Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Tractor guys at clubs

I love those guys. They ain’t gonna kill nothing.

That’s an interesting idea (but the club should buy club owned equipment)

They’re probably just aggravated with some old dog that’s too stubborn to learn new tricks and insists on spending hours riding around in a cloud of dust when they could have been done two days ago

😂 that wasn’t a shot at you! I consider you a subject matter expert.

And, again, we prove the idea hunting club membership is 1.

We have a dead in the water tractor on one club right now. He broke it mowing roads that don't need mowing and for sure not on the first day of gun season. Now he's going to want us to pitch in to pay for his tractor riding hobby. He wants a mobile mechanic to come down in there right at the start of season. There's been some version of this in most every club I've been in. If you're going to object on the grounds of all tractor dudes, then you have to include those, too.

Been running two for the last two days and have several more ahead of me. It’s rough for sure, really wonder if the firminators are worth the money, hauling two tractors fuel etc to plant 3400 acres sucks.

My buddy was the tractor guy for three years at a club and he finally quit doing it as he got tired of being taken advantage of. Work days nobody would show up and he would run the tractor all day and then everyone bitches about the food plots a couple months later.

I have had a tractor since 2019, and while I did get a discount with the old guy running the club, since taking over, I get no discount. I have never had a single member as much as offer me a little cash for diesel. I have had a few complain about my planting during bow season.

I think I need to hang it up and buy a boat and fish.

They’re not. Sell them and buy a drill. 😁

I just sold mine because I got sick of trying to keep up planting multiple leases and get ready for bow season. Most of my tractor work is self inflicted and I stayed stressed about getting all the work done Sold it and will show up and do whatever I can to help but not going to stress about getting multiple places ready. Been doing it in at least 2 diffferent places for the last 10 years. No more gonna sit back relax and hunt


Not to mention the expense involved. When I wasn’t a weekend warrior it didn’t bother me but now only having Saturdays off it sucked trying to get it all done. Like I said I was my own worst enemy

I’m phasing out of doing tractor work fairly quickly. It’s not profitable at all once you factor in the equipment depreciation, repairs, maintenance, trailer tires and blowouts, insurance, etc. I have very few planting jobs and likely won’t take any more after this year.

So yall better appreciate the guys who donate their tractor and time. Otherwise, go get your own and do it. I promise you’ll view it differently.

My buddy and I each keep a tractor at the camp. My old Ford 3600 lives in the shed at the camp. We also have every 3pt implement we need for any maintenance or plot work. He and I do 99% of the tractor work. The other 1% would by my brother. Every once in a while I’ll bring my Kubota with the FEL if we need to get serious. We love working on our tractors in the woods. Heck I was raised on a tractor and enjoy it anywhere.

You still need a spreader for fertilizer. You could use a SXS with something like the Hooeyman spreader. Spread fertilizer first then run the Firminator over it. In my light textured soils I can plant one pass if the plots have been sprayed 3-4 weeks prior.

About 6-7 years ago I sold my tractor and all of the implements, because it was no longer worth the costs and time and if I am being honest, it pissed me off that I would work 100+ hours cutting the roads and clearing paths with very little personal benefit.

A guy called me one August to ask me, "Why did you sell your tractor - we used that for the food plots, roads, and trails?"
Me, "WE didn't use it, I or my son used it and it cost too much to maintain and we end up operating it for over 100-hours just to cut, disk, and plant and it was taking time away from our families."

Guy, "What are we going to do?"
Me, "We can use yours."

Guy, "I don't have one."
Me, "I don't either, maybe you and some of the other guys can bring your zero-turns to mow the roads, trails, and fields and we won't worry about the food plots."

lol sounds about the way I would have handled it too.

There’s always a guy that says “ I think we should do A, B, and C this year.” I tell them I think it’s a great idea! Get after it. They they say “I don’t have the equipment or the know how” and I say go buy the equipment and watch a YouTube video.

And then there’s the “I’ll help yall do whatever yall wana do” guy. Who stands and watches you figure stuff out and get it done. And then you see a post on Facebook… “Got a lot done at the camp today!” 🙄

Yep. No good deed goes unpunished

I’ve actually wondered if food plots are even necessary. I guess if you have kids that hunt and need a good shooting house to sit in they are. At our club most of the bucks we take are from hunting in the woods, not over food plots. I rarely hunt food plots, I like to get in deep and hunt the woods. Our club has a ton of deer on it and I’m pretty sure they don’t depend on the crappy food plots we planted to sustain their dietary needs. But, it seems it’s been so ingrained in our minds that we need big beautiful food plots that we spend mass amounts of money to plant them.

For years I wasn’t in a club and hunted some family property. Wasn’t a food plot to be seen, just hardwoods and hollers. Killed a pile of deer in those woods.

The only time I hunt plots is the very beginning of the season when I’m doe hunting for sausage meat or when is cold and a chance of rain. Other than that, I hunt woods, bottoms and clear cuts. If I wouldn’t enjoy the work of prepping and planting plots, I wouldn’t need them. But we have guys that will hunt them faithfully so we plant them every year.