NE South Dakota Clark, SD | I know board member MX270 had been experimenting with his own autosteer system a few years ago. I have not seen any updates on it for a while. I sell, install and support several brands of autsteer. I understand the basic principals of how they work, but have now clue as to the programming and circuitry behind them. I trust that the companies have thoroughly tested and everything should work as advertised. I have been in this business long enough to know that this is not always the case. Most of the functions do work correctly out of the box, and for the most part things that do not work right are corrected in the next couple software updates. I realize this is not always the case, and has made me make some decisions on which brands to continue to sell to my customers. Unfortunately for the customers, some of the most popular brands also have some of the biggest problems. The most popular is not always the best at everything. They may excel in certain areas, especially marketing, but are lacking in other areas. Many of these large companies have purchased smaller companies that excel in a certain aspect. John Deere bought Navcom to get into the GPS market. Trimble has purchased Spectra, TruCount, Rawson, Omnistar, and Ashtech. Monsanto purchased Precision Planting. After paying large amounts of money for these pieces, they have to get a return on their investment.
I feel autosteer is worth what someone is willing to pay. If you look across the market, most comparable system are pretty close to each other. I sell some cheaper, less marketed products that do a good job. Some of the higher priced ones are better in my opinion, but may not be justifiable to drive a tillage tractor back and forth. There is also something to be said to hop in any machine on the farm and have the same display for easy operation.
This reminds me of a post a few weeks ago about a homemade tile plow. There were 43 replies and most were requesting a copy of the plans. Will this plow be even comparable to a Liebrecht, Waynes, Crary, Johnson or Soilmax? Not even close. However, it may do what someone has to do on their farm. I know a lot of farmers who are excellent welders and fabricators, but I can honestly say i do not know one who has a background in the software and circuitry required to design their own autosteer system. I am sure there are some out there, i just do not know them. |
They are charging too much for auto steer
