Oswald No-Till Farm Cleghorn, IA | Greetings Pat,
Sounds like good thought process.
Actually, we have a family doing exactly what you are talking in this county. They are using RTK and Insight with their Case/IH tractors. I believe they use Houle tankers/applicators with 6 knives, f/b 12 row planter and 8 r combine.
I ran Omni XP this spring through an EZG 500 and EZ steer and was quite happy... BUT
1- Time to converge the XP took patience. It was great when the tractor sat outside overnight and unit was left on. Returned to the field with great accuracy.
2- TREES!!!!!! can cause loss of XP and you then have to re-converge which can take time. This is why RTK is a better solution when you shuttle back/forth from the field for applications.
3- You are looking for at least 3 levels of repeatable precision with likely no marker on the tanker to "find" your index should "something" happen between loads. For best strip till performance, you need a good index between the strip forming implement and the planter. Thus, a 5 strip-12 planter really needs the best pass to pass accuracy you can find. Even then, you might find implement (tanker/applicator) draft issues due to side hill creep. The planter/combine thing isn't quite so sensitive.
4- Think less about up front cost and think MORE about performance of the total farming system. That is, how much can you afford errors and headaches should the system not perform from an electronic or agronomic sense.
5- Think hard about local dealer support and knowledge with the equipment you intend to run.
In summary, the guys I talk to have very consisent opinions about "precision ag" and technology.... if it doesn't work right and results in downtime, it is the biggest headache and frustration maker you ever saw and that far exceeds the textbook value. Do what ever you can to reduce the potential for downtime and frustration.
The link below will get you to the family I described above. Ask for Butch or Dana. You can tell them I gave you the link.
http://sleezerfertilitycenter.com/contact_us.html
Sincere best of luck.
Tom
|
RTK vs omnistar vs RTK... continued
