JAnderson - 9/14/2025 11:45
GS2 - 9/12/2025 04:06
JAnderson - 9/11/2025 12:38
1666guy - 9/11/2025 06:44
GS2 - 9/11/2025 01:39
JAnderson - 9/7/2025 08:03
If they have the gm steering column just put topcons value line in them with an angle sensor mounted at the pivot point. They steer as good/better than a hydraulic valve. I’ll be running a special this week on them for big iron.
So, does that work with trimble?
Or is this another "just write a $15,000 check and rip out everything, learn a new system, teach everyone else the system, etc" things?
In short, yes.
Except it would be several systems for that $15k price tag and it’s very easy to run. Certainly easier to run than a 250 if you store your fields in it.
Yes which way? It works with older trimble systems or i would need an entire new system?
We got into autosteer with a tractor we recently bought at an auction. We didn't buy it for the autosteer, and it supposedly didn't work yet it does.
Perhaps in row crop country it makes financial sense to put a 5 figure number into auto steer but here when we talked to a salesman about it and went over the numbers it would take close to 20 years to make a system pay for itself, if it lasts that long. All we use it for is the AB lines while planting and spraying.
That's why I asked about an open center valve setup, as we have these two trimble systems, two motors, and if it could be in the $1,000 or so area per tractor for the valve, we could make that work. It wouldn't be super convenient moving the monitors around but at least the motors could stay where they are then.
It’s an entirely new system for 4 digits, no cross compatibility to other brands.
As far as taking 20 years to pay for just the auto steering portion I can somewhat believe that with the “5 figure systems”.
I’ll take it a step farther though, you hinted at your air seeders covering ~5k acres per year in another post. Let’s say you spend ~$30k all in setting up an air seeder to VR and also auto steer in the tractor. If you pick up 1bu/ac from the VR
(conservative numbers I’d say
) that’s an extra 5k bushels a year. That $30k setup is essentially paid for year one.
Thats a good ROI.
I doubt Variable Rate exists on 20-40 year old drills, and you're forgetting everything else that makes V.R. work, as in the yield monitoring, soil testing, the figuring for VR rates, adapting the drills to VR
), etc. A variable rate Cyclo 400 is a somewhat funny picture though.
Also, we hay or chop a lot of grain crops. As in at least a third of that on a good year, everything on a dry year. That's how one ends up at 20 years to pay off a system.
Autosteer hydraulic valves
