Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | I agree with all the comments concerning the switching of products within the same field.
The multi-product unlock does not help this situation as it only allows for more than one product to be applied at the same time.
As I have indicated before I am using Ag Leader's Direct Injection module to run my Raven Injection pump.
This means that I have the Direct Command Liquid Control Module running the Carrier out of the main tank and the Injection Module running the Injection Pump. The auxiliary Input module is connected to the boom switches in the cab.
This requires the multi-product unlock and autoswath is certainly desirable but not absolutely necessary.
When I go to a new field I pick the Field then the correct configuration like most other operations. I am presented with two product boxes. The top one is for the carrier product and the lower one is for the Injected product. These two products were defined in the product list. Each of the products could be "pure" or a mix. For example, often times my carrier is my Water/AMS mix and the injected product is pure Weathermax.
In another scenario, my carrier was Impact/Nonionic Surfactant/AMS/Water and the injected product was sometimes WeatherMax and other times Bucaneer. I also need to set the rates for the two products. Generally the carrier is measured in gallons/acre and the injected product in ounces/acre.
Some of the problems mentioned about switching products midfield are OK with an Injection system as long as the carrier remains the same. Apparently Autoswath turns sections ON/OFF by using the carrier map and not the Injected map.
Here's a specific example. All my fields but one are close to home so I drive home to refill. I tried using a tender approach for a few years but it turned out to be counterproductive and is just easier to come home for each refill.
One field is 96 acres and several miles from home. I really wanted to do the entire field without having to come home for a refill. My sprayer holds 1000 gallons and at 10 gpa I can cover 100 acres so I was OK on the carrier part. My injection tank holds 24 gallons which is not enough product to cover the 96 acres at the 32 ounce/acre rate (bulk generic Rup).
I decided to just grab a jug of leftover Orginalmax and take it with me to refill the Injection tank when it ran low. After spraying for a while I realized that this wasn't the greatest idea. I should have filled a jug with extra Bucaneer (32 ounce rate) and add to the tank when it ran low.
Since the OrginalMax should be applied at the 22 ounce rate I decided to run the Injection tank very low and then add the OrginalMax and switch the rate to 22 ounce/acre. Then the thought struck me that I might have a problem by switching products.
This was not a problem. When I dumped in the Orginalmax I went to Field and accepted the current field, I was presented with the current configuration which was still correct so I accepted that.
I was then presented with the two product boxes as expected. Since the carrier was the same as before I selected that product again. I was asked if I wanted to start a new map or add to the current map. I chose add to the current map.
I then entered picked the Injected product which was now different even though I was still in the same field. I picked OrginalMax from the list.
This worked out fine because the carrier product was the same for the entire field. I decided to view the Orginalmax map as I sprayed This map was a correct representation of where the Orginalmax was applied.
I was curious as to how autoswath would behave. It behaved as I had hoped and the sections shutoff correctly as the sprayer encounterd the headlands even though the Orginalmax map did not show the area as having been sprayed. The carrier map did show the area as being covered.
My conclusion is that autoswath was making its decisions based on the carrier which was exactly what I wanted.
I have not processed this field with SMS but I believe I will get three maps for that field. The carrier map which will be the entire field, the Bucaneer Map and also the OriginalMax map.
Edited by tedbear 6/28/2008 08:25
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