cole -v- covington

[John J]

I hope I am not reprodicing a thread here. I'm trying to decide on a combo of Cole planters or a Covington planter pluss. I've got some pretty stone soil, I don't have a single rock on my soil, they're all married with children. So I've ruled out the Jang. I've ruled out the 71--for lack of a fert. hopper. I want to have the largest possable selection of seed size so I've come to the following cross roads; the Covington TP-46 with Cotton Dropping attachment and Veg. Drill attachment or the Cole 12MX and the Cole planter Jr. Either way it's about the same price best as I can tell.

I like the Cole set up because it "floats"; I don't think that Covington does that. It also has covers for both the seed hopper and the fert. hopper. Our weather up here is rather unpredictable and changeable. If you don't like it, wait five minutes. I like that both the hoppers are covered in case of a sudden rain. What I don't like about the Cole is that I have to buy two separate units; the 12MX and the Jr., in order to plant form corn, pumpkins and beans to lettuce and arugula (not that I want to plant arugula, but hay, just as an example). And the Jr. does not have a fert. hopper. So I have to add a fert. hopper or fertilize separately.

I like the Covington because it's an all in one deal (more or less). Kinda like printer, fax, scanner. That's about it. I get the Covington with the cotton dropper and the veg. drill and I can plant an extremely broad range of seed with one unit. Also, I can fertilize top to bottom. No need to add a fert. hopper or fertilize separately for smaller seeds.

I just can't make up my mind. Any comments would be appreciated. Are there alternatives?

 

[remington270]

I can't comment on the cole, but my Covington planter has been very effective at planting everything I have wanted. In my area (Alabama), several of the home owned tractor implement suppliers carry all the replacement parts for the Covington. My unit is new, but I know down the road I will be able to find the parts I'll need. As for having your seed/fertilizer covered, this seems like a very easy thing to rig up as a home remedy. I'm not even that handy and I think I could figure out a way to cover these with some wood/plastic and a few screws.

 

[John J]

Thanks for replying. I appreciate it.

Yeah, the cover thing is minimal. I can jury rig something for that, no problem. I was just trying to list all the differences I could think of. More for my own sake I suppose. Writing it down seems to helps clarify things for me.

What kind of soil do you have? Mine's pretty good, a gravely clay loam. And by gravely I'm sure you understand that that means lots and lots of rocks. Lots of big and small rocks. There's rocks everywhere but it's not all that bad except in some patches where, after I till, there's literally nothing but rocks on the surface. You can see where the glacier dragged them down. It's almost like a stream of rocks running across the field. I've been advised that the Cole is better in my circumstances as it's more rugged. I think that that it "floats" is more to the point. It can just ride over the top of rocks, in theory at least. The Covington doesn't float, does it? How does your Covington deal with running into obstacles? Can it take the punishment without bending or braking?

 

[Taylortractornut]

I use a covington in my market gardening and I love it. I got it with my Yanmar I bought from dad. I plant every thing from okra to beans and yellow squash. I have some covers that I made from tin and some from canvas with a draw string. The key to any planter is a good clean up after use. Ill hoes it down and get all the fertilize out of the box and off the thumper. Then I remove the seed box and wash it out. Then we brush on waste oil or diesel. Ours is 14 years old now and other than some of the paint is off the cultivator frame its like its brand new.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I ment to ad that the covington does float as its hinged to to the cultivator frame.

 

[remington270]

The Covington has a leading metal point or v shaped plow that clears the way for the planting apparatus. Then the fertilizer drops on either side of the path. There are two nearly parallel plates that open a small slit into which the seed is placed. Then the rear wheel covers this opening.
The lead point I mentioned above may be problematic if you do have "immovable" obstacles. If its just small rocks and gravel, it may actually help clear a path for your crops.
My soil is in general clay, with very few rocks, so I don't have much first hand experience.

 

[John J]

Yeah, I was kinda afraid of that. Those legs or tubes that the shovel is attached to don't look all that sturdy. What are they made of, sheet metal? When I'm plowing or tilling if I see any big rocks I stop and put them in the bucket. There's to many of them to stop every time I see something. I just stop for the big ones. But once I'm down I'll pick up a few of the small ones while I'm there. Sometimes I reach down to pick up a small one and it's the tip of a 30 lb. ice burg. So some of those "little ones" out there might not be so little. Running into them at any kind of speed is gong to bend those tubes, isn't it? Cole is looking better and better. But then I'll need the Jr. and a fert. hopper. And as long as I need a fert. hopper maybe the Yetter-71 is looking like a good choice after all. Hmm .....

 

[Taylortractornut]

On mine the shovel for the fertilizer is held on by a 1 1/8th square bar and the fertilizer tubes clamp to that. It can take a good lick. i plant in some pretty rough new ground every once in a while on food plots. On these Ill fertilize either with a whirly bird or drop spreader. I leave my tubes and the furrow plow off and use the disc openers as a no till planter. I dont have myny stones in the ground here but the few sand stone I hit are pretty big. Look around and see what others use in your area and how they like them.

 

[John J]

Most people around here use Deere 71's or the like or they've gone to vacuum seeders. Mostly corn and grain. Single crop mostly. and of course haylage It's primary dairy country. I don't know of anyone who's growing produce on a large scale. But that's a good point. I should ask around.

OK then on the construction of the Covington. You've relieved some of my concerns.

 

[John J]

I've neglected to mention that we have a whole lot of potato farmers up this way too. But that's irrelevant for the purposes of this discussion.

 

[dougg]

I have the Cole Multiflex. The disc opener is better for trashy or rocky soil than the point on the Covington. It just rolls over obstacles. I've been impressed with the emergence I get with it. But it won't plant the small stuff.

 

[John J]

dougg, thanks for the reply.

Yeah, what your saying is my impression as well. Though I've never had my hands on either. The Cole looks like it'll just roll over everything. The shovel on the front of the Covington apparently just pushes stuff out of the way as it's making a little furrow for the fertilizer. If it's pushable. If not, what then? My guess is, damaged implement. For my soil conditions I think that I'm going to have to rule out the Covington. Which is really a shame. I was strongly leaning towards the Covington because it seems to have the ability to plant the widest selection of seed sizes. Now if I want to plant both small and large seed I'll need two different planters. Bummer.

 

[Redbug]

Hi John,

I asked the same question in one of the other forums I frequent, also. That may help you, too.

Here's a link.
Cole Multiflex vs Covington Planter...

Also, there's some pretty good videos in that link. When you go to the video link, scroll down and near the bottom are the planter videos.

And maybe I will see you on those forums over there, too!

 

[John J]

Thanks a lot Redbug, I appreciate that.

I've seen the sit and it did significantly move me in the direction of the Covington camp. Although I'd actually forgotten about it. On that sit, Donald, thebayorgardner, site manager, made an interesting comment; that the Covington worked better when he removed the cultivators and-- more significantly--the entire fertilizer unit including the shovel and two arms that the shovel is attached to and that distributes the fertilizer. This is important to me as the shovel and tubes do not seem to float and this is disadvantages in my circumstances and ruled out the Covington for me. Simply removing them (and the fert. hopper), which I had forgotten about, thanks for reminding me, makes the Covington more practical in my circumstances now. Earlier in this thread someone said that the seeder/planter component of Covington floated. I have not confirmed this yet, but presuming this to be correct, and a floating seeder/planter is essential in my circumstances, Covington has moved up significantly in my estimation.

[Sorry for the stream of consciousness. I'm just thinking out digitally.]

OK, I thought I'd posted earlier a comment on my looking into "local usage". Apparently I didn't hit submit. Long story short, the only guy I can find who has any knowledge of either has a 4 row Cole. He doesn't like it and doesn't use it. Specifically because of the shoe/foot. Too fidgety and tends to clog things up to much in his estimation. He prefers disks. The Covington has disks. Bingo. Covington seems to fit the bill. A floating seeder with disks.

Drawback. Why should I pay full price for a piece of equipment that I'm going to strip in half in order to use? Well, maybe because that's my only option. Hmm .... I think I'm going to contact Covington and see if they'll sell me just the seeder component minus the fert. stuff. They do, after all, sell the fertilizer component separately, PT-6A. I'm guessing, probably not. But it doesn't hurt to ask. If not, used market might be worth looking into at this point.

 

[Redbug]

I also lean more toward the disk type...Covington...because they would tend to not clog up as much as a foot would do. I guess no matter which one you get, I think you would learn the ins and outs of making it work under different conditions.

What part of the country do you live and what's the soil like, John? Where I live it's fairly sandy.

 

[John J]

Again with the not hitting submit. Sorry, thought I'd gotten back to you on this earlier.

I'm in the Southern Tier of Western NY. North-East Allegany Count. My soil pH is 6.1. Very unusual around hear. We mostly have very acidic soil. Although there's a section west of me that has predominantly sweet soil. Tilth is moderate which is average to above average. Fertility is poor which is average. And I have rocks and stones in superabundance, which is average. The saying around here is that Allegany County soil doesn't have a single rock in it. They're all married with children.

 

[John J]

OK, I contacted Covington last week asking them if they sold the planter without the fertilizer components. They just got back to me today and said that they did. So it really doesn't hurt to ask. And some times it helps. I've e-mailed them back asking them how to go about ordering one that way, special order or something, as I don't see it advertised that way. I'll keep you posted as more information becomes available.