Hey, I need help.

[Catchin’ deer’s]

Greetings,
I am looking to get a drill (till or no-till, I don’t care) for food plots and I am hoping it would last me years and not cost more than $5000, I know it’s not much but I’m a little tight on money right now. I wouldn’t put it to tons of seeding, maybe 3-5 acres max, I don’t have rocky soil and the ground is relatively flat. I already have access to a 66 hp tractor, I just need help on what drill to get, anyone got any answers??

 

[yoderjac]

My no-till drill sits most of the time in favor of surface broadcasting and cultipacking. It is still needed for large seeded warm season annuals like beans and corn. It is also great for drilling GHR into suppressed clover.

I got a small Kasco 4' no-till drill. There are lots of challenges with it. It does not like trash and setting seed depth is more of an art than a science, but it works. I paid about 5K for it used. It works "good enough" for small acreage like you have. It is much slower than surface broadcasting and cultipacking after spraying. A few years back I switched from soybeans with a light mix of corn to a mix of sunn hemp and buckwheat for our summer plant. Since both of them surface broadcast well, our drill sits most of the time. I will say I do love the seed metering system on the Kasco. you can calibrate it to plant about any mix.

I don't use it often any more, but when you need it, you need it.

If I had the money, I would have purchased a big-boy drill (Great Plains, Land Pride, Tye, ect). I could not justify the cost for food plotting. They are much heavier and have better mechanisms for adjusting seed depth. They handle trash much better than the kasco.

Best of luck!

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

Thanks, are tar rivers any good? I have also looked at GPs and LPs and the cost blew me away, I was wondering if you knew of any websites or dealers that are country wide and have good drills/seeders for the price?

 

[yoderjac]

Yes, the cost of the big-boy drills is out of sight for me. I'm a big no-till/min-till advocate for both cost savings and soil health. I'm not real familiar with the old drills that require traditional tillage. I've seen folks post about the Tar River, but I have no experience with them.

Keep in mind you don't really need a drill for most of the seeds we plant for deer. There are great no-till/min till methods that will give you great results with most seeds. If you are just interested in planting row crop seeds like soybeans and corn, you can also consider a no-till planter. Folks cut down the older large no-till planters, refurbish them and make single and 2 row no-till planters that are less expensive than drills. They are higher precision for the particular seeds they are setup for. They probably won't be good for most mixes.

There are web sites like machinery trader where folks sell used equipment. You may be better off going to your local dealer and see what used equipment they have. I looked for about a year before I found the used 4' Kasco no-till versadrill in driving distance of me.

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

Alight, I’ll look into it, thanks again

 

[Mennoniteman]

Greetings,
I am looking to get a drill (till or no-till, I don’t care) for food plots and I am hoping it would last me years and not cost more than $5000, I know it’s not much but I’m a little tight on money right now. I wouldn’t put it to tons of seeding, maybe 3-5 acres max, I don’t have rocky soil and the ground is relatively flat. I already have access to a 66 hp tractor, I just need help on what drill to get, anyone got any answers??

Many counties have a conservation program where you can schedule and rent a no-till drill for a reasonable price.

 

[swat1018]

You don't really need a tractor or food plots, either, but a drill is nice. Yes, the tar river no-till drills are descent, no idea on the conventional till models.

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

I would broadcast a lot of my food plots but the problem is that where I live there is a lot of wild alfalfa and clover and even occasionally some broadleafs so corn is my best bet to draw the deer in. I have tried a clover, alfalfa, and a brassica food plot but there was no luck so corn it is, that’s why I am wanting a seeder/drill.

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

I have been looking at Chapin seeders, the ones that you push and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with them, I’ve seed videos and they seem to work fine but I just can’t stop thinking that they won’t dig into the soil enough or you would have to get the soil really loose, which isn’t much of an option because we don’t have a rotary tiller or something like that

 

[yoderjac]

I would broadcast a lot of my food plots but the problem is that where I live there is a lot of wild alfalfa and clover and even occasionally some broadleafs so corn is my best bet to draw the deer in. I have tried a clover, alfalfa, and a brassica food plot but there was no luck so corn it is, that’s why I am wanting a seeder/drill.

If you specifically looking for something to plant corn, I'd look at a no-till 2 row planter. This is just one example but it gives you a ball park on price.

 

[RGrizzzz]

If you specifically looking for something to plant corn, I'd look at a no-till 2 row planter. This is just one example but it gives you a ball park on price.

++. I'd expect you should be able to find a used corn planter in your budget.

Pricing for the PH Outdoors M5 hasn't been released yet but might be worth saving an extra year for.