Looking for input on the most versatile planting equipment I can find. I am not a farmer looking to grow a specific crop. It will be mostly for food plot or dove field use but I would like to use it to plant an acre or two of corn and peas for a home garden. What's the most versatile planter for everything from millet to peas and corn? Is there such a thing?

Someone here has a Firminator. Is it capable of planting 15" or 30" row crops? I've looked at literature on lots of planting units and they really don't do a good job of stating their limitations. If I'm forking over a few thousand for a planter, I'd like one that can plant a wide variety of stuff. I'm open to suggestions.

In my opinion a no-till grain drill would be most versatile for variety of seeds and row spacing. However your budget of a few thousand will most likely not get one. I have seen a few used Tye drills for sale but that have looked to be rode hard and put up wet.

Rtp outdoors has a new grain drill out called the Genesis. I'd love to own one of their 5' models but my word they are expensive at about 12K.

Bush hog and disk. I have a tiller I loved when I had bottom land, but probably going to get rid of it now that I have rocky upland soil.

I'm not asking about cheapest equipment, just the most versatile. My few thousand comment was perhaps too vague. I've looked at products like the Firminator, Woods Food Plot Seeder, Frontier BD1307. I know what they sell for. I'm just not sure if they'll do everything I want or not. If I was just doing dove fields, food plots and no row crops, I'd probably just get the Firminator or Woods. But if I decide to do 5 acres of corn and peas, I'd like to be able to use the same planter. Is there such a thing? Is there a piece of machinery that will plant just about any seed regardless of size?

I really know very little about the firminator. But a few things to consider is its weight vs. your tractor weight and HP. Them things are heavy so I would think 4 WD for pulling and FEL for extra weight up front. Even with the extra weight don't believe it would work for me on my type of soil/cement. There are some on here that a firm believers in broadcasting. Even corn. If I remember it is Poor country preacher and 257WBY.

A Covington planter will plant a wide variety of seeds. The yeter planters will as well. Both have plates that are designed for specific seed types. I don't think the ferminator or other type seeders will do a complete job. They say they will but I don't believe it. You will need a good disc or tiller for ground prep. For the price of one of the seeders you could probably buy a whole outfit(disc/tiller, bottom plow, three point spreader, cultivator and planter} and have some money left over.

I took it as to mean he want to plant from clover/turnip all the way to butterbeans. Covington is not going to do the clover/rape/radish/turnips.

Hence the spreader.

Yep. I've already got a spreader. It's the row crops that I can't do with current equipment. Honestly, if I'm going to pay the amount of money that 2 row planters are selling for, I might as well but a 6-7ft unit that will do other stuff too. That's kind of what started this. It wouldn't hurt my feelings if I were able to do summer garden and winter food plots all with the same no-till machine. I'm just not sure what the best piece of machinery is.

But an honest answer to all this. This is why farmers have row planters and then grain drills. There is no one planter that plants them all correctly

That's what I was afraid of. I have the equipment to plant plots and grains but I'd like the option for no-till planting. That seems like an expensive proposition at this point.

If you have about 12k to spend I'd go with a Genesis no-till drill. They have the market cornered on a true 5' notill drill. Great Plains and Land Pride does not make a 5'notill. Their 5' version is a minimal till drill. RTP advertise their product will plant about any seed you care to plant. It's a nice little unit and seems to be user friendly. As 257 said there most likely would be some seeds that would not be planted accurately. I assume you aren't a commercial row crop farmer so how important is accuracy when planting for wildlife.

I'm going with a two row JD 7100 series planter set up for no-till and has the dry fertilize box addition that can purchased for 4K. This will take care of my need to plant large seeds such as beans, corn and chufa. I will continue to plant small seed as I have always done by broadcasting those.

I have a two row Covington that we use exactly like your talking about.
Works great. After prepping, put down seed and fert at same time.
Have diff plates that swap easily for diff seed.
Paid 1,000 for it and it came with a broke down one for spare parts.

I have a 6' Firminator and will be more than happy to answer any questions I can. I'm not an expert on planting, or even the Firminator. But I do really like the machine and will try to help.

Is it a "Do-All"? No. In all the sales brochures and sales pitches from the Firminator folks, they stress what the machine is not as much as what it is. They will tell you that it is not a drill and that it will not plant in one pass. They will tell you the number of passes depends on the seed bed condition when you start and the size of seed you're planting. They were very emphatic with this, saying they didn't want customers to be disappointed after buying.

Can you use it to plant corn and peas? Yes, I have used it to plant field corn and purple hull peas. There are slots in the bottom of the seed hopper. I used duct tape to mask off every slot except the center and two outside slots. I can't tell you the slot spacing from memory, but will be happy to look. I also plant with a 2-row Covington. I can't tell you one stand was any better than the other.

The Firminator is heavily built. Add a couple of hundres pounds of seeds and it is a load. The tractor I use is a cabbed, 4WD Kubota L5740 with a loader. This tractor will use it fine, but I wouldn't go smaller for a 6' unit. The front end get's really light at times.

If there are any other questions, I'll try to answer. If not, I can provide you with the contact info. of the guy I bought from. I'm sure he can answer better than I.

Thanks turkey. That's what I wanted to know. I know it's not a one pass machine. I wasn't sure if it was capable of row planting or not. I will also check out the machine Squeaky referenced. It sounds like the Firminator would be a tad more economical but it definitely requires some ground prep. Thanks for the info.

For small scale applications, Covington is hard to beat and parts are everywhere. Probably get a used one for $500-600.

Covington's are great example's of engineering from the 40's and 50's. And, you can dress with fertilizer as you plant if you're row cropping. When I bought, I had the choice of a rebuilt 2 row or a new single row. I wish I had gone with the single row. It takes a while to get a Covington set correctly and that is only compounded by a second unit on the same cultivator. I usually end up getting someone to run the tractor while I walk beside to get it adjusted.

I have been wanting to attempt a one unit does all piece of planting equipment and have settled on converting an older green or red 8'/10' conventional drill with double disc openers from pull type to 3pt hitch and use it no-til to plant beans, corn, and then fall plot mixes through the same fields. I have a more sandy, than loamy, soil so I feel confident I can get the planting depth required. May possibly follow behind the drill with my cultipacker to help with seed/soil contact in the rows. For the narrow spacing on the drill I think it would be easy enough to cover every other hole or two in a row.

Trying to conserve time, fuel, soil moisture, and money all in one piece of equipment is likely impossible but worth a shot. Already have a two row no-til plate type planter and it does well with large seed, but you can't plant fall plots with it obviously.

Got a used covington 2 row for 200.00 and a 2 row side dresser for 100.00. Have planted alot of corn and beans with it. Wish I had a no-till to save prep time, but for the price, guess I'll keep doing it like granddad did.

I got a jd 7300 4 row vacuum planter it's hell on some corn and beans at 5mph