# Repairing Feral Hog Damaged Meadows



## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Feral hog damage on our pastures and hay meadow is extensive. Since mid-November I've eliminated 80 from our ranch and the trail cameras are showing only a couple each night. These are trap weary and will need to be shot if I can pattern their arrival times.

I did a search on HayTalk and did not locate a blog that discusses tillage methods for repairing the rooting damage. Thought I remembered a discussion on this topic several years back. Am considering purchasing an 84" rotovator (rototiller) and attaching my 10' water-filled roller/packer behind the tiller in preparation for repairing this damage when the bermudagrass begins growing this spring. What are your suggestions for repairing feral hog damage?


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

I'm sure based in the damage I've seen, that you are planning on preparing a seedbed and plant vegetatively into it? Or are you talking light tillage and letting viable roots to resprig? We have discussed light tillage in the past for rough acres but I'm thinking more like a tillage, box blade and resprig, do you have pics of the damage? I'm sure it's extensive and sorry to hear of your problems....


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Is there enough capacity in the hood to carry sufficient soil forward to fill the ruts? I've had to go over some areas where customers rototilled but the machine was too small. The fields looked smooth enough at first but as the season wore on the fields became increasingly rough. The cultipacker behind a disk did a pretty good job. Maybe they just went to fast when using their tillers. A dairy Farmer several ridges over has a big Kuhn tiller. That machine makes a nice level seedbed. It has a bunch of room for dirt under that big shroud.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I agree with dawg on the use of a boxblade/landscape box. They are very handy because you can grab soil from one area and drag it to another area to fill in a very low spot. They are not expensive and are as handy as a pocket on a shirt. There are all kinds of manufacturers. The scarifers can be raised for field work or used to break up and re-level a rutted driveway etc.

After leveling the damaged area then you can use a light discing or renovation to get the ground ready for seeding/sprigging etc.

Regards, Mike


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## paoutdoorsman (Apr 23, 2016)

Out of curiosity, what type of trap are you using on feral hogs?


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

My first though is a disk with a timber drag behind it (we use a 6x8 timber, not a round log). That would seem to get the worst prep work done. After that you would probably have to look at the worst spots and decide how to address them.

A box blade is a great tool for leveling. I turn the top link out so the blade is not digging. Let the blade gather the high spots and filter in the low spots.

I can not imaging having to deal with hog damage. Best of luck.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

I was wondering how a boxblade/landscape box might work. Certainly cheaper than a rototiller...the reason for waiting for Coastal bermudagrsss green up is to allow resprigging without having to seed a common bermudagrass.

Hog rooting/digging leaves irregular circular spots with soil piled higher than level ground all around the hole. This means that a one direction pass will drag soil into the hole from the direction of travel and pull soil away from the hole on the sides and opposite end. One reason for considering a rototiller was the thought that it might bring soil into the hole from all sides if the hole is not too large in diameter.

I use several kinds of traps, all are either cattle/hog panel wire. Three are box traps. One of these has no actual frame except at the door that opens to the inside with top hinges. This is the weakest of my box traps, but it catches and holds. I think this type of trap door was made with the idea that hogs will willingly push up this door and go into the trap to eat the corn- hogs are not stupid enough to do this.

Two traps are made with pipe frame with panel wire welded onto the pipe. These traps have a heavy guillotine type of door. In these box traps, the trigger is made by welding two pieces of angle iron to form a tray that is welded onto each side of the trap. The actual tray may only be 12 inches long.. The ends are closed and fingers are welded on the top of each end. A bar attached to a cable that goes up out of the trap to the gate is placed under these fingers and when the trigger is set, the cable holds the gate in the up (open) position. When the hogs start eating the corn out of the tray, they push the bar from under the fingers and the gate falls. All box traps have panel wire welded across the bottom to keep hogs from lifting up the trap and escaping.

The best trap I use is a teardrop shaped pen made by tying cattle panel onto the inside of corral panel. Eight panels make a good sized trap. These panels pin together in a shape that comes together at a saloon gate made of 1-inch tubular steel with 1/4th inch thick steel plates on the inside bottom to keep the hogs from being able to pull them open. The two doors are set open pulling against heavy springs and a bar is placed between the doors to hold them open. The bar is wired to a trigger (baling wire) that leads from high on the doors to the back of the trap where the wire is about 10 inches off the ground. The trigger wire is run through holes drilled into decreasing height T-posts. Corn is fed from the doors to the back of the trap under the trigger. This type of trap needs to be tied down using T-posts, otherwise the hogs will lift up the panels and escape under them. This trap has caught entire sounders of feral hogs whereas the box traps catch 2-4 hogs at a time.

Google "feral hog traps" for more trap ideas...

Vincent


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Tim/South said:


> My first though is a disk with a timber drag behind it (we use a 6x8 timber, not a round log). That would seem to get the worst prep work done. After that you would probably have to look at the worst spots and decide how to address them.
> 
> A box blade is a great tool for leveling. I turn the top link out so the blade is not digging. Let the blade gather the high spots and filter in the low spots.
> 
> I can not imaging having to deal with hog damage. Best of luck.


After much thought, and research on rototillers which I have been told will do the job, I have decided to go cheap and try Tim's suggestion. A friend gave me a creosoted plank measuring 14 ft long x 16" front to back x 8" tall. I plan to chain this heavy plank behind my 14' wide disk harrow and set spacers on the hydraulic cylinder to limit the disk to run about 2" deep. The idea is to begin this operation when the uprooted surface soil is somewhat dry and a day or two before a good chance for rain. Disking will cut up the Coastal rhizomes and essentially resprig the damaged area. May need to repack the soil with a weighted roller soon after repairing each damaged area. If this doesn't work, I'll rent a rototiller and try it. May start this operation this weekend as predictions, for what they are worth, are for 5-6 consecutive days of >40% chances for rain.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I believe you will like the timber drag behind the disk.

One thing I did was drill holes through the timber and used eye bolts to attach the chains to the drag. I have seen chains or cable wrapped around the timber and that tends to tilt it up and does not build up enough soil to fill on the low places.

With the eye bolts you can lengthen or shorten the length to adjust the amount of build up.

I got my eye bolts from old utility poles.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

This past afternoon, I implanted two 1/2 x 3.5" Zinc-Plated Lag Thread Screw Eyes centered vertically 3' from each end of he plank and tied the ends of an 18 ft chain to each using quick links. If this doesn't hold, I'll bite the bullet and purchase two, half inch diameter x 18" lag bolts to put through the plank. They cost about $1 per inch length compared about $11 for the eye bolts and quick links. Hope I'm not being penny wise and time foolish on this...


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