Great video! I like seeing people that try things out to see if they work for their situation. Not everyone's place is the same.

You really do these videos in a good way so the layman understands what you are talking about. I’ve enjoyed all of them and I am now waiting for my DRL-072 to arrive. I’m looking forward to getting started with the new drill. Great points made on operation of the machine. Thank you so much for the great videos.👍😎

I have been waiting for this upload and you did not disappoint. I have a Saya 507 on order because of you. It’s clear to me that you are honestly assessing and reporting your experiments. Honestly you have helped me and for that thank you.

That plot looks awesome! As I said in the earlier video, I'm so glad I found this video thread! Thanks for posting!

Thanks. Really good presentation, and a good portion of humility.

Glad I came across your video. Good timing for my reply. I am also in an area with sandy soil and have tried a few different methods thus far. I'll try and be quick and concise. Year 1 dozer clearing of plot and soil manipulation. Soil test (every year), fertilizer and lime as needed. I did all my planting with a genesis drill. So year 1 great crop. Virtually no weeds and a great stand. Fall cover crop of rye and terminated with herbicide next year for summer/early fall plot. Did ok with just the drill. Not near as thick and lush as the bare ground but I also did soybeans and the combination of dry conditions and deer made it tough. Fall plot did pretty well with minimal weeds oats/peas/beans on 1/2 and brassicas other half. Rye overseeding. This year really nice rye stand similar looking to yours. Plan was for summer release and crimping (yea I bought one). Process went great and almost total kill on the rye. Nice mulch/mat overall. As the crop started coming up I noticed some other green plants coming up just a bit faster--marestail. 2 weeks later it was everywhere and the plot was really suffering. No real guidance from greencover on how to manage (basically 2 options as I already knew) spray it burndown or let it go. Well since I didn't want it to go to seed I sprayed it all yesterday and planted soybeans again. So with my last 3 years results I can tell you my opinion is the no till drill is awesome and as that thatch layer gets built up I think those culters will be nice to have (though I do appreciate the financial aspect), I think for the average food plotter thinking of getting a really nice stand with no herbicide us is just not practical, and I'm not sure the crimper is mandatory as once the plant is dead and dry the wind seems to just carry the pieces away. However next year my plan is to plant, crimp, and then spray to see how much mulch layer I can keep on the ground. If it's not significant as in year 2 with just spraying I'll likely sell the crimper. Good luck and appreciate the video.

More good content Mark! While I have somewhat less experience with my drill.....I am getting some awesome results too. I did get a roller crimper and I have planted GCC Summer Release....and some buckwheat and sunflowers...."green" into the standing rye. The rye popped back up in a few days.....and I now am waiting for the dough stage to put the roller crimper to it. (Goliath 6'er) Like seeing your follow-up videos. Keep up the great channel here. Best.

Gosh, I am right in the same boat as you! Last year, I rented a seeder drill from the local co-op and it worked wonderfully, but as you mentioned... prices of these implements are super high. I love Grant's channel and his method, but I just can't afford (or make sense) of buying a new seeder + a roller crimper for my 2-3 acres of food-plotting. Great video and I love the patience you had with getting this out rather than rushing to post a pre-maturely decided verdict!

Mark....thanks for the update, a great video. I'll be planting my summer blend this or next weekend depending on the weather. I'll keep you posted. Bob

they call that last years growth a trash layer and some good old fashioned manure from cattle or horses would give you a huge improvement in your soils quality. over the years just feeding the cows on the hill tops through the winter, has added a significant amount of top soil. keep up the good work, your definitely a contributor in proper conservation practices

A very informative and helpful video...Thanks for helping my research for my foodplot future

awesome man we're just setting out doing exactly what you've been doing in the same type of soil. Ours is basically dead sand desert were trying to bring back the topsoil with no till. As for the crimper I'm making an oak log into an octagon on my sawmill and attaching angle iron on the 8 faces and mounting it on the front bucket. "roller crimper" lol great video keep the updates coming on what your noticing on soil improvement

Great video again! I too am in SW Michigan and want a no-till drill and a crimper but can't justify the cost. My soil is the same as yours so I'm going to keep an eye out for a nice used drill. Keep us posted on how that field germinates.

Great video! helpful tip for anyone who doesn't have sandy soil and needs a true no-till drill, check out your local soil and water department, farmers co-op, ect. You can rent a drill for somewhere around 10 bucks an acre.

Very informative. New subscriber just off this video. I have exactly the same situation here in south central wi, super sandy soil. Just started no tilling 4 out of my 10 acres of plots last year. I have a great plains 6ft drill and broadcast 2 acres and drilled 2 acres. Way better results with drill-so another experiment out there that agrees with your conclusion. Definitely need to wait till all the rye has flowered good-which seemed behind this year due to cold spring. I also bought a crimper-if you can afford it its worth the money-lays it all down super flat and looks like its been hit with glyphosate after 2 days without having to spray. My 2 cents and looking forward to future updates

Another great video Mark, I've been using my old disk for a crimper with good results. I set the disks to run straight and have no weight added, I do roll it first and lay it down and disk across it in other direction. It is a little more fuel and time but still way cheaper then buying a crimper. Keep up the great video's

Very good video, once you hit the crimper pricing you really got my attention! LOL been doing this for many years as well always experimenting, and I like your methodology. Would I love a crimper and a no-till drill? Of course, but you're talking about 18 to $20,000! LOL

Mark, I really enjoy your updates. Seems like you have been doing the no till for a few years, have you seen much difference in the soil enhancement. Do you feel you are building soil and organic matter? I bought a 40 year old grain drill after watching your updates and will be drilling this spring. Keep the updates coming and congratulations to your wife and daughter for filling the freezer.

New subscriber. Brilliant video 💪🏻 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Exceptional video quality and great information provided on the how and why of no-till planting. Northern Michigan?

New subscriber! Looking forward to following along

Built a roller crimper 2 winters ago cost me about $600 works very well...can send pix if you wish...actually you just gave me the idea after watching this video of possibly making it a loader mount for the front of the tractor, thanks Mark would love to see your results!!

Great to see you not using any poison.

Hello there. I have sandy soil and its been doing pretty good rotating buckwheat, then Rye. I have never used a grain drill, but I do have sandy soil. Would a grain drill work on “side hilling”? Or do you have to have fairly flat ground?

Just found your channel man , keep up the good work

Nice video👍🏻. Another option that may also be available is to rent a no till drill from a local Co-op or County extension.

I wonder if you could use side by side with plow and get similar as bucket. Nice video well explained

If you were just starting the no-till process, would you initially disc and harrow to really get the fields flat? When I have disc'd in the past, it leaves ridges and I'm worried about the drill having constant contact. Possibly I'm using the disc incorrectly, but I can't usually get it nice and flat. Thanks for all your great videos. You and Dr Grant Woods are my two go to's!

Hi Mark just a follow up from our last conversation I came up with a setting of 2.5 for soybeans and 1.5 for corn in the large seed box. Where I live in S.E. Michigan we have heavy clay so no till planting with my DRL-72 would not be successful. Thanks for the great informative videos!

Mark, I enjoyed your content. Especially the suggestion you made about newbies like me taking the time to learn the difference between a grain drill, a planter, and a grain drill. I have a unique property in Middle Georgia. And I have every soil type there is because my property is an old fish farm. And like you, I can’t justify some these initial upfront expense on a New No-Till and a 4K climber. So like most budget restricted Conservationist, I’m forced to try creative innovation and use the tools that I have. So I’d like your thoughts on this plan of action: Since my standing rye an wheat is well beyond the “doe” stage, I plan to seed extra heavy into my standing plots; then I plan to take my tractor like you did with the bucket tilted and pull my 7’ heavy duty cultipacker attached with a commercial grade spiked tooth drag harrow, (and affix extra weight onto the harrow )so that the spike create at least an 1.5 inch or better channels. I think the combined trauma/ force of the cultipacker in conjunction with the weighted spike tooth harrow should terminate and crimp just about anything. What do you think of the plan. And if the agitation of the weighted spiked tooth harrow terminates existing vegetation creates soil to seed contact, I may flip the harrow over on the smooth side and drag it with the 4 wheeler in an effort to further crimp the current vegetation and enhance the soil to seed contact. What do you think?

Mark, looks real good. I will be starting this next spring. I am building a crimper in a couple weeks, I will send pics. I will be crimping all my buckwheat this fall. Great video.

Hey Mark great video I like the real world run down👍 where are your sponsors and how come your not trying to sell us nothing 🤣 and I had mist a couple of the last videos I'm all caught up now great job on the other videos 👍

Will be very interesting to see your results.

Great video Mark. Been watching your Drill videos for while now. I'm in the central UP. My plots were ridges with TSI and what was left was either yellow sand and black sand. I'm a few miles from the lake Michigan shoreline, so think Beach Sand lol. For 3 summers now I've planted Rye and Wheat and only about half germinate, the rest is just laying on top. At the price of seed, that is money wasted. Since my plots are very hilly, my habitat consultant thought I might need to invest in a drill? I find my seed has washed down the hills, and grows thicker there. My side hills are almost bare. I need to continue to build the soil with Rye, wheat and oats, so I'm at the point of making an investment. So the DRL-72 would be best for sandy soil and $2000 cheaper than a SAYA-05? I will only be drilling through old thatch and green plants into all sand. I've looked at more quality drills but like you say, used they are $8000 and up. Seems like a lot of money to plant 4 acres twice a year. I've considered an old grain drill but they are at least 8-10 feet plus the wheel width, and that is hard to get through the woods from plot to plot. Just my opinion. Your thoughts? Keep of the great videos.

My first year was not successful and I have the great plains and a crimper, next spring I am going to plant then run my sickle bar more over the field to lay it down on top of the seed

Great video! Do you spray gly or crimp to terminate your cover?

Will be interesting to see the results of your food plot.

I’m getting great results from my cash crop after crimping the multi-species blend “Crazy Ray’s” fall cover crop. Use a Firminator with a Suzuki King Quad ATV on my ten acre plots. Planning to market this solution to farmers and land owners that want “big bucks” on their land.

Looks great. The only question I have is why not hit it w roundup right before drilling?

Good stuff! Did you happen to notice if a good percentage of the rye that was ran over by the tractor tires died compared to the rest? I’m a believer in weight at the right stage will kill the rye.. Thanks

Would it have been beneficial to brush hog or mow the existing crop down first before planting?

Great video! What implement do you recommend for clay soil?

I Mark i just seen your video thanks again on your honesty i am waiting for my no till drill the saya 507 it won’t be in until august i wonder if you have any news or information about it thanks again

Could you not use a grain drill and modify by adding front coulters if your soil is not sandy and it work for more clayish soil?

Hey Just wondering, I have a finish flail mower for grinding trimmings in my vineyard. It can be lowered to skim down to the dirt and lays down a fine mulch layer as wide as the mower. Do you think using that after the grain drill planting would work to terminate the previous crop and cover the newly planted stuff?

What is the spacing between planters? I like how thick you planting is. Have you tried corn?

It is the organic mater.that is what holds the moisture.i did it on farm scale,never go back

Right off the bat when he says he's not taking idiot advice and giving it time before he makes a decision commands respect.

What is the cheapest tractor if I only need for grain drill, and potential no till drill in the future? I am preparing to start a farmstead, so I am trying to work out the required upfront fund. Thanks in advance for the info.

Great video Mark! I purchased a small 29 acre property in TN a couple of years ago. I saw that it had plenty of deer sign and the neighbors have great bedding that joins my property. I have a couple of fields that I won’t to turn into food plots. Do you recommend killing it with herbicide before planting or burning? I was considering both since burning won’t cost me anything but time. Just wanted to get your opinion. Or anyone else’s that may read this.

Hell yeah Mark! What if after you planted all of it, you drove over all of it almost using your tires as a crimper? I’d imagine that would work well….

Could you have small angle iron welded to the drive wheel of the Tar River and still make a one pass setup? I just thought of it as i was watching this video for the second time???

Sickle bar works for me - 100% kill on small grains. Just don't try to cross the direction of the cut with your drill when you come back to plant ;)

Very informative video, conventional drills are basically no till drills in sand country, use them a lot. No need for coulters in sand.

Good work getting away from spraying this is my 45 yr of food plotting and I’ve spayed a total of 1/4 ac and that was too much half the crap we spray for is prime forage

Thanks for sharing; subscribing. Was thinking the same thing about floating the bucket. Bummer it didn't work well. Wonder how floating in reverse with a very slight angle of the blade would work. Might play with box blade scaping from the rear so can drive forward, but concerned about digging ; no float. Gly is over 300% $$ from last season, fuel ztill on the rise, the Assault Government of ours still 'fundamentally changing the nation" to a 3rd world status. Looking forward to your progress and exploring your older vids.

I am worried you did not terminate all of the "old crop" from last year. It may not make a difference anyway. But PackerMaxx now has a cultipacker with a crimper for $1300. Don't know how well it works. Mike Kitchen's using his old disc (set without any angle) as a crimper may work for guys that still have a disc. And for the guys that are ok with chemicals that would work like it does for Jeff Sturgis. Enjoy your videos, tons of useful information. Continued success and have a great 2022 hunt.

I have a kasco drill with a cultipacker on the back. I will drill one direction then drive back over it with the drill the opposite direction and it will cut the rye and kill it. I know it's an extra step but saves from buying a crimper.

Great video! Just a suggestion, but why not use bucket to lay down thatch then seed it perpendicular to how you laid it down? Drill would cut thatch

Earth works sells a small roller crimper for under $1,000. Question, how much does your grain drill weigh?

What size tractor do you have hooked to that drill?

Where are you located, what did you plant and what date did you plant it? Thanks

Any recommendations on a drill for a small old 20hp Massey from the 80s ?

How about if you went over with a flailmower after seeding , it would knock everthing down and leave a nice thatch Dave

No till is an excellent method that reduces soil erosion. Aldo Leopold would be beaming with pride.

Yes! no-till for the win!

Please at some point give us an update, great video!

Looks good!

Where did you get your grain drill and what brand is it? Total cost, please? Thank you!

Nice family

This what I’ve been wanting to do. Unfortunately I think my ground is too hard.

👍

Great video! I like the information you are disseminating. Just hit it with glyphosate after you plant. 😉

Crazy idea.... go over with an empty drill perpendicular to your first pass. Your drill will act as a supper crimper!

yeah but a tractor and drill isnt worth a deer plot.

No-till? And proceeds to drill the seed in.

You need to use a crimper to knock down the standing vegetation before planting.