Plotmaster food plot pull-behind test

Implements/Attachments — By ATV Mag on April 7, 2006 at 12:00 pm

Plotmaster is a unique pull-behind ATV implement that makes possible the planting of a food plot in two swipes. Two swipes?! Well, not the whole plot, but a 48-inch-wide swath of it. The first pass plows and discs the land to break up the soil, the second plants the seed.

Sounds too good to be true, right? That is why we had to try the Plotmaster for ourselves. At our R&D test center located north of St. Cloud, Minn., we have several acres of unplanted farmland. This land would make a perfect test site because of its rocky makeup. Knowing that deer inhabit the area, and knowing the editors of our sister publication — Bowhunting World — would hunt the land come fall time, we immediately took to the field to plant a food plot.

The Plotmaster comes in two platforms, electric lift and manual lift. We tested the electric lift, and judging from our experience, it is worth the extra money. Even though the electric motor raises and lowers the deck slowly, it is still faster and much easier than doing the same by hand. And this makes on-the-fly adjustments possible.

For the first step, we loaded clover seed into the seed bin located on the back of the Plotmaster. A flip-top lid made loading easy and clean. The seed spreader has two adjustments to maintain the delivery of seed. The first is a flap near where the seed exits the hopper. The second adjustment lets the user determine the seed fall rate — via a five-position selector.

The Plotmaster does a great job of regulating seed delivery on smooth ground. When we rode over rough and rocky terrain, however, the unit bounced so much it made it harder to get a proper seed spread. Then again, any unit smaller than a full-blown tractor would run into such problems in rocks.

Up front, the disc has three blade angle settings. Just select how much you want to break up the soil and adjust the angle as such. The sturdy discs break up the topsoil — even in extreme conditions. As we mentioned, the soil at our R&D Center is rocky — big rocks, too. The discs chopped through the solid ground, even with rocks. Sure the unit wobbled around a little, but its hefty weight — Woods-N-Water recommends at least a 300cc engine to pull the unit — made sure the Plotmaster tracked in the soil.
Behind the discs are the plowing points that dig into the soil and weight the machine so the discs can properly break up the soil. Three different sized plow points are available, we had no problem switching between them.

To cover the planted seed, the Plotmaster comes with a cultipacker for smaller seeds, and a drag for larger seeds. We used the cultipacker for our clover seeds with great results. Whatever you choose, it is mounted on a 180-degree pivot point so it can swing away when not needed. Our small clover seeds needed a little extra down-pressure to pack in properly, the cultipacker is spring-loaded to facilitate this.

Woods-N-Water claims it takes around 45 minutes to break up an acre of land. Our experience found that to be true. After breaking up the soil, it took about 15 minutes to plant. If your land has thick grass or weed growth, you’ll need to cut it down before using the Plotmaster.

The platform unit comes complete with a disc harrow and attachments for a sweep plow, chisel plow, cultivator, electrical seeded, cultipacker and drag. The fun doesn’t stop there, however. The list includes 13 additional attachments and ranges from an aerator to a 15-gallon sprayer. If you need to do more than plant a plot on your land, chances are an attachment is available.

In all, the Plotmaster weighs 500 pounds, with seed we reckon it is around 750 pounds. It is heavy, and you should make sure your ATV is ready to do the work. Automatic CVT-type ATVs could burn a belt — make sure the ATV is in “low” gear!

The beautiful part of the Plotmaster is its ability to get way back where a tractor cannot. And this is where those big bucks roam! Deer like isolated spots. Before, if you wanted to plant seed on isolated land, it would take much more work. The Plotmaster simplifies the process. We see this unit as an essential addition to a hunting club’s arsenal, and equally important to the individual hunter.
Price for manual lift: $2,195; electric: $2,495. Attachments range between $145 and $895.