RON SABOURIN FARMS 2,500 acres at St. Jean Baptiste MB. Six months ago he bought an Outback eDrive autosteer and two hydraulic steering kits. One kit went on his 9300 John Deere and the second on an 8770 Genesis. His eDrive unit switches back and forth between the two tractors in about 10 minutes.
Sabourin has no doubt autosteer has a place on today’s farm.
“Last fall I did an experiment. I was putting down anhydrous using WAAS (Wide Angle Augmentation System) on my OutbackS for guidance. I decided to switch over to the experimental eDrive they had loaned me to test. It takes about 10 minutes to download eDrive.
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“That gave me time to make one pass back and forth while I was waiting. Once it was downloaded, I switched over to AB on eDrive. I immediately saw that in just one pass, I had overlapped a foot and a half.
“On a quarter section, that much overlap totals more than five acres. Last fall, when nitrogen was at 30 cents, I was putting down 110 pounds. That’s close to $200 per quarter section on nitrogen alone, plus the costs of fuel and time.”
Sabourin says he isn’t sure an operator would consistently overlap that much, but eDrive’s ability to pinpoint the overlap is important to his bottom line.
“Today (May 5, 2004) I’m putting down Edge at a cost of $22 per acre. If I have a five-acre driving error on a quarter section today, that’s another $100 per quarter I’ve wasted – $100 plus $200 per quarter section can add up in a hurry.
“So far this spring, we’ve seeded 1,500 acres with the autosteer. Everywhere I check, we have consistent accuracy of four inches from one pass to the next pass, field after field.”
Sabourin bought his Outback S unit two years ago for $4,000 US. The Outback eDrive he bought in January was another $5,000 US. The hydraulic steering kits that are permanently mounted on the two tractors were $1,800 US each, including two wiring harnesses and two hydraulic control boxes that mount just behind the cab.
Because the new steering apparatus remains on the tractors, it only takes 10 minutes to transfer the antenna, S and eDrive from one tractor to the other. The steering kit for the first tractor was installed by the Outback dealer. After that, Sabourin says it was easy to install the second kit himself.
He says it’s not hard to pencil out the economics of autosteer.
“When I look at chemical, fertilizer, diesel, seed, markers and the hours I put on the two tractors, I figure that with 2,500 acres, I’ll recover my investment in less than two years Ð three years maximum if lots of things happen to go wrong. After that, it’s making money for me every year.
“The other thing I had to consider was that I was at the point where I needed to buy new markers for my sprayer, and that was going to cost me between $5,000 and $6,000, so I’ve avoided that expenditure completely.
“I spray with a 130 foot FlexiCoil. I got caught a few times last year when it was windy during the day, so I had to spray at night. You just can’t see those foam markers at night. Then the foam machine went down. That’s when I decided I’d better look at a full autosteer system.
“This gives me a lot of flexibility. I can run a 10-foot implement if that’s what I should ever want to do, or 60 feet or 130 feet. I can switch from one to the other without having to make any major adjustments.”
Sabourin considered several autosteer systems before selecting eDrive. He says the Outback S and eDrive are easiest to use and a smaller investment than any other system he could find.
“I talked to a number of people around here who have the John Deere system, and they seem to be very happy with it. I can’t really say for sure if one system is any better than the other. I just liked the simplicity and the price tag. Also, some companies still require an $800 annual fee to use the satellites. With the S and eDrive, there’s no cost for the signal.”
While the field economics can be calculated, Sabourin says the effect on the operator cannot be measured with numbers.
“The operator can finally relax. You don’t worry anymore about the width of your pass. I’ve been surprised at how accurate it is. Now we have the opportunity to look out behind to see what’s going on. That’s important, one of those things about doing a better job. You can’t put a number on it.
“Plus, my hired hand likes it. My dad likes it. If you can reduce operator fatigue with an autosteer, you can get more work done.”
Many who have tried a light bar for field guidance say it can become hard on the eyes and the nerves. Is autosteer much of an improvement? Sabourin thinks so.
“The light bar is accurate, there’s no problem in that department. But it can be murder on the driver.”
He says operators feel better when they do a better job.
“You look down the rows we’ve seeded with the eDrive and they’re all straight as an arrow. I’ve got nine-inch row spacing, so if I can get four-inch accuracy over and over again, well, we can’t ask for much better than that. “
Some autosteer users have found that AB steering is jerky. The hydraulic hammer impact as the steering valve makes corrections causes the tractor to feel as if it’s jumping from side to side.
“We did have that problem with the experimental eDrive unit we were trying last fall,” says Sabourin. “The Outback people came out and installed a new valve that controls the oil flow in the steering system. It’s as smooth as can be now.
“When you move an autosteer from one tractor to the next, it’s normal to expect that you’ll have different oil flow. With this new valve in place, I just go into the menu on the computer screen, find the setting for sensitivity, and then adjust it up or down for that tractor. On the 9300, we have the sensitivity set at level four. On the blue tractor, it’s set at eight. After you know what level you need for each tractor, it just takes a few seconds to dial it in on the computer each time you transfer.”
There’s no need for a local transmitter tower to achieve accuracy. The system is satellite controlled, which Sabourin likes.
“I usually pick up seven or eight satellites. Today I’m picking up nine. On a really good day I might get 10. The lowest number I’ve ever picked up was five, but even with that, I was getting my four-inch accuracy. Even when I drive under the high tension hydro lines, I still get a strong signal and no interruption.”
Darren Pritchard of Outback Guidance in Winnipeg says the differential GPS on the eDrive should always pick up seven to nine satellites if everything is working well.
“That’s part of the difference between WAAS and eDrive,” says Pritchard. “With WAAS, the further north you go, the lower angle you get between you and the satellites. With differential GPS, you should pick up seven to nine satellites anywhere in the world. We have 20 or 30 eDrive systems up in the Peace River country right now, and they get seven to nine satellites regularly, with six-inch accuracy all the time.”
Contact: Darren Pritchard 866-888-4472
