4 years with one planting provided it's mowed and sprayed for grasses and broad leaf weeds . You don't need specialized equipment to put lime down to bring your ph up , if it's required . By slitting a hole in a 50 pound bag cadled in my arms i can do a 5 foot by 150 foot swath by swinging the bag back and forth . This equals two tons per acres and can be done in 5 or 6 hours . My smaller plots are a bit over a half acre while my larger plots are two to three acres planted with different forage . No matter the size the soil ph should be right and the plot should be cared for with nutrients along with weed and grass control . I also have feeders on each plot . I have a tank sprayer for the ATV and a tow behind mower along with a tow behind fertilizer spreader . I spread seeds with a hand spreader . Your seeds require good ground contact but you don't need a cultipacker if you have knobby tires on your ATV . Slowly drive over every square inch and press the seeds down . I have two ATVs so it goes fast with my wife packing with the other machine . After you've cultivated , which you have by the pics , pick up handfuls of soil and look close with a magnifying glass . If you spot small seeds , which you probably will , go over your plot once more with glysophate to kill them and plant a week to 10 days later . Apply glysophate by the weather . Mix it with crop oil so it sticks to the plants and spray when you'll have at least 3 days with no rain . Wild seeds can remain viable under the surface for years so if you deal with them upon making your new food plot you may not ever have to deal with them again . You don't want all of those wild seeds sprouting up in your new food plot . Hope some of that helps .

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Sounds like more work than bear baiting, just to shoot a deer.

Grizz

 

[Jaaska]

Sounds like more work than bear baiting, just to shoot a deer.

Grizz

You're right Grizz . I started food plotting many years ago as a hobby . Now it's an obsession and way out of hand . The downside is lots of cost in time and money . The upside is the fascination with watching wildlife in pics and vids from trail cams and being able to 'almost' choose which deer to harvest . For 10 years i ran about 90 bear bait sites for the spring hunt and 50 for the fall .

 

[53Izzy744]

Yes i use glysophate about 10 days before cultivating . I plant the smaller plots with Imperial White Tail Clover . Do a soil test . I mow the clover about twice per season and spray with Slay and Arrest mixed with crop oil twice per season also . The clover is perennial and with the right soil and fertilizer will go 4 years with one planting provided it's mowed and sprayed for grasses and broad leaf weeds . You don't need specialized equipment to put lime down to bring your ph up , if it's required . By slitting a hole in a 50 pound bag cadled in my arms i can do a 5 foot by 150 foot swath by swinging the bag back and forth . This equals two tons per acres and can be done in 5 or 6 hours . My smaller plots are a bit over a half acre while my larger plots are two to three acres planted with different forage . No matter the size the soil ph should be right and the plot should be cared for with nutrients along with weed and grass control . I also have feeders on each plot . I have a tank sprayer for the ATV and a tow behind mower along with a tow behind fertilizer spreader . I spread seeds with a hand spreader . Your seeds require good ground contact but you don't need a cultipacker if you have knobby tires on your ATV . Slowly drive over every square inch and press the seeds down . I have two ATVs so it goes fast with my wife packing with the other machine . After you've cultivated , which you have by the pics , pick up handfuls of soil and look close with a magnifying glass . If you spot small seeds , which you probably will , go over your plot once more with glysophate to kill them and plant a week to 10 days later . Apply glysophate by the weather . Mix it with crop oil so it sticks to the plants and spray when you'll have at least 3 days with no rain . Wild seeds can remain viable under the surface for years so if you deal with them upon making your new food plot you may not ever have to deal with them again . You don't want all of those wild seeds sprouting up in your new food plot . Hope some of that helps .

Thanks jaaska! Maybe down the line when i have a property of my own i will get to do all that properly, unfortunately right now i have to respect my dad's knowledge of what the land owner will and will not approve of on his land.

I did a soil test and it came out around 7 (cheapo tester), my dad had planted clover in another area years ago and he said they did well, i tested that spot and it was just a bit higher but barely. So i am hoping this spot will take. As for competition i cant spray to control it but i could mow if i bring my push mower back there via atv trailer. My riding mower can't make the trip lol

How often do you mow?

I went over it again today and put some cow manure compost down (cut open the bags and waved it back and forth as i walked), didnt cover the entire plot but it was at least something. Then i disked it again and went over it a bunch with my drag. Like, 20 passes over and over and over.

Here is a comparison.

Last week when i finished

This week, tilled with some compost mixed in, plug dragged much more

 

[Jaaska]

7 is a good number . When i first started i did soil tests all over my property and my ph ranged from 5.6 to 6 so i brought it up with lime . I mow twice per year , keeping in mind there are about 60 different kinds of clover and i've used a few and settled on one , Imperial Whitetail Clover . I'll mow next week and then the last week in August or the first week in September . I fertilize twice with the first being just after the frost is out of the ground and then mid-summer . You can get a back pack pump for your small food plot and once it's off and growing get some Slay and Arrest and Crop Oil to control and kill grasses and broad leaf weeds as they can quickly take over your food plot . Of course there are several other crops you can plant but probably best to start with the best clover . You may want to think of a feeder at that site also as the clover will bring the deer in but with most plots we're talking tons per acre and deer will eat a small plot off quickly . Thankfully clover will keep on growing . Crop oil can be found at any ag supply store as can grass and broad leaf weed killers but i order from Whitetail Institute and have been very happy as i use their help line also to talk to pros and their soil testing service which is directly towards food plotters and not general farmers . I measure the clover strands/stocks and mow them back to 6 inches long . Shouldn't mow much shorter than that , maybe 5 inches . The idea is to prevent in from going to blossom and seeds as chemicals required to manufacture nutrients are lost on the production and deer are looking for taste and nutrition . Some guys use alsike clover which is less expensive but it also has less nutrient value and a poorer taste to deer than Imperial Whitetail Clover . For fertilizing i use the cheapest 19-19-19 i can get around here . Clover doesn't need nitrogen as it makes it's own but a bit extra doesn't hurt it , it needs the other nutrients and keep cost down . Back pack sprayers are fairly cheap at CDN Tire but figure you may wear one out or break one every year or two . Hope some of that helps .

 

[53Izzy744]

7 is a good number . When i first started i did soil tests all over my property and my ph ranged from 5.6 to 6 so i brought it up with lime . I mow twice per year , keeping in mind there are about 60 different kinds of clover and i've used a few and settled on one , Imperial Whitetail Clover . I'll mow next week and then the last week in August or the first week in September . I fertilize twice with the first being just after the frost is out of the ground and then mid-summer . You can get a back pack pump for your small food plot and once it's off and growing get some Slay and Arrest and Crop Oil to control and kill grasses and broad leaf weeds as they can quickly take over your food plot . Of course there are several other crops you can plant but probably best to start with the best clover . You may want to think of a feeder at that site also as the clover will bring the deer in but with most plots we're talking tons per acre and deer will eat a small plot off quickly . Thankfully clover will keep on growing . Crop oil can be found at any ag supply store as can grass and broad leaf weed killers but i order from Whitetail Institute and have been very happy as i use their help line also to talk to pros and their soil testing service which is directly towards food plotters and not general farmers . I measure the clover strands/stocks and mow them back to 6 inches long . Shouldn't mow much shorter than that , maybe 5 inches . The idea is to prevent in from going to blossom and seeds as chemicals required to manufacture nutrients are lost on the production and deer are looking for taste and nutrition . Some guys use alsike clover which is less expensive but it also has less nutrient value and a poorer taste to deer than Imperial Whitetail Clover . For fertilizing i use the cheapest 19-19-19 i can get around here . Clover doesn't need nitrogen as it makes it's own but a bit extra doesn't hurt it , it needs the other nutrients and keep cost down . Back pack sprayers are fairly cheap at CDN Tire but figure you may wear one out or break one every year or two . Hope some of that helps .

Thanks again for the info! I dont think my mower can do that high, the one that id be able to get back there is just a push mower, unless i figure a way to get some bigger wheels on to it lol