By Dick Hagen
The Land Staff Writer
January 04, 2007 06:10 pm
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Farmers who aren’t in the market for new steel with factory-installed Global Positioning System hardware, but are still interested in joining the latest technological revolution are in luck.
A number of GPS vendors are out there to help you retro-fit your way into the world of guided and automatic steering.
Andy Abner of Abner Sales in Benson does a thriving after-market business in GPS equipment. “The two brands going all out in this market are Mid-Tech Systems (Wheaton, Ill.) and Raven Industries (Sioux Falls, S.D.),” Abner said. “They’re after the end-user putting it on as a secondary piece of equipment.”
Why the buzz on auto-steer and GPS? He said that until 2006 it was mostly the custom operators, especially with anhydrous bars and big-boom crop sprayers, using GPS to increase hourly efficiency and the accuracy of their commercial applications. But farmers started getting on the bandwagon, Abner said, once they “saw the good results the custom guys were getting.”
In addition to Mid-Tech and Raven, farmers can choose GPS packages from companies like Outback and Trimble. With more competition, prices are decreasing so the switch into GPS farming is accelerating that much more rapidly.
A Mid-Tech guidance bar with no upgrades and no added features sells for $1,500. The unit provides about 6-inch steering accuracy, which is generally acceptable for tillage and spray work. “It wouldn’t be the unit for planting,” Abner said, however. “Even with Mid-Tech, to get planter accuracy you’d bump up to a $5,000 unit.”
Abner said a high-volume foam marker costs about $1,000. “But now you’ve got a glorified electronic foam marker for $1,500 and the guy running the rig just reads a light bar. No need to scan the ends of the boom. You’ll likely see foam markers disappear from the market pretty soon.”
Developing auto-steer systems that are compatible with various tractor brands is costly. Service costs, too, can be expensive so retrofitting a GPS package to work with existing equipment can be a challenge unless you are dealing with a brand and a dealer that provides good service and warranty coverage, too. Abner said farmers needing new steel will likely buy into GPS technology as part of an original equipment package. The John Deere and Case product lines are among the leaders in this area.
The GPS after-market is flourishing, however, because many farmers aren’t needing new steel but do see the economic value in add-on GPS systems. “For example the majority of our first sales on light bars went on anhydrous applicators,” Abner said. “You can run at night with a light bar. Plus they eliminate overlaps, saving both fuel and product. Those same benefits show up on spreaders and sprayers. A beet farmer spraying up to eight times a season but doing a two-foot overlap is wasting tons of product and thousands of dollars.”
These cheaper guidance systems still require a driver to keep the implement on line. Auto-steer, however, is hands-off across the field. At the end of each round the operator starts the turn, then touches the “resume” bottom and the tractor automatically completes the rest of the 180-degree turn, getting right back on line.
Abner said farmers of all ages are now getting into GPS systems. Traditionally the older generation is more reluctant to pick up on new technology, he said, but “age is no longer a factor in terms of GPS acceptance. Just a few years back speed and pressure were your concerns running sprayers. These new rigs with automatic rate controllers GPS does the adjustments on the go. It’s a new ball game.”
The downtime required to install GPS depends on the system. “If a guy brings his tractor in to have a Mid-Tech CenterLine guidance installed, I can have him back out again, 45 minutes or less,” Abner said.
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