Gas Tractor and GPS?

FC Andy

Member
I'm looking into getting a GPS lightbar to use, and had the thought: will it work OK with a gas tractor? I know that they used to put resistor plugs in them and a capacitor near the alternator for radio interference if you had a fender mounted radio, will I have do do something similar to mount a lightbar on my 656 gas? Just wondering, if I get it, I'll be using it on probably 2 tractors, my 806 diesel and the aforementioned 656. I don't know anybody with a gps on a gas tractor- I guess most people using a gas tractor wouldn't think of gps! Oh well, problems of a young guy I suppose. LOL! -Andy
 
Yo need a GPS to find your vay to the fields?

If I git dat forgetful I vill stop farming.

Or do you need one to find your vay back home?
 
I don't know about a gas tractor, but my Trimble lightbar works just fine on my gas Polaris ATV.

Handy as socks on a rooster for driving around perimeter of fields to measure acreages.
 
How does that work?

Do you run the parameter as a 'pattern' and then put it into memory so that particular field is always there for the fieldwork?

Allan
 
No, I don't need no auto steer! I just want a lightbar so I don't need foam markers while spraying and so I have no guesses while spreading fertilizer. I may just use it while planting, too. :) I really don't farm enough to even justify any kind of fancy technology, I just want it because I've used it before with neighbors and see the value. And I'm only trying to get one because it's used, I'm not willing to pay $1200+ for something I'll hardly use. -Andy
 
GPS works pretty well in car with spark ignition engines. The accuracy requirementas are not nearly as thight though.
 
Allan it all depends on how much you spend. Simple light bar you line up plot the star piont drive to other end straight plot it and then go back and forth usually to sub meter accuracy. Spend a bit more coin and you can get one with a coverage screen to so you can see where you have been and the next swath pass as well as the light bar for steering. some of them hold the feild data for next time. you get one that does parrell lines, bent lines, circles for center pivotes or race track a feild. Spend some more coin and add the finger muncher auto steer moter that drives the steering wheel gets the acuracuy down some more. Add boom shut off for point rows. Spend more coin go full auto steer, feild mapping, yeild mapping, down to 1" acurracy pass on pass. The more you spend the better it gets. light bars have gotten cheaper than foam markers in australia an less hassle. Google trimble light bars im looking at a 250 which has the screen and finger muncher steering option
 
Ha! I like your old German accent. Nope, gps for me is more like a fun toy than it is practical. :) -Andy
 
It will work fine as it is. I'd be more worried about a solid, fused electrical supply right to the battery. Y'know...we could probably put a Trimble EZ-Steer on those two tractors with a little bit of shade-tree-engineerin'. That 250 would be a good fit for it.
 
Allan, the lightbar I have is "ancient" but it will calculate acreages of any shaped field by just driving the outside edge.

I have run a neighbors planter tractor wich is equiped with newer gps and his planter has individual row shut-offs. There you have to establish a "boundary" ( end row, or whatever folks in NE call them) for the gps to know when to shut off seed flow. We are using WAAS satellites (bottom of the barrel stuff) and can only establish these boundarys right before planting the field due to sattelite drift. There is newer stuff out there (RTK etc.) that is much more accurate, but needs a subcription to use it $$$$$.

So in trying to answer your question, I am thinking that even the RTK is not capable of making a field boundary this year and repeating that exact same path next year. Probably would be close though.

Others will know much more about GPS than I do, much more for me to learn.
 
Exactly. You'd record a boundary around the field, and it'll calcualte the acreage of everything inside that field. You can also record that same boundary as an A-B line and it will automatically steer through the curves, although there's fewer curves where you farm :). The, you'd set up your main line to work the field and save it. Can move that data to a USB stick and load it into other GPS equipment. Down Under is right, though, it can be much more complicated if you'd like it to be. Honestly, Allan, with as much as you like playing with electronics, I thought you'd be keen on the idea : )
 
(quoted from post at 16:19:38 01/13/14) It will work fine as it is. I'd be more worried about a solid, fused electrical supply right to the battery. Y'know...we could probably put a Trimble EZ-Steer on those two tractors with a little bit of shade-tree-engineerin'. That 250 would be a good fit for it.

Yeah, where there's a will, there's a way. For me, auto steer takes all the fun out of farming. No challenge to drive straight after that. I drove a neighbor's 9300 JD with auto steer from the factory, and had a hell of a time accepting the fact that I had to let go of the steering wheel before hitting the button. He told me to let go of the wheel, hit the button, and pick up one of his farming magazines off the floor! -Andy
 
(quoted from post at 15:05:49 01/13/14) I'm looking into getting a GPS lightbar to use, and had the thought: will it work OK with a gas tractor? I know that they used to put resistor plugs in them and a capacitor near the alternator for radio interference if you had a fender mounted radio, will I have do do something similar to mount a lightbar on my 656 gas? Just wondering, if I get it, I'll be using it on probably 2 tractors, my 806 diesel and the aforementioned 656. I don't know anybody with a gps on a gas tractor- I guess most people using a gas tractor wouldn't think of gps! Oh well, problems of a young guy I suppose. LOL! -Andy
A jd mechanic I know put auto steer on a b jd and said it worked great except for under trees on the parade route. All kidding aside I think it'll work fine.
 
In eastern Canada there is hardly a farm left that does not have GPS system of some sort.

We are in potato country and we steer the implement as well as the tractor.

If I was buying an entry level system I would get Raven Cruizer II for about $1800.00 (depends on your dealer) and this will give you the ability to 'paint' or see where you have been and acreage counts with boundry mapping.

The nice thing about the Cruizer II is that you can upgrade to the Smart steer and have it control your steering wheel for $2400.00 'ish. You can also use it for boom\row shut offs. Although I think you are limited to the amount of sections (3?).

For $200.00 more on the purchase price, you can get one that is weather proof for open station tractors.

It's amazing all the uses you can have for a simple light bar once you have one. It's awfully hard to go back to spreading fert or spraying without one.
 
Cruser light bar for spraying or spreading can be had for under $1750.

Just enter in the width of strip you want to cover.

Drive your first pass and then it will guide the following passes at your set footage. Acturate to 6 inches or so. If the light goes off center you move the other way.
pokey herey
 
I have not had problems with a GPS in my cars with solid copper ignition wires and non-resistor plugs.

Don't think pulse type noise bothers a GPS anyway.

Josh
 
It will work fine. I needed to spray some standing corn, and the only tractor I had that was set on 30" rows was an old Oliver 550. Strapped the gps to the hood and away I went.
Josh
 
GPS brings back memories from the 40's and 50's. When I was a kid, all us grandkids were scared to death of GPS, that was grandpa's shellaleigh (sp bad I know). He was a good man and didn't have it in sight as a threat. But everyone knew it was somewhere around, even his kids knew who the boss was, until grandma came out on the porch!! She was way more threatening than he was, until we got hungry, or needed to get patched up from some kind of mishap that kids get into. Lord, for those days again. GPS you'll are talking about, I have no idea, I still use a map or atlas. Just brought back some memories of us kids calling it the GPS.
 
They are pretty addictive, I use one to spray, spread fertilize. Also use it to lay off lands mowing hay, and bushoging CRP. (government paying us to not farm it) May get a finger pincer this spring.
 

I use Magellin GPS on my riding mower so I can find my way back to the house ;)
Darned thing just keeps recalculating...
 
If it will let you, you will want to set it so that the light bar shows farther ahead of the tractor, say 8-10 seconds. I set it for at least 6 seconds out. It's tough to remember to watch the light bar and not the screen when turning around. The screens will always be a few seconds behind, but the light bar is always where you set it. If it shows 1 second ahead (factory default on a Trimble), it will be real tough to keep up, as it doesn't take much to oversteer the bar. Kinda like picking a rock in the middle of the field, vs picking a tree at the far end, for a guide.

We upgraded my unit from the Trimble 500 to the 1000 last year. It's a touchscreen and a lot smarter. But still lags way behind the JD system I've run in following curves (it still can't).

I don't think the Trimble systems are easily portable, as it has a box with accelerometers in it that has to be bolted down to the tractor. Depending on how hard those steer, if you upgrade to autosteer some day, you may need the hydraulic set-up instead of the motor on the steering wheel.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top