well I have been using my honda 400 foreman for 13 yrs now to build food plots
I have done small one's and up to 2+ acres with just the atv
AT my hunting camp we have done the same and have bought a bunch of atv implements
first off, a ATV is NOT a tractor, so t takes a LOT more time to prep a site with just an atv
the heavier the disc the better it will work, same goes for how big the disc are, bigger blades work better and take less passes to work the soil into a good base
BUT bigger heavier the disc, the harder your atv will be working
best suggestions I have is start all food plots early just after winter as the ground is just thawing out, it is the softest it will be
and then keep turning it over every couple weeks if you can till planting time
will make life a lot easier, and be a one pass deal come planting time
as for things to buy
well, if your on a tight budget, as made for ATv things are not cheap!!
you can look for older farm Harrows, and just remove a section
I will try to take a pic'c next time I am at the farm of what I use and did
BUt I found a 3 piece(about 10 foot wide) pull type harrow off a local farmer for 50 bucks
took it apart into one small section, and one (two parts) bigger/wider section
and drag it with my ATV
the smaller section gets used 99% of the time, its about as wide as the ATV, and it will dig into the ground about 4-5 inches , with pending how hard the ground is, one or 10 passes, all depends on how hard the ground is! or rocky it is!
the deeper it gets into the ground, the more restance it has, the harder the ATV has to work, even on small plots
change your oil a lot and use GOOD oil in the ATV, will help a lot on temps, and over heating! and use low range and go slow
if you want to buy a ATV designed tool
get a Tuffline or other WELL build heavy disc that you can adjust, and has slotted blades on it
they cut the best
a good one will weight 300+ lbs or more
and well again, they do work the ATV hard, but smaller one take forever to do the same wok, if at all, many just don't weight enougn to sink into the ground and just ride on top, being useless, and waste of money, so buyer beware!
if your good with making things, odds are you can find a old farm pul type disc, and again take a section off and make your own, for a lot less
a good ATV disc is about 700-1,000 bucks
a cheap old farm one can be had for about 250 bucks and has a crap load of extra blades if ever needed
but will make you work to make it!
next thing to buy for an ATV
is a good sprayer
them 15-20 gallon one's that mount on the racks work OK, BUT again, you get what you pay for
they will be fine for plots up to an acre
but a bigger sprayer you tow, comes in handy, and can be pulled most places an ATV can get to
I personally have a 45 gallon one, paid like I think 500 bucks for it, and can do non stop an acre or more at a time
only has a 5 ft boom, so I end up over lapping a lot to make sure I don't miss things
bigger the boom the better
the sprayless booms work OK, but miss a lot more, and really suck on windy days over one with a boom
and trust me, never fails days you wnat to spray its always windy!
advantage of a bigger sprayer is not having to make trips to re fill a BIG time saver
I learned to get some 55 gallon drums and fill with water, and keep in my truck , makes re fills on a tank a ton faster than filling up with a hose at remote places
Most chemical places will give you them for free too, just make sure you know what was in it first
lots of liquid fertilizer one's in my area, so they don't hurt anything I spray! other chemicals can kill or leave behind things that won't let things grow for a LONG time, so watch that
but a sprayer is almost a must have, between/ for round up, and keeping weeds in check
this food plots stuff is adicting, just like trail camera's
once you get started and see how well they work, you will be hooked
so might be better to get better stuff from the start?? lol
good thing is many guys start every yr so used things sell pretty good
next thing to look for is a mower, if you do any larger plots, and want to keep them looking good, there almost a must have
its one of them things, that you have to such up the costs up front
a good food plots can cost a bunch to make, letting weeds take over and re doing gets pricy fast and one or two re planting is more than a mower costs
so they pay for themselves fast, but you can get by without, with a weedeater and a lot of sweat
or again spraying weed killers as they come up
and they will come up!
a bag seed broadcaster is alos a must have
and trust me, a hand operated one is the way to go unless your doing more than 2 acres at a time
as seeds are NOT cheap, and you do not want to be wasting them on a electric spreader that mounts on an ATv , as bumps cause extra to spill out
and a tow behing broadcaster is also a much have, for adding fertilizer, but again, a bag spreader can get you by, just a LOT more work
just be sure to wash out after spreading fertilizer or lime, as that stull will rott out the gear fast, take care of it and it will last a long time, both my spreaders are a good 10+ yrs old
up my hunting camp, where folks are lazy, they go bad every 2-3 yrs!
Lime is a problem these days, almost every planting needs it, and pelletized lime isn't cheap at all
BUt pulverized lime is a bitch to spread without specialized spreaders
you can again get by with a push drop lime spreader,but most only hold , and work with about 40 lbs at a time
most new food plost need about a 1200 lbs of lime per acre and many will need a LOT more
so you see lime is the hardest to spread cheap, unless you can buy in bulk, and have it spread in bulk, they its a LOT cheaper, about 50 bucks a ton, as to about a 120 a ton for pulverized by the bag, and about double that for pelletized lime you can spread in a broadcast spreader??
so lime is needed and hard to get down
best time to be adding lime is more or less is right now, so it leaches into the soil, and then more as you prep the site
and trust me, best advice I can give you is do a soil test and prep soil to what it calls for, not doing so is just wasting money and a lot of hard work!
and there only 10 bucks!
and lime is one of the least understood parts of plantings
lime actually has to touch every part of the soil to lower PH, so it needs to be blended in best as possible, and it takes TIME to actually work
so more time and more you work it in the better!
so, sorry about being long, but just trying to help
been doing food plots for about 20 yrs now, so I have for sure learned a lot the hard way, and willing to help take that out for new guys if I can help
feel free to ask me anything, glad to help if I can!