Customer Reviews for Gilbert & Bennett 30 in. Horse Trough Floor Planter

CobraCo 30 in. Horse Trough Floor Planter - a Home Depot Seeds Program Review I have another CobraCo planter (24 in. Canterbury Horse Trough Steel Planter) and have been pretty happy with it. I had mounted it on the side of my shed under one of the windows but I wanted something a little larger and would free stand on the porch without being mounted. This Horse Trough Floor Planter seemed to be what I wanted. The planter was actually larger and deeper than I expected but its dimensions were as advertised. It just looks bigger but actually fits and looks quite good. The metal used seems to be well coated and I’ve seen no sign of rust. The planter comes with what looks like a coir (coconut husk) insert instead of peat or sphagnum. This should be easily replaceable and is a much more eco-friendly option. There were no assembly instructions and, while assembly wasn’t difficult, I needed to look at the product pictures on the website to see which direction the legs were supposed to be mounted. Once assembled the planter was stable and needed no “tweaking” to reduce wobble. I suspect that even if there were a slight wobble that it would go away when soil was added since the moist potting soil adds some considerable weight. The planter is very stable and would take considerable effort to knock it over. All of the joints look good and the metal is sufficient gauge to create a very sturdy planter. When filled this Horse Trough Floor planter looks very good. It’s pretty attractive without any decorative scrolls or swirling features. It is a rather plain style but it won’t clash with your outdoor décor or detract from the look of the plants in it. It holds plenty of plants and gives them room to grow. This is a very nice planter. It sits well on the porch without any wobble. The frame is sturdy and I’ve seen no sign of rust. The legs are wide enough to keep the planter from accidentally being knocked over. It’s an attractive planter with an eco-friendly coir insert. I was a little taken back by the lack of assembly documentation. This CobraCo Horse Trough Floor Planter is a good choice for any porch, deck or patio.

Great idea that has been poorly executed resulting in a mediocre product that simply makes unsuspecting customers angry. On the good side you have a fairly properly welded frame work (no bubble gum welds) that looks to have been dipped in plastisol for weather resistance and a pleasing appearance. The scrolled legs add a bit of upscale look to the planter but will need to be manually adjusted (bent) by hand to keep the planter from rocking. Thankfully the metal is not hardened so it does bend easily but it is strong enough to support approx. 20 lbs. of soil and plants. For the poorly thought out side there is no directions for assembly. IMO this assembly is a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most difficult. A simple sheet of paper showing which side the carriage bolts go in from would be huge. I would suspect the person buying this planter has never personally remolded their bathroom or put a roof on their house so a little guidance wound go a long way to keep the frustration level down. Hardware is loose in the box. Three wing nuts and three carriage bolts and the manufacturer could not put them in a plastic bag to keep them together. Needless to say one wing nut was missing and its metric. So, the hardware is M8 x 1.25 and a bag of 2 will cost you 60 cents at HD store. Wing nuts hit the side of the legs so you cannot turn the wing nut to tighten up the leg. So you end up bending the legs out for the wing nut to turn or you can put a spacer (larger I.D. nut) under the wing nut to give you clearance to be able to turn the wing nut and tighten up the leg. Silly. The coco liner is terrible, it is so thin in spots (see photo) it will never hold any type of soil. So here is why I gave this item 3 stars and not 1. With a little effort you can make this a very nice planter that will last a long time. Unfortunately I think the price is high for the condition the product arrives in and the effort involved in getting it corrected. I therefor do not recommend this product unless you are willing to pay a little extra and work around the shortcoming to get very attractive planter (in my opinion).

I was looking for a small to medium planter for my deck and I saw the CobraCo’s 30” Horse Trough Floor Planter, it caught my eye because of its unusual and fun looks. A horse trough and planter all in one. It arrived needing to be put together. The legs and the brace needed attached. I didn’t find any directions so I pulled up a picture from the Home Depot website for reference. The assembly was simple and straight forward. All the needed hardware was provided consisting of stainless steel nuts & bolts. The wing nuts are a little too big and rub when you tighten them down but I made it work. Even with that I was done in a breeze. The Planter is nice and sturdy and it’s charming and attractive. The Planter has a 100% biodegradable coco liner and the legs have a shiny black wrought iron finish that also feels rubbery. The coco liner holds the dirt in place and when watered, the extra water runs through it so you wouldn’t want to put the planter inside. The Horse Trough Planter is a very nice size being 30” long and not quite 14“high, knee high. The width is also nice at 12.5”. It weighs just under 10 pounds. The Planter holds up to 6 quarts. You could plant 3 large plants or 4-6 smaller plants with all the room. One of the drawbacks to this trough is how shallow it is, so be sure to keep that in mind when picking out plants. I took a quick run to my local Home Depot and picked 4 large and small plants and some potting soil. The plants I picked were all sun loving plants. I took them out of their plastic pots and placed then in the coco liner and filled the potting soil in around them. It took more soil than I expected because there is lots of room in this 30 inch trough planter. The CobraCo 30-Inch Horse Trough Floor Planter is a beautiful addition to any porch, patio or deck. It looks great on my deck. I am loving this trough planter and I am completely satisfied with it. I recommend it highly.

This planter is 30" long. It is made with very strong metal. I like the shiny protective coating that is applied . The planter comes with a set of scrolled legs and a center support. Assembly is very easy and all you need is a pliers. The coco liner is biodegradable and Home Depot sells replacement liners. I also like that it stands 13 3/4 " high. and it accommodates several plants which can hang down without touching the floor.

Beautiful Design. Very well made and very sturdy. The coco lining is a real plus. Not only is it biodegradable it also holds the dirt in place and lets excess water seep through. Whatever amount of dirt you use in it will be dispersed evenly along the length of the planter. We plan on using it for succulents outdoors. The black gloss finish metal and the stainless steel bolts that hold it together are waterproof and rustproof. Very easy to assemble.

The basket came without instructions to assemble; it looks like it was a returned purchase.

This is a very attractive off the ground planter but I was a little disappointed when I assembled it. The attaching wing nuts didn't have room to turn between the legs so I had to get some regular hex nuts. Once I did that everything was fine. It is very attractive and holds a lot of flowers and/or plants. The black finish looks like it will hold up well. And the coco liners are replaceable. These planters really are nice I was just a little dissatisfied with what should have been an easy assembly process

This CobraCo Horse Trough Floor Planter will be an attractive, eye-catching addition to my patio.   Initially, I planned to fill it with some trailing plants.  However,  since it is only 14" tall, I realized that the plants would be hitting the patio cement as they grew longer.  So, my plan now is to go shopping tomorrow for succulents in different colors and varieties.  I think the plants will look great with the beautiful black metal finish and the complimentary scrolled legs of the planter.  The planter came with the coco liner that is 100% biodegadeable.   Often times with planters of this type,  the liner is a separate purchase, so it is a big plus that it is included.  The planter weighs 9.25 lbs and holds 6 qts of soil, so I am expecting it to be very sturdy and stable when planting is complete.   Being that it's 30" wide, it will hold a lot of succulents and they will still have room to grow and fill in the empty spaces.   This CobraCo planter is very a well-made, sturdy and uniquely attractive planter !

I have to agree with the rest of the bad reviews on this one. NO instructions, or even a simple picture on the bar code tag, or on the box to compare it to so you can build it. I had to look it up on the HomeDepot website to see what it was suppose to look like. Pretty simple design, so its not hard to put together, IF the hardware fit together correctly. I also had the same problem as the others, where the wing nut could not tighten the legs on enough for it to be stable and not rock or wobble. Good thing I save EVERY nut, bolt, and screw, from other projects in a mayo jar in my shop or I would of gotten frustrated with this items assembly. I was able to add a 1/4 inch thick nut with a slightly oversize hole to fit under the wing nut so it could tighten the carriage bolt and stabilize the legs. The additional nut took up just enough space so the wing nut could tighten all the way down without the legs getting in the way and preventing a tight fit. Rubber washers could of also been supplied to help grip the carriage bolt better to prevent wobble. Too bad I did not have any on hand to fit. Also, the coco liner was so thin I could see through it in spots, and it was poorly made, coming apart in one area. It will not be able to hold sandy soil at all because it will go right through the liner, or hold ANY other soil very long without disintegrating. Nice planter, but a little expensive for such a bad design, cheaply made liner, poorly fitting hardware, and lack of instructions. I gave it three stars only because it was pretty.

This thing is poorly made. It comes with no assembly instructions, not even a picture or a drawing! I was able to figure out how it was supposed to go together from looking at the photo on the Home Depot product page but unfortunately the product was so poorly manufactured that the legs are too close together which meant that the winguts wouldn't fit between the legs well enough to be tightened properly. I resorted to a set of meaty pliers to force them and in so doing scraped the paint off the legs and the skin off my fingers. If I had had any handy I would have substituted regular nuts for the wingnuts. Thanks to the scraped-off paint I expect that the legs will rust in short order. The coco liner that came with my unit was torn up. Parts of it are so thin that there's no way dirt will not fall through. After assembly the unit's legs are not held solidly in place and thanks to the design it is impossible to fix that unless you have a welder and some scrap metal.

While I give this product a poor rating, I opted to make it work for my purposes. I bought 2 and on one of them, some of the hardware was missing. On both of them, some of the hardware that did make it didn't fit and my husband had to find something that did. Once they were put together, he stood them up and they both rocked and were very lopsided. He had to tweak and bend and adjust until they stood straight and still. I am using them for herbs .. had they been purchased for decorative use they would have been returned. The manufacturer really needs to rethink the hardware and make sure they stand properly or lower the price.