# Roll chop or disc



## specag01 (May 12, 2005)

We are purchasing a piece of property that has three du compartments that has water but the grass is all grown up. Has not been disked in 3 years. We had a guy look at it that thinks he can shred it and disc a good portion of it. I was not there when he looked at it but assume he knows what's best.


My thoughts were to roll chop it and wait to disc next year when it's completely dry. I know very little about this but wanted to get some ideas from some of the people here who are working on there ponds. 

I am sure this is hard to answer without seeing just don't want to waste $$$ doing the wrong thing.

Ideas/ thoughts


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## chuck leaman (Jul 15, 2004)

We are spraying a lot of ours and then disking them. That will get rid of some of the non duck food **** you get when something is flooded or left un tended for a long time. You should drain it all the way and do this. Do you have a well to re flood them?


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## specag01 (May 12, 2005)

No, we get sheet flow from a large rice field that is not in production. Do you spray just identified problem weeds or treat it with something that kills only the bad stuff. 

Thanks for the reply


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## OnlyFish (Jan 18, 2012)

I would not disc what food you have there under... just keep it flooded and do a little roller chopping. next spring drain and disc, this will promote your good grasses such as barnyard, sprinkle top and other foods to grow all summer then flood and chop you an open spot to hunt.. keep it simple. good hunting


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## LightsOut (Sep 14, 2010)

If you have the equipment, discing and shedding just costs you diesel(so about $4/acre per trip)...spraying=chemical(roundup) l is about $10-12/acre By a ground rig or $18-$20/acre by airplane...

Just gotta figure out how much acreage you have verses how much time and money you want to put into it.


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## Brad Beaulieu (May 10, 2006)

What's growig in it now? Odds are you have some seed producing heads coming out already and just need open water to hunt. How long has it been flooded? You could very well have an established sub-aquatic habitat going that will feed the ducks fine. Draining that = you lose it. And with no sure way to refill it you're rolling the dice on having any water come Sept.
If you're owning the property, you'd be way ahead to learn what plants you have, their caloric value to waterfowl, and how and when to manipulate them. It would be worth a little money to have a waterfowl biologist come by and consult with you too. We've learned tons from our biologist and it keeps us on track throughout the year. Knowing not only what to do to the property but when to spray, disc, burn, etc. is also important. Since you've bought a DU project I'd tap into that resource as well. They'd probably be able to send someone your way.


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## chuck leaman (Jul 15, 2004)

specag01 said:


> No, we get sheet flow from a large rice field that is not in production. Do you spray just identified problem weeds or treat it with something that kills only the bad stuff.
> 
> Thanks for the reply


 We used Hancho Plus and treated the whole pond. Spray your dry areas and have them disked. You can also spray the areas that still have water. The good duck food plants cannot compete with the bad stuff. When you eliminate the bad stuff the good plants will take over. Most of our ponds that are in ag fields get disked every year and start growing good duck food within a few weeks of the water going in.


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## TeamJefe (Mar 20, 2007)

Chuck are you dissing now?


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

friend up w/yer neighbors...
be their best buddie...
always show up w/lotsa cold brews... 
!
works.


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## chuck leaman (Jul 15, 2004)

TeamJefe said:


> Chuck are you dissing now?


 Our big DU project was sprayed and disked before the food plots went in. The crop fields will be done closer to teal season after harvest. We have a new pond that will be sprayed then disked in the next couple weeks prior to flooding for teal season.


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## 3rdcst (Jun 16, 2009)

The object is to keep emergent growth.Late successional plants that grow in a pond that has been flooded for any length of time have little value as duck food .Burning is the best method for if there is enough litter to carry a fire. Discing would be next but requires the area to be dry .Spraying with Round-up (glysophate) is non-selective but in this environment the plants will be back as soon as the water is there. Chopping is good if you have desirable plants and don't want to nuke the ground


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## TeamJefe (Mar 20, 2007)

We burned in the late winter and disked some of our units. I am disking a few more units soon and will flood these before teal season. We pull a roller chopper through the flooded ponds to open up areas in the vegetation and to crimp vegetation down into the mud. It speeds up invertebrate production which ducks feed heavily on.

When I say roller chop I mean a rice stubble roller like this. Not the super heavy ones from south Texas. It pulls behind our 70hp Kubota just fine in a flooded pond.

http://allenmfgco.com/Rice-Stubble-Rollers.php


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## drake1 (Mar 7, 2007)

Here is the one I built for my ranger. Weighs in at 800lbs.


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## Brad Beaulieu (May 10, 2006)

How's that thing pulling? Looks like the drawbar and frame are a little light to be carrying 800. Do you fill it with water?


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## drake1 (Mar 7, 2007)

Beefed the frame up after 1st pull. Filled with concrete. 12" pipe 6' long. Teeth are 3"X6" and beveled. Pulls good and tears stuff up.


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## Brad Beaulieu (May 10, 2006)

drake1 said:


> Beefed the frame up after 1st pull. Filled with concrete. 12" pipe 6' long. Teeth are 3"X6" and beveled. Pulls good and tears stuff up.


Do ya'll just use on rice? I need one for the marsh. Cattail wraps up on some of them so bad it takes forever to cut it off.


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## MWP (Mar 30, 2005)

Brad Beaulieu said:


> Do ya'll just use on rice? I need one for the marsh. Cattail wraps up on some of them so bad it takes forever to cut it off.


I don't know if there is a good one for marsh. We used to use one of those down at 2 Bayous and that's just part of it.


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## Chuckwagon (Aug 30, 2006)

We shred for two years and then disc the third year. We spray a pre-emergent around the blinds and anywhere we want an open hole a couple of weeks before we flood.

I started discing this week.


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## TeamJefe (Mar 20, 2007)

Drake,

What did you use for the axle? I am thinking about building one for the ranger


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## wschorp (Jun 1, 2004)

*Roller*

If you want to do it the easy way, go buy a metal turf roller. Then weld 4 in angle iron as the blades. It is plenty heavy and does not need to be filled with water. Only weighs about 100 pounds so 1 person can manage it easily. I attached a picture of the second one I build for the duck lease. Over time the bearing will fail; just replace the shaft with steel stock and poly bushings.....



TeamJefe said:


> Drake,
> 
> What did you use for the axle? I am thinking about building one for the ranger


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## drake1 (Mar 7, 2007)

TeamJefe said:


> Drake,
> 
> What did you use for the axle? I am thinking about building one for the ranger


3/4" Bar stock through drum, used 1 1/4" coupling and inserted a brass bushing.
Staggered teeth worked better than solid teeth all the way across. Weight made a big difference on what it would lay down and keep down. Diameter was 12" .375 wall. Teeth were 3/8" thick. Used it in the water and on levees as well.


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## Law Dog (Jul 27, 2010)

Great idea, thanks for sharing.


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

It depends on what is growing in the project. It's important to know what you have got.

If it has turned to mostly perennial vegetation that has a low waterfowl value, such as Long Tom, then it's time for some extensive manipulation.

And that would be to disk it to powder. Preferably in the late spring/early summer but you can still do that now.

Harvested corn and soybean fields generate some of the best stands of moist soil plants you can find. Signal Grass, Sprangletop, Fall Panicum, Jackburr and Jungle Rice grow like crazy in them. And they are manipulated every spring for planting. So you want to replicate that kind of result.

Typically you will have 2 and maybe 3 years of good quality plant growth before you need to do it again.


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