Scott, I don't want to express a concrete opinion on either planter's metering system. They ALL have pluses and minuses which can be discussed much better by users in your area with similar conditions and requirements.

I do want to correct something above regarding fertilizer coulters:

On the JD1770NT 12R30 you CAN run the John Deere frame mounted liquid fertilizer coulters 2 x2 or thereabouts AND run our Dawn 1572 unit mounted coulter/row cleaner combination as long as you order the optional John Deere long parallel links. We have MANY of these out in the field. The most recent version of the JD single disk is much improved from the first one that came out on the early NT's.

A great combination for a variety of tillage systems is to run the JD single disc fertilizer coulter 2x2 on one side of the row, Our Dawn 1572 combo with centered, unit mounted coulter (usually our 16" diameter 13 wave or ripple blades), 12.75" swept back screw adjust row cleaners and one Curvetine closing wheel run on the OPPOSITE side of the seed row from the JD fertilizer coulter. Between the fert coulter, centered coulter and the vee opener, the soil is usually well loosened from the seed out one side. The Curvetine really eliminates sidewall compaction on the other undisturbed side of the seed slot. This setup works nicely in many conditions.

Our centered coulter can also be easily removed with one bolt for situations where you may not want to run the centered unit mounted blade. You can still run the Trashwheels.

The Kinze double frame 3600 models, especially where no pushers are used, does provide a good clean bar up in fromt to mount many fertilizer options. The Kinze HD original (=expensive) single disk fert coulter with the cast iron frame is a proven product. We also have a lot of customers running our 3004 off of the front frame bar with no integral row cleaner and then use the 1572 combo also on the row unit. This has more flexibility in the fert coulter spacing from the row than on the JD and is particularly useful when applying NH3 with the planter or dry from a trailed cart in addition to liquid.

Best of luck with your choice.

Jim at Dawn