Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | I had heard that this was coming officially from Ag Leader.
Once AutoSwath was introduced for liquid applications, there were some "homemade" solutions where indivduals utilized AutoSwath to cycle planter sections. I had an opportunity to talk with one of these indivduals at an Ag Leader Meeting.
This Spring I was asked to do something similiar but to utilize the Tru-Count clutch system that is commerically available. I believe the first planter was a 12 row split into 3 - 4 row sections. The second was a 24 row planter split into 4 - 6 row sections.
Essentially I made an adapter cable and relay box that attached to the Ag Leader Liquid Control Module. This cable was used in place of the original Tru-count control box. In the orginial setup, the operator could shut off a section by flipping a switch which would activate a solenoid to shut that section OFF.
In my adaptation, when AutoSwath decided to shut off a section (normally a spray boom) it would cut the power to that section. By use of a relay for each section I was able to have the Tru-count solenoid activated to stop that section. My relay box had LEDs on it to indicate the status of each section. This was actually redundant since the Insight would show the sections ON or OFF on the RUN screen. As with a sprayer, the operator needed to play with some of the parameters a bit to get the shut off to occur where they wanted it to.
In the second case, spray was also being applied behind the planter and the spray valves were operated by the AutoSwath also.
My customers seemed pleased with the operation. I'm sure Ag Leader's implementation of this concept will be much more refined.
I'm curious if a special module is used and if another unlock is necessary. I wouldn't think another unlock should be required as long as the regular AutoSwath unlock has been activated.
Edited by tedbear 11/30/2006 05:43
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