For those that have/use a cultipacker.....are the toothed wheels or the smooth wheels better in sandy soils?

I'm about to pull the trigger on this purchase (16" toothed wheel version), but could save about $500 going with a 15" smooth wheel version.

I would go with the teeth.

I would save the money - the other one has ridges on the wheel and will do what the teeth will - just more of it. I run a cultipacker to pack - with teeth, less packing as there is less surface area. You could always "tooth" it later........only thing I would be concerned about is weight - toothed one appears heavier duty only from photos

Looking at specs - wheels are bigger and unit does weigh 200 pounds more on notched teeth - changed my mind after examining specs - would go with notched with bigger wheels and more weight

Just go with the CP1696.........save you time

Thanks for info.

The 8' would save time but costs $1000 more.

Several of my food plots are shooting lane-type setups that are only about 30' to 50' wide...but are 150yds to 200+ yds long. With a foot sticking out on each side of my New Holland....I'd tear something up..lol.

Yeah...the 16" version weighs 1083 lbs.

The 15" version weighs 800+ lbs.

With no easy way to add weight (without building/welding a weight carrier) to this design, the heavier 16" version is the best choice.

Im trying to imagine what I would use it for...

I rototill mine, spread seed, till mine again - just the top coat, spread seed again, and then I just run back and forth on the tractor until I have wheel tracks over top of everything. I imagine thats what you do with this right? Maybe it makes more sense for me b/c my plots are more in strips so its easy to run over it all.

I kinda like having the tiller on the back of the tractor and then just hooking and unhooking the pull behind spreader from behind the tiller. Double doer.

I bought an old JD drill I often use as a cultipacker. Has 2 seed boxes so I can seed clovers and grains at same time, makes slits, then cover soil with drag chains..........Mine is old and not really a no till with single disk openers, but I run it through sod after rains all the time. Light enough that I can pull it easily with Ford 3000 and uses no hydraulics. You might look at little drills with press wheels also first.....

I roto-till also or disk harrow with drag to smooth....B4 broadcasting seed.

I have almost 10 acres in about a dozen plots. Too much time to drive over it with a tractor. Im trying to increase seed germination and reduce time spent to get that good germination. Plus, I need better seed-soil contact and hopefully conserve moisture by the packing. I lose a lot of seed if I dont get a good rain quickly after planting. Sometimes 30% to 40% of the seed is left lying in dry, unpacked, sun-baked dirt or exposed.

I've covered seed about every way imaginable......lightly disk in, drag in...with disk drag, chain link fence drag, 6" post drag, tire drag, etc.

Id love to have a 6' drill with 3pt hitch.....but.....that's more $$!

No-till drills are WAY outta my price range.....

The modified cut-down drills might be doable...$$

If you rototill the ground should be pretty soft, I would think the smooth would be enough...all the old cultipackers here were smooth and pull type/

with a pull type you should be able to seed and cultipack in one trip.

My concern is that the smooth wheels may push/pull this very sandy soil instead of rolling over it and packing it down.

I do know that a 6" or 9" toothed wheel cultipacker will NOT work in this sand...it'll just pull thru the sand without the wheels turning.

I just sold a 4' Firminator (with the 6" cultipacker) due to this problem. It was useless here.

Another thing is...with the pull type....I can't turn around at the ends of many of my plots.

Mr. Swamp, I run a 8’ cultipacker for all my plots. I disc larger seeds in (sunflower, buckwheat, peas) and the pack overtop. For my cereal grains, brassicas and clovers, I disc, pack, seed and then repack. It has made a huge difference in my opinion. ESPECIALLY for the small seeds.

I went with the wheels with the teeth. From my reading up on it, it’s supposed to leave specific channels for better soul moisture after rains, etc., etc., etc. A simple Google search should give you some insight.

My soil has a tendency to be pretty rich and it does a great job. For Sandy soil, it should be the ticket.

Thank you sir!

Good info. Your food plot process is what Im about to transition to.

I've Googled the heck out of cultipackers the past few days...b4 I drop this much coin....lol

Figured T-man folks would have some extra insight.

I rednecked mine.
I used a scrap of plastic culvert pipe, which has is corrugated to make rings like the ridges on a proper cltipacker. I put a piece of 2" pvc through the center of it, with something (I forget what) to hold the 2" pvc centered. Then poured quickcrete in it. The pvc left a hole though the center of it to put a steel pipe through it as an axle.
I don't use it much, but when I do I pull it behind the ATV. It hasn't broke yet. The PVC is stll intact, but I figure it will wear away eventually.

For how little I use it on small food plots I think this might last pretty well. And since it looks like junk there's 0 risk of theft.

Swamp. if your tilling deep I can see you might have problems, but with sand you shouldn't have to, just tickle the top and any cultipacker should work, I hear you on the turns, you need room for a pull behind...

That said, wonder if the toothed cultipacker can substitute for the rototiller if your ground is that soft...??

The plots located along the sand ridge on my place are similar to dry beach sand (once disked or roto-tilled.) It’s common to find shark teeth, shell pieces, petrified oysters, etc in the river on one side of the property. So, this is an ancient sand dune/sand bar. But, this sandy dirt packs well after rains. It'll grow food plots, but nutrient leach thru it rapidly, so its rather expensive to manage.

When you pull soil samples, make sure the lab reports % base saturation numbers. Try to get your Mg % up to 12% or so and Ca+Mg to 75%. The higher Mg level will help to "tighten" the soil and slow the rate of infiltration. Just the opposite of adding Gypsum to heavy clay soils so the Ca can help loosen the soil. You'll also want to add fertilizer, especially N in smaller more frequent applications.

For a soil lab I like Waters Labs and use their lab there in GA.