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Simplifying Grain Cart Operation with Technology

Simplifying Grain Cart Operation with Technology
Nov 21, 2024
By Ryan Ridley
Assistant Editor, North American Content, Farms.com

PTx Trimble Showcases Auto Guidance System for Seamless Harvesting

Grain cart operators always seem to catch the blame when things aren’t right during harvest. 

Well, that’s about to change with PTx Trimble’s auto guidance system which shares a guidance line with the combine. 

Operators no longer need to worry about position, they can solely focus on speed to ensure grain is getting into the cart. 

Kaleb Rulon, global portfolio product marketing with PTx Trimble, met with Farms.com to simulate how easy it becomes for the grain cart operator with a shared guidance line. 

Driving a grain cart involves managing several factors simultaneously: maintaining speed, avoiding collisions with the combine, and ensuring all grain is collected without spilling. 

PTx Trimble’s auto guidance system simplifies this process by sharing the guidance line between the tractor and the combine. Both machines use PTx Trimble’s auto steer, allowing the operator to focus solely on speed and grain collection without worrying about steering or alignment. 

In the simulator demonstration, Rulon shows how challenging it can be to drive a grain cart without the assistance of auto steer, where the driver must manage speed, proximity to the combine, and the positioning of the unload auger.  

With PTx Trimble’s auto steer activated, the operator only needs to monitor speed and alignment with the auger, as the system automatically controls steering and positioning. 

This technology makes harvesting more efficient and reduces the risks of accidents or lost grain (it also reduces arguments in the field). 

PTx Trimble’s auto steer solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly into existing farm equipment, making it easier for you to adopt precision agriculture technologies. 

See this tech for yourself in the below simulation with Rulon.

For those interested in precision agriculture, subscribe here at no cost to the Farms.com Precision Ag Digital Digest released 4x per year. 

View the Fall 2024 Farms.com Precision Agriculture Digital Digest here.




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Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way



Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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