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Coles County, Illinois | I think it was back in 2004 that I spent more time maintaining my foam marker than spraying. Wanting to save money, I bought the cheapest unit I could find and spent $1100 on a Teejet 220. It was accurate to about 3' most of the time but would have hour long fits of being 12' off. As I was spraying post emerge and using a 60' boom on 20' planter passes I could still see the marker trench. In 2010 It started requiring a reboot about once a day. In 2011 it lasted the first couple days of spraying with multiple reboots and finally quit for good. I now wish it wouldn't have lasted as long as it did. So for the 2012 season I bought a Raven Cruizer II. It cost me $1800 for one with a helix antenna. This unit paints the area that has already been sprayed. This is great for finishing up a field as you can tell which boom sections need to be on for that last pass. It's also supported by a company that keeps offering upgrades to the software to increase the unit's accuracy and functionality. Accuracy is usually in the 6"-8" range.
In the fall of 2012 I wanted to see what it was like in the tillage tractor. I soon realized I was a big time lapper and the Cruizer II could guide me better than I could by eye. Efficiency of tillage increased by 15%. However I was missing out of being able to look around. I've bought auto steer to keep the efficiency and spend the tractor time really concentrating on the job I'm doing and not driving.
It won't take too many "good decisions" to make this stuff pay.
Edited by Herbie56 1/8/2014 08:42
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Cost for simple gps?
