Ok, you have 2500 acres and 35 acres of food plots. Average acre of food plot is 2 acres and plots are spread out evenly around your 2500 ac.

It's August 1st and the food plots have grown up.

How many tractor hours is it going to take to prepare the food plots (I mean a good seed bed!), (if you need to spray gly, then that's part of your preparation and calculate that time in your final figure) spread and cover the seed? Costs of seed is not in the equation. Just how many tractor hours. Travel time to food plot IS considered in the time calculation.

Oh, the tractor. Well, it is a 50 or 60 hp tractor with 6' disc. Nope, I am not going to drill. Not a bad idea, but we're disking.

EDIT and UPDATE:

I just bought a 60 hp tractor (4X4) and a TuffLine 8' pull-behind disk.

The food plots have been deep disked and planted last fall so this ain't virgin food plots.

35 acres with a 6 foot 3 pt. hitch disk?

I'd say figure 8 hours per field. That should cover bushhogging, breaking,
planting and covering.

It will depend on how well the fields were broken last time too.

I'd bet 2 hours per acre total, at least. Bushhogging 35 acres with a 50hp tractor in August is going to be an acre an hour at least.

Depends on how thick or how bad the plots are. Hard to say without seeing them

Depends on how hard the ground is too. It might take 3 hours to disc a one acre plot that's hard as concrete.

Most are 45 dollars an hour with a minimum of 4 hours.plus time starts when tractor is loaded up to get there until loaded when finished most add cost of fuel.alot of people come out better offering amembership

Yep. Lots of variables that can affect time per acre.

Consider bushhogging with any clearing in summer. Maybe disking first time plots really good and deep. Go in 2 weeks to month before planting and disk area just enough to turn over soil to kill weeds. No gly needed ready to plant in August or September.

Another thing to consider is how many rocks or stumps are in the plots.

Bush hog 35 acres with 6' mower @ 4mph = 2.6 acre/hr

What most people forget to include is travel time from field to field. That is when most of your equipment gets tore up bc you are in a rush to get to the next spot. Also most club roads are pretty tough on equipment. Anyway you should probably just mow the road. So that will add a good bit of acreage to what you are mowing. I would say it would take 2, 8 hour days.

Spraying, if you have a tank that fits in a utv that is the fastest way, 4 wheeler sprayers work too they just dont have much capacity. Also how far is the water source? That task will take another day at least.

Disking, If you are looking for a "good seedbed" you will need to cut it, then cross cut it. OR Cut is with a heavy cutting disk then come back with a leveling disk. This is VERY time consuming. 3, 8 hr days

Then are you going to let it rain and settle the "fluffy" dirt or broadcast seed and lightly disk, Or are you going to culti pack and use a planter? You have a couple different options depending on what kind of equipment you have access to. This could vary from 1 hr per acre to 3 hr per acre.

Lots of factors come in to play, My guess would be 120 hours. Plug your own labor and equipment rate in.

I can give you a number you aren't going to like but I think the answer probably lies in the other information you haven't given. Do you own this tractor or are you looking to hire this out? Do you or other club members have the time to do this over several weekends, have you done it in the past, are you looking to hire labor only it driving equipment you personally own or is this someone with their own equipment?

In general.... with 1 tractor and 6 foot equipment. Time estimate = several weekends. Figure 2 days PER STEP. Around 2 acre per hour per step with travel time in between plots and overlap and other downtime.

First thing I'd do, with a 60 hp tractor, is invest in a bigger disk. You'd be amazed in the difference in the way that a 6' and an 8' cut. It'll reduce your disking time by at least 30-40%.

2 acres per hour is pretty ambitious. This week I mowed a 3.5 acre plot prepping for i and c peas. It wasn't too badly grown up, it was planted last may. I was mowing most of the time in low range 3rd gear(a pretty good pace, about as fast as I normally mow) and it took close to 3 hours. If I had more time, I'd spray it, wait until it dies and then burn it off, but I want to get it planted before it gets hot and dry.
Without spraying and burning it will probably take at least 3 passes with the disc to get it like I want it. I can usually disc with one pass at about an acre/hr. I have a 43 hp tractor and a fairly heavy 6' 8" disc. The soil is a fairly sandy clay loam right next to a creek. You can do the math and this ain't my first rodeo, I've been doing this for about 30 years

That is a lot of ground for a small tractor.

We plant a little more than that but I have larger equipment. I am at a point in my life where time is more important than saving a couple of dollars. I could do it with a smaller tractor but trying to get everything done when it needs to be done is hard when working around work (the paying kind) and the weather.

I will mow everything on the first part of September. I will wait about 10 days or 2 weeks and spray all fields with Roundup and a little 24d.

Wait 2 weeks and break fields and plant.

I can mow in a full day (8-10 hours)
I can spray in 7-8 hours

Planting takes longer. I usually allow 3 days for disking, cultipacking and planting.

But Hell, I like sitting in a tractor. Its therapy. Cell service is spotty there and I dont have anyone asking me to do anything.

I know it's a broad question. Goatkiller, thanks for asking but it really doesn't matter if I do it or it's hired out or if there are 100 tractors on the job... it is still going to be the same "tractor hours" if all the tractors are 60 hp with an 8' pull behind disk. I'm going to spray with gly in the fall and burn off the debris and then disk and prepare the seed bed then broadcast seed and cultipack in.

Ave 2 acres per food plot scattered about 2500 acres and it's not virgin soil and there are no stumps in the food plots and the roads are pretty decent.

I know... it is a tough question!! But I need some gauge on how many tractor hrs it'll take. Thx!!

Well, is the tractor green or orange?

Remington270, that's some funny stuff right there!!!

Orange!! I think they get a little more per hr!!!! HA!!!!!

And I'm going to pee from the tractor and not stop. Dangerous I know.

Here are the 2 formulas you need.

Theoretical Capacity (acres/hour) = (Speed (mph) x Machine Width (feet))/8.25

Effective Capacity = Theoretical Capacity x Field efficiency

............

All 60hp tractors are not created equal. All equipment is not created equal. Is it a 4x4 compact tractor with a 60hp engine or a real tractor with 60 pto horsepower? Sounds like a compact if it has Orange paint. Makes a difference. Will your tractor pull the disk 5mph or only 4mph to get a good cut. We don't know. Will it take 1 pass with the disk or three. We don't know.

You'll have to take the tractor out and figure it out.

Did you get a 6 foot cutter? Take it back if you haven't used it. You need a bigger one.

............

After you figure it out come back to the formulas.

You should be able to bushhog 4mph and get a good cut with good blades. But we don't know your equipment. You may get more or less. But if you aren't close you need to figure out what's wrong with your setup.

Disking you should pull faster 5-6mph. Get the owners manual out and see if they recommend a speed. If you go much faster than 6mph it might ridge. Might not. You'll have to see if you can even pull it that fast.

You'll have to take the tractor out and figure it out.

At the same time you'll hopefully figure out how many passes it will take.

I can't tell you your ground speed with the sprayer. You'll have to figure that out on your own or give us additional detail on that setup such as mix, GPM and sprayer coverage

For field efficiency in the above formula figure 65-70% for inexperienced operator. And that may be generous considering drive time between small plots.

Let me know if you have any more questions and good luck.

I have a 6' Woods Hvy Duty rotarycutter. Best RC I've ever seen.

Anyway... yes, I have an orange Kubota 60 hp M6040 and I have been food plotting for 11 years.

The reason why I was axing was to get other food plotters' opinions... as random as they may be.

I could come up with my own answers but I wanted "general" opinions from food plotters on Aldeer so I could go to a group of hunters without tractors and give them a general idea of how long it would take to disk 35 food plot acres over a course of 2500 acres. Everything would be an estimate. There are Aldeer members who have 5000 acres and 70 acres or 1200 acres and 15 or so acres. I am just looking for and educated guess from members that have done it on their property and if they have twice as many acres as I'm asking about, I'm assuming that they could take their time and cut it in half or calculate some figure given average percentages.

I would imagin that if a member has a 100 hp tractor with batwing disc, he would appreciate the difference and not offer an opinion. I'm sure there are some hunters here that are in the 50-70 range hp that could give an estimate. An estimate. It doesn't have to be exact as I'm holding no one accountable.

I don't have stumps in my food plots and conditions of weather, soil, rain, etc... should be considered on a "given year" and not drought nor flood.

If a 60 hp Kubota takes 15 mins longer per acre than a JD 60 hp, then an opinion would be... say... between 1 hr and 1 hr and 15 mins.

My acceptability of average hours range is very flexible.

But I'd rather my buddies hear the estimate from Aldeer members than me. Or just me. Oh, consider the tractor rider is of an experienced level and won't make a sharp right hand turn in hard soil and warp his disc.

But really, thanks for attempting to answer the best you can. I love this website and its people. Pretty much everyone is willing to help and I'm appreciative.

Just get on the tractor and go. Unless you're looking to get a new tractor or disc, you're stuck with what you got.

I don't have numbers for you, however , I can say if you have a 60 hp tractor you need a 8-10ft wheel disk with the amount you want to do. A drawbar pulled disk will do a much better and faster job than a 3 point. I have a JD 5205 4x4 ( 55 hp). I used to have a 10ft JD wheel disk. You could get some work done in a hurry and was a much better seed bed. I sold it because it was too wide to move through the woods from plot to plot. Would love to sneak up on a good 8ft.

You should have just widened your roads and I have just what you need. Today I acquired a snow plow. EVERYBODY needs a snow plow, especially for road clearing!

I now have what I need to widen roads, FD5 Fiat-Allis dozer. For my use I'd still just soon to have a 8ft disk.

If you just got the dozer you are about to take your land/wildlife management to a new level. After a while you will wonder how you did without one. I have a small JD. My #1 management tool hands down.

8ft is a good size and you can haul it a lot easier than a 10ft. I have an 8ft Athens and it's a really good disc

I have big plans.

I can bush hog 4 acres per hour, and disk about 2 acres an hour. That's a good deep disking.
I'd figure 10 hours bush hogging, to allow for some traveling time and field maintenance. Then about 16 to 18 hours disking.
Probably another 10 hours for planting and covering.
Roughly 40 hours total.

Tell you what, I'll bring my equipment and do it all for $2500 plus $1.00 per mile travel expense, one round trip. You furnish seed & fertilizer.

Thanks Outback! You said you can bushhog 4 acres an hour and disk 2 acres an hr... OK... if you will, what hp tractor are you on and what size rotory cutter and disc are you pulling? Thx. I can figure my travel time between food plots.

50hp tractor, 6' bush hog and 6' disk.
Those are averages, obviously if the fields are cab high in saplings or knee deep in mud, that could vary.

No freaking way, Outback.

I thought Outback's estimate on time was very "ambitious".

Generally speaking, Outbacks posts are nonsense. I think he likes to hear himself talk.
OP, do you have 2000 acres and 35 acres in food plots? Or is your post just a random question?

The 4 acres per hour was doubtful to me so I did a little test today. I bush hogged .9254 acres in 45 minutes. Measured the area with a gps. It was open pasture with a few trees to mow around. I was running at 1900 rpms in low 3rd gear. I was running around 4.5 mph. Fairly short grass that was mowed late last summer.
Never had to touch the throttle, never backed up and mower was always in the grass until last few passes. Conditions rarely get any better than this and don't really like to go any faster than that. So under excellent conditions my best would be about 1 1/4 acres per hour. 49 hp tractor with 6' mower on wide open pasture.
4 acres per hour with a 6' mower would win the gold at the tractor Olympics and could compete with a 15'batwing

To mow 4 acres per hour with a 6' bushhog, you have to mow at an average speed of 6-6.25mph. No way that's possible unless it's a manicured plantation. With 35 plots there would be stopping and turning involved.

Well I have to admit y'all surely put a lot more precise effort into the calculations. I've always guestimated the average acreage. And no, I don't have 35 acres of food plots. The most I've ever had was about 10 acres. But considering my obvious flaw in guessing acreage, it might have been only 5 acres. Now, if y'all will excuse me, I'll work on getting this foot out of my mouth.

It takes us about 4 days all out to plant 25 acres on our place in the fall and that with no mechanical failures which always seem to happen. That puts us at about 6.25 acres/day. At that rate you would need 6 days.

Interesting that you tested it so precisely. The question I had as I read it was why such low RPM? I will often run mine at 2200 and not go all the way to the recommended pto speed, but 1900 is gonna really slow down your Bush Hog speed. Does it hurt anything to go well below pto speed? That's a question I've wondered before.

I plant 10 plots over 700 acres, and depending on what kind of mood I'm in towards deer hunting when I do it, it can vary from 7 to 9 acres. What most people call an acre plot will actually run about .6 if you measure it, but I do have one 2 acre plot. My fields are much bigger; I only put part of them into deer plots. A .6 acre plot is usually more than the deer can eat back.

I Bush Hog in July and it's an easy days work; less than an 8 hour day. I spray them a couple weeks later and that goes faster; maybe 6 hours. If they have been sprayed, disking actually takes less time than the Bush hogging.

The actual planting will probably run 12 hours; takes a lot of time to mix the seed and fertilizer. I spend about as much time traveling between fields as working. Good luck figuring it out.

redline on my tractor is 2250 rpms and according to the chart in that gear at 2250 speed would be 5.5 mph. I just never run it over 2000 rpms and that's about 90% of max rpms. 2000 would be 4.95 mph and thats fast enough for me, I try to stay in the seat. I keep the blades sharp and have never had any problem cutting at 1900 to 2000 rpms. I have another tractor, a 1968 mf 165 that i've had for over 25 years, have never run it over 2000 rpms and it still runs great. It's beat to hades and back, hard to steer but it doesn't use a drop of oil and cranks every time. I'm sticking with what works for me.

Fact is, I never put much thought into my average acres per hour. Never really been a need to know that. But I got to figuring how long it takes me to cut one particular field that is supposedly 15 acres. (Landowner told me that about 20 years ago)
So that's how I pulled the 4 acres per hour out of my hat. I normally run 2200 to 2300 RPMs in B3 and it takes roughly 4 hours. I'm gonna defer to the majority opinion and say my original estimate was unrealistic. I guess that means our 15 acre field is evidently not 15 acres. However I'm certain that particular field is more than 8 acres, so it stands to reason that I'm obviously cutting more than 2 acres per hour. That being said, it still doesn't matter cause it still takes 4 hours to mow that field.

Only way to know acreage is to measure it if it makes any difference. I measure my plots because I do soil tests and like to put the actual amount of seed and fertilizer required. Not more or less according to guesstimation. As much as it costs to properly seed and fertize, I don't want to spend any more than I have to. I was an engineer in my earlier days and still tend to be a little technical and I've always been a cheapskate.
I've got a plot that the owner told me was 3 acres and it's actually measures 2 acres. Seems like nobody is very good at guessing acreage, that's why I measure

My son in law has accused me of over estimating acreage. I tend to plant and fertilize heavier than necessary because if there's any doubt, I'll round my guess up. If it looks like 1/2 acre, I'll plant for 1 acre.

I figured it too, your numbers are about right on, however, I don't think you allowed for turning. That 6mph+ would have to be in a straight line, continuous , not slowing for turns. And then we get to disking at 6+ with no turning also.
The only operation you can make good time on is seed/fertilizer distribution. I can rock and roll spreading.

That was a might harsh.

Dang your tractor redlines at 2250? That's mighty low

540 rpms at the pto is at 2250 engine rpms. Tractor is a 4 yr old mf 2615. I really like it. 43 pto hp, easy to drive, great food plot tractor. Runs all day on about 5 gals of diesel. I bought it new. Replaced a mf 165 that I still have, that has a gazillion hours on it and is still going strong. The 165 has 53 pto hp and only burns about a gallon or so fuel/hr under a full load. It made me a massey ferguson fan for life

I bet he's got some stories. Lol.

How does everyone measure the acreage of their plots? I found something called Daft Logic Area Calculator that I used one time to measure area using Google Maps. Not sure how accurate it was.

Most accurate way I've found is with a handheld gps unit and just ride around the perimeter of the plot using the area calculation mode

That's the best way. I use acme.com/planimeter. Can draw around the plots and get pretty dang close. Close enough for what we are doing. And can do it all from my recliner.

I've checked against my laser rangefinder and found it very accurate. It's surely good enough for things like planning deer plots.

A while. You will either love it or hate it. I could plow and plant all day everyday but I have to go to work.

On the bush hoggin your tractor throttle should be set at whatever RPM gives 540 at the PTO (if that is the gearbox speed and not 1k) and leave it there. It doesn't hurt anything to run it slower but the blade tip speed isn't what it is designed to be. Thus... you have to go slower to get a good cut.

So if you are cutting slower than around 4mph (3.5-4.5) with the utility tractor type setup we are discussing here you need to check it out, get the RPM up sharpen the blades, etc. And if all that fails and you are worried about it you need to go down a foot in width.

All that matters if you are burning gas an paying someone to run it. In that scenario you can also run too small of a cutter. However, If you are just enjoying the sunshine all that is out the window. Doesn't matter if you are going 1.5mph.

Google Earth (not Maps) will give you the area of a polygon that you draw. A much simpler estimation is simply using the scale found on google Maps. Granted, the estimation using maps has to make some allowances for irregular shaped fields. I estimated our clubs plots and compared them to a guy who calculated them so he could give us a quote on planting. I was off by less than an acre and we're talking 40 plots covering 33 acres, so I guess you can safely say that the estimations are 95% accurate, give or take a little.

Under further review, it's 540 pto rpms at 1800 engine rpms. At 2250 it's 680 pto rpms. It's around 4.5 mph at 1800 rpms, it's all good.