Cole planter questions

[BT73000]

I just bought a couple old cole planters from an auction this weekend. One is mounted on an a 3 pt. A frame cultivator. The cultivator and the planter both have Cole decals on them, and the cultivator frame looks to be originally painted white and the planter green. It came with a 32 hole pea and soybean plate and a 8 hole hybrid corn flat. My question is the corn plate that I have the correct one for planting sweet corn? The other planter I bought is a double seed hopper style that looks like it will mount to the A frame cult. the same as the one thats on it already. It has two 6 hole corn plates in it. Its missing its lid but seems to turn good. Questions about this one is, whats the deal with having two hoppers? Is one planter better that the other? Can you still buy odd parts like the lids and decals for these planters? Thanks

 

[keh]

The theory on having two plates was so the planter could be pulled faster by a tractor with out as much wear on the plate assembly as there would be with one plate. The green planter was the last horse drawn planter design, don't know the date, but I have one.

As to the spacing, put some corn in and pull it across hard ground and check the spacing. There are numerous combinations of sprockets that can be arranged to give different spacings. Sometimes the sprockets can merely be reversed.

Cole merged with Covington. A little Googling might find an address and phone number.

The green planter on the one row cultivator frame was popular with gardners for years. I have seen recently a Chinese copy of the green planter, so if you can find a dealer there might be parts avaliable.

BTW, aren't the plates the same in both planters?

KEH

 

[BT73000]

Ok. That makes sense. As for the plates, I think the ones in the double are smaller than the single.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Years ago back in the horse drawn days, farmers used to plant 2 items in the same row, corn and velvet beans was one that my father planted and this was another use of the 2 planter plates.

 

[BT73000]

Pardon my ignorance, but what are velvet peas? Are they for people or animals?

 

[Virginia Mike]

Yes, you can buy parts from Cole. The cultivator planter uses the same plates and spacing gears as the Cole 12 MX.
You can buy the lids, but they are $20 for a piece of plastic.
I don't know about part for the duplex planter.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The first planter/ cultivator is a good unit, many fetch pretty high prices on fleabay. Plates are still available from Covington, in GA, they will get you to a dealer, who sells their parts, if you go to their site. The second planter was made for international cub tractors, (and perhaps others), the thing about that double planter is, is that one side of the planter is the mirror image of the other, one side drives right, the other drives left, so you need a right hand seed plate, and a right hand seed plate. Otherwise, the plates are the same as would fit a Brinly-Hardy sleeve hitch planter, made for older garden tractors. Most of these plates are available, in RH drive (from Covington). I don't know how many are available, in LH drive.

 

[BT73000]

I'll have to double check, but I think this duplex unit I have, both seed plates turn the same direction.

 

[amo]

velvet beans grow on a vine an produce pods with 5-6 beans in each pod and cows would eat thjem and the stalks nof corn when matured and dryed,

 

[BT73000]

I checked mine and they both turn in the same direction.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Lots of good info.
First Cole did not merge with Covington. Covington in Albany GA purchased Cole in North Carolina as a whole (Name, Inventory, Pattens, etc.
Covington still makes Cole parts today but you have to go through a Covington Dealer to get parts.
In the first photo you have a Model 12 MX Multiflex Cole Planter made by Covington in GA.
The purpose for the Duplex Seed Hoppers is and has only been for increased ground speed (like planting by mule as opposed to tractor). Covington has made a Duplex Seed Hopper for as long as I can remember as well as Cole and others. It is true about the corn and velvet beans but that was not the reason for the Duplex Seed Hoppers, it just worked out that way.
As for the second Photo: That was the later (and last) design of the original Cole Duplex Seed Planter (High Speed Planter). The first design of the Duplex Planter (the Hopper was rounded in the corners and) the seed plates were smaller and yes they were left and right hand plates. Then Cole made the square (or cornered) Hopper and the plates were (and is the same size as today because the larger plates could even accept faster ground speed) Larger and that was known as the Cole High Speed Duplex Planter. Then the second edition to that was that both hoppers were right Hand rotation. Then later Cole made a Duplex Seed Plate which would work in any of the high speed planters (left or right hand rotation). The standard High Speed Plates (part numbers) had a prefix "X" for the right hand and a prefix "XL" for the left hand. If you had a single hopper you had to use the right hand ("X") plates. The duplex plates had a prefix "DX" on them.
Hope this help you with your planters and if you want or need seed plates I have 40 New (old stock) Cole plates of verious configuration (X,XL, & DX) that I will be selling next week.
Thank You
Wayne