Agent Orange: Friendly fire that keeps on burning. | Fly by wire on the MTs means there is no direct mechanical linkage from the controls to the mechanics of the machine. When you set the throttle, the engine module looks at the resistance value of the throttle lever and sets the fuel delivery to match. When you step on the inching pedal (clutch), the pedal sets a resistance value and the transmission module reads the value and engages the clutch to match the value. When you turn the steering wheel, there is likewise no direct hydraulic connection to the wheel. You trigger electrical pulses when you turn the wheel and the tractor computer reads the pulses and engages the steering hydraulics to respond appropriately to what you have done with the wheel. This enters the equation when you want to control the tractor with auto-steer. There is no need to involve hydraulic controllers. What you need to do is insert a box in the steering circuit that feeds pulses to the tractor computer. The little box that accomplishes this for the EZ-Steer is somewhere in the neighorhood of $800. I believe the tractor controllers need flashed to tell them about the module, but that's what will do the steering for you on an MT. I'm using an EZ-Steer servo motor on my MT because I was too cheap to shell out for the box. Just thought it would work to move the servo that I needed for my other equipment. It is really kind of ridiculous to use all the motor and apparatus to just make electrical pulses though. |
Challenger & RTK compatibility
