AgTalk Home
AgTalk Home
Search Forums | Classifieds (121) | Skins | Language
You are logged in as a guest. ( logon | register )

Any Regrets
View previous thread :: View next thread
   Forums List -> Precision TalkMessage format
 
Brian Vulgamore
Posted 2/25/2007 08:07 (#110645 - in reply to #110276)
Subject: Re: Any Regrets


Scott City, KS

Tom -

I'm hesitant to give any exact measurements, b/c I would be guessing.  We did a lot of measuring and analyzing several years ago to decide whether we needed to be running markers.  Once we convinced ourselves to fold up the markers, we haven't done much measuring.  So, the only thing I can offer is some practical observations:

  • When strip-tilling and planting we seldom (if ever) shift track.  The tractor and implement can sit in the field over night, or come back the next week, and from the cab, it looks nearly perfect.
  • We plant with a 24 row and 12 row planter.  By just using the heading information, we've had the 24-row planter skip 4 or 5 passes and the 12 row planter will fill in with a test plot.  The only communication between the 2 planters was my Dad calling me on the radio with the heading.  I set my A point and entered the heading.  I planted the test plot.  You couldn't find the guess rows at harvest.

From a practical standpoint, I don't see many advantages to RTK.  We are accomplishing everything we want with the SF2 (planting, strip-tilling, and harvesting).  At harvest, you literally can't find a guess row.  This can be frustrating in the silage cutter!

However, Don Glenn makes a good point that as you add SF2 signals, at some point it may become economically advantageous to switch to RTK.  We currently pay for 3 SF2 subscriptions and will probably add a fourth by next year.  Our farm would fit in a 17 mile square, so I'm not sure how many base units it would take.  The portable base units would be impractical as we often have the planters and sprayer on different ends of the farm.  I don't want another thing to manage (moving around base stations).

- Brian

Top of the page Bottom of the page


Jump to forum :
Search this forum
Printer friendly version
E-mail a link to this thread

(Delete cookies)