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| Looking for thoughts on getting in cab control of our liquid fertilizer side-dress rig. It is currently a ground driven John Blue pump and is pulled by a tractor without any sort of monitor/display in it. I'm not looking for variable rate control now (maybe in 3-5 years, but the fertilizer rig could be upgraded then too). The reason for going in cab is that the John Blue pump can be a bit of a pain to change application rates from field to field and the three family members using this applicator on their farms all wish to use different rates. I'm tired of family member A complaining about how family member B messed up the settings and so forth. The the pump is nearly new although the ground drive system is worn out and would need some loving anyways, so I figured this is the year to remove one source of drama from the family. Yes, I know its ridiculous that this is a source of drama, but you can't pick family.
On the shelf, I have a spare Raven 440 console, shaft speed sensors, hydraulic motor and Mueller ISO rate controller.
After a soybean planter build/refresh, I'm trying to stretch the remaining pre-season pennies.
The options I see are:
- Raven has a servo motor operated hydraulic valve I could purchase to be operated with the Raven 440 because the 440 is old enough that it doesn't do PWM output. (Looks like $520 for valve)
- get my hands on another ISO capable monitor and PWM valve ($XXXX for monitor, $400 for valve)
- buy earplugs so I don't have to listen to the griping and rebuild the ground drive.
My questions are:
- from what I hear, the servo valves are going away for good reason. Am I throwing good money after bad buying one just to use an old console?
- I've already bought one nice new ISO capable monitor with a lot of other functionality for the future already this spring. I don't really have a need or budget for another monitor besides this one use. What options are out there for a cheap way to get an ISO VT in cab?
- any other routes I'm missing?
Thanks!
Edited by tvfd911 3/19/2019 19:51
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liquid fertilizer side dress control options?
