Inter-Row Sowing

The following information is provided by gps-Ag

Contact Fabian McLinden or Ben Malone at gps-Ag on ph (03) 5447 1777.

SETTING UP THE AUTOFARM FOR INTER-ROW SOWING.

Now that you have purchased your 2cm accurate autosteer for the purpose of inter-row sowing here are some vitally important information that will be needed to ensure that you get the desired result. Failure to do this will mean you will not be able to inter-row the following year. In other words it will put you 12 months behind your plans for inter-row sowing so it is very important!

Step 1. Does the tractor track correctly?

  1. Make sure the implement that you have selected on the AutoFarm has no offset (you can check by going to Setting menu and Change Implement and select the implement from the list and chose Edit implement – it will show you all the settings for that implement).

  2. Autosteer the tractor for 100 meteres then turn the tractor around (180 degrees) and head back down the same run (but now going in the opposite direction).

  3. Observe that the wheel tracks of the tractor match perfectly (±2cm)

  4. If the wheel tracks do not match up perfectly then you need to adjust the Right Lever Arm. To do this you need to enter the service menu this is password protected please contact the office or staff member.

  5. If the tractor tracks match up correctly then you know the tractor is right now we can go to the next step.

Step 2. Measure the implement width.

  1. It may seem a trivial matter but it is estimated that 80% of the machines currently found on farms are not at their stated width, we have never really needed measure implement width this accurately before!

  2. Lift the implement and run a tape underneath the frame and measure the distance between the outside tynes, then add to this one tyne spacing, enter this width into the AutoFarm (Change Implement – select implement – edit implement – change the width). Rather than crawling under the frame you can lay down the tape and drive over it.

  3. On sprayers there is no need to measure with a tape, standard nozzle configuration means nozzles are 0.5m apart so all you have to do is count the nozzles. 50 nozzles mean 25 metre width. Some booms sprays have dual booms and so nozzles are spaced at 25cm. (This is also true for EziBoom you don’t need a tape measure for measuring boom spray section width!!!)

Step 3. Is the implement tracking stable?

  1. Autosteer the tractor for 200m whilst you progressively lift and lower the implement into the ground (when lifting just leave the implement to scrape the soil surface).

  2. Inspect the resultant lines left by the implement, looking for the movement left or right when the implement is lifted and lowered. If movement occurs you know the implement is unbalanced and as such it will be difficult to get a highly accurate result.

  3. Check that the depth is even across the implement, get locking collars on the rams and make sure implement tyre pressures are even.

  4. Check the tyne spacing and tyne pattern so that the load is even.

  5. You can enter an offset but if the amount of movement is dependent on load then it will be impossible to correct without fixing the instability.

Step 4. Does the implement track correctly?

  1. Implements can have a constant offset that can be accurately accounted for (please be sure you know the difference between this and the above where it is unstable).

  2. Autosteer with the implement in the ground for about 100m

  3. Do a 180 degree turn and autosteer back down the same path (now operating in the opposite direction) and lower the implement so it scrapes the ground. You may need to lift the harrows or press wheels on the left and right most outer tynes so that you can clearly see the edge of the worked area.

  4. Measure the distance that the outer edge is misaligned, halve this distance and enter it as the implement off-set (see Change Implement, Select implement and Edit Implement)

Step 5. Do the tynes align correctly on the implement?

  1. Repeat Step 4 with the correct off-set and see whether the tynes align with the furrows left by the previous path.

  2. Move the tynes around to get the correct alignment (this could be a major job requiring several days to make the suitable adjustments. Consult with the manufacturer sometimes it is impossible to get all tynes exactly aligned because of obstructions on the frame of the implement.

  3. If the tynes do not align then you can still inter-row sow but you will need to operate in the same direction each year, so bear this in mind when sowing the paddock

gradient_bottom