[AT] list and a Ramble about the change of farming and tractors.
Cecil R Bearden
crbearden at copper.net
Thu Apr 4 17:19:09 PDT 2013
Charlie:
A couple of years ago I bought a mini netbook computer and the GPS
software that was written by a guy up north to take a good GPS antenna
and do spraying or fertilizing. It was a great program, but by the
time I got around to trying it out, I did not have the money to buy the
good GPS antenna required. I trazveled over the same route with my
antenna and was 15 ft off....!!! I had centimeter level accuracy in my
surveying equipment, but could not get anyone willing to help me connect
it up without paying over $1k for their services. I can connect up a
lot of high tech stuff, but I did not have the cabling. The %$#^&
cables cost as much as the software.!!
I probably have over $20K in old Trimble equipment setting here that
is obsolete because of software or firmware, but it is still the same
thing being used today, just in a different case. I just need to spray
and fertilize about 300 aces a year. I cannot even justify the cost of
a foam marker. But, I know that I have the equipment here to use my
Topcon or Trimble survey units and get within 2 inches. The only
reason we have to upgrade this equipment is someone came out with
another bell or whistle and made the earlier software not compatible...
I have a Topcon system that cost me about $8k when I bought it. I then
had to purchase another $2K controller for it because the software to
survey in OK would not load into the controller furnished with it.
While my system is considered obsolete, If I set up over a known point,
I can get elevations and locations within 1/2 inch over 4 miles away
from the base station, definitely good enough for storm water
engineering. However, if I have any problems with it, I have no one to
call because all the old guys that knew how to trouble shoot this
equipment and operate this software are no longer in the business. They
left and went to another company. Their 3 years were up. Their
replacement won't talk to you unless you buy another piece of new equipment.
That JD GPS equipment is probably the best known, I think that Trimble
probably has the most extensive background in GPS mapping, They do not
change their systems when they come out with an upgrades system, and
their software for the older units is free. However, I cannot get the
ag software for my surveying units. Again just need someone familiar
with the system who won't charge an arm and a leg for the help... I
want the GPS spraying system for spraying at night. During the day the
wind is too bad here...
Cecil in OKla
On 4/4/2013 5:27 PM, charlie hill wrote:
> When I was a kid the one job my dad would never let me do was bed up his
> tobacco rows.
> He wanted them to be straight and he didn't trust anyone else to do it.
> Jump forward a half
> century. I know a lady who at the age of about 45 married a farmer who
> tends about 3000 acres.
> Up until she married him she had never driven anything larger or more
> complicated than a mini-van
> and she wasn't particularly talented at that. Within a year of their being
> married she was bedding up
> cotton rows with a 12 row (I think it's 12, maybe more) bedder. The reason
> she can do that is GPS.
> Every one of his fields are mapped on GPS. All she has to do is drive the
> tractor to the field and get it
> near a corner, hit the button and the massive JD and GPS do the rest. It
> will run rows half a mile long and
> not be off more than an inch or so (maybe less) from one end to the other.
> When the tractor nears the end
> of the row an alarm goes off. She takes over the controls and turns it
> around, and gets it close to lined up.
> She hits the GPS button again and it goes to the other end while she reads
> her book or talks on the phone.
> It's not old school farming but it surely is efficient.
>
> Charlie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Al Jones
> Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2013 5:44 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] list and a Ramble about the change of farming and
> tractors.
>
> As far as modern, working tractors go, I think what you're seeing is just
> "progress." Technology is continuing to advance and it's just spilling over
> into farm machinery. I don't know about the yuppie farmers but the ones
> really doing it for a living actually have a use for a lot of the bells and
> whistles. A guy was talking to me about the GPS, auto steer, and other
> goodies the other day. He was talking about when personal computers first
> came out, everyone said the farmer had no use for it. Now most farmers use
> one daily. The same thing is coming true with GPS. If a farmer can save
> 10-20 dollars an acre on chemicals due to more accurately applying them with
> a guidance system, and he farms 1000 acres, that's 10-20 thousand dollars.
> Doesn't take long to justify all those goodies at that rate.
>
> Will we be collecting 2013 model tractors in 50 years? Doubt it. And
> technically, that 1960's 4020 really is an antique now. For example, the
> Farmall 806 and 706 are 50 years old this year. In 1995, when I found the
> ATIS list, my Super A was 47 years old.
>
> In some ways, I hate to say it but technology has passed the email listserv.
> Farmallcub.com, redpowermagazine.com, and other websites are good examples.
> I read something the other day that social media like facebook is making
> email obsolete. I expect we'll see that same trend with tractor sites soon.
>
> A;
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Cecil R Bearden <crbearden at copper.net>
>> Sent: Apr 4, 2013 10:30 AM
>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>> Subject: Re: [AT] list and a Ramble about the change of farming and
>> tractors.
>>
>> Charlie:
>> If the original poster would let us know what the solution was, then we
>> could put that into the "virtual" knowledge base. I wonder what is
>> going to happen to this list, as there are not many new guys coming on.
>> I look at the TractorBynet forum once in a while, and there is so many
>> mistakes being made that I have already experienced. If I do post to
>> it, I wonder if I come off as a know it all. That forum also seems
>> like it has a lot of guys with late model tractors. Ones that I could
>> pick up and stack on top of the hay with my loaders......!! I just have
>> not accepted these small tractors yet. My Dad used to say that they
>> were good for running around under the house looking for eggs..!!! Dad
>> spent a lot of time in the Arkansas Bottoms as a child. I have used
>> that expression and got some really weird looks!!
>>
>> Back in the 70's when everything was going big big HP, and dealers were
>> limit ed on the number of units (rationed) they could get in a year, the
>> "experts" said this would create a shortage of tractors in the 20 to 60
>> hp range. Boy did they hit that nail on the Head!! The other thing
>> that no one envisioned, was these new operators are used to cabs and air
>> conditioning. I recently sold a 4010 JD on LPgas, a great utility
>> tractor. for $3000. I spent a fortune on advertising trying to sell
>> it, and finally went to auction. I could not make these new guys
>> understand how to fill an LP tractor. One of the problems, while they
>> liked the idea of only spending $2.00 / gallon for fuel, they did not
>> want to invest $400 in a tank and then come up with another $400 to fill
>> it. They could just go by the local C-store and get 10 gallons of
>> Diesel. The other was the lack of a cab. I overheard a lady in her
>> 50's ??? talk about mowing with a bush hog for 10 hours and coming in
>> covered in dirt and itching for days when you hit a bunch of sticker
>> weeds. Here in OK with our 20mph minimum wind, a cab is now standard
>> equipment. I guess our old antique tractors of the 60's have really
>> become antique!!! I remember when A-C came out with the D21, I wanted
>> to get into Farming...!! Now, a large tractor like that is not necessary
>> since everything is going to No-till here.....
>>
>> I am rambling here while my coffee is getting cold.... I gotta quit
>> sitting up watching those old movies. Black & White seems normal to me!!!!
>>
>> Cecil in OKla
>>
>>
>> On 4/4/2013 7:55 AM, Charlie V wrote:
>>> Got up on the wrong side of your cup of coffee today, John? GRRRRRRR!.
>>>
>>> Sorry. Just had to do that. I somewhat agree with you. I cannot help
>>> notice in a situation where someone posts a question--Say a tractor will
>>> not start. Ten replys are posted. Some not too related, but some very
>>> on
>>> target. Then the original poster is never heard from again. It would be
>>> a
>>> nice courtesy it the original poster would come back in a few days and
>>> let
>>> everyone know if his tractor is now running, and if he knows , what
>>> actually did the trick.
>>>
>>> Just my 1.25697 cents.
>>>
>>> Charlie V.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Apr 3, 2013 at 9:01 PM, <jtchall at nc.rr.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> You know, It’s getting really tiring to post help on the list and never
>>>> get acknowledged for it. Especially when you go to the trouble of
>>>> posting
>>>> links that may help folks with a problem. I have gotten to the point I
>>>> pretty much refuse to help some folks as they never seem to thank anyone
>>>> or
>>>> fail to heed the advice they are given. It’s sad to see the knowledge
>>>> base
>>>> we have dwindling away.
>>>>
>>>> John Hall
>>>> _______________________________________________
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