Interesting JD Specialty Tractor

[BSVLY]

Was visiting Minden, Nebraska this past week and saw this machine driving off from the local JD Dealership. They had several more on the lot so I stopped to take a closer look. The tires are a full 6-feet in diameter and marked 380/90R46-rated for 30 MPH. It looks like a sprayer. What exactly is this tractor and how & when is it used?

Thanks

 

[aczlan]

It is used to spray crops (such as corn) that have grown up to be a foot or more tall. The high speed is so that they can drive it down the road (you don't need an overwidth permit to drive it down the road, but you do if it is on a trailer).

Aaron Z

 

[RoyJackson]

I see these in PA a few times a year.
As aczlan wrote, it's a specialized machine for spraying. The ones I've seen were contract equipment (not owned by a farmer but rented out with an operator) just like you'll see contracted combines.
I'm kind of surprised they're limited to 30 MPH. Last one I got behind was definitely moving faster then that.

 

[deputy11]

There are all kinds of makes and models of these here in the midwest. Kind of like crop dusting with a plane except you don't need a runway:laughing: Always kind of wondered why they don't get them out when the snow drifts are 6+ ft deep

 

[JD755]

I too have seen those sprayers lined up in rows at a nearby dealership in Kansas. Usually sitting out with these other NON-compact tractors.

 

[bigtiller]

They are made in Ankeny, Iowa. The big one holdes 1200 gallons and stretches out to 120 feet wide!

 

[BSVLY]

Hey Thanks. I figured it was a sprayer for somewhat mature crops. Did not know it had suxch a large on-board capacity. Wondered if it was used with a tanker trailer. Makes sense that it is self contained and can run around like an ag wagon

 

[Reverend Blair]

Yeah, that's a sprayer. I really wish they would have had them when I was a young farm boy.

I had the pleasure of driving one for a few minutes a few years ago, a two mile trek from the field to the dealership. I can't say I'm overly familiar with them but they are cool to drive. Smooth, easy to steer, a place to plug your I-pod in.

Apparently (never got a chance to check it out) they even have GPS, so they steer themselves in a straight line and set off an alarm when it's time for you to turn. That saves on chemicals and fuel.

 

[JD755]

You can read about them here.

Sprayers - John Deere

 

[techwrtr2]

I too have seen those sprayers lined up in rows at a nearby dealership in Kansas. Usually sitting out with these other NON-compact tractors.

You could pull a pretty good sized lawn mower behind that. :thumbsup:

 

[kude]

I rode in my tenants Deere sprayer. It is something else. He has his field marked out on the gps and the sprayer drives by itself. It doesn't guess where to spray, it knows where to spray. It can shut off nozzles to prevent overspray.

 

[jgrreed]

Lot's of them where I live.

They are serious gear!! Hi-tech, hi-performance, and expensive!! JD 4930 Base Price - $348,665.00CDN!!!

Not sure if most are owned by private farmers, or by custom applicators.

They can run on 'autopilot' via GPS, and when they do their tracks look like a perfect grid. They're slick, very slick.

-Jer.

 

[BSVLY]

Lot's of them where I live.

They are serious gear!! Hi-tech, hi-performance, and expensive!! JD 4930 Base Price - $348,665.00CDN!!!

Not sure if most are owned by private farmers, or by custom applicators.

They can run on 'autopilot' via GPS, and when they do their tracks look like a perfect grid. They're slick, very slick.

-Jer.

Wow-That is an expensive chunk of greene... Might be a fun way to spend the growing season running one of those..if you had the backing to be set up in one.

 

[mfreund]

They are so common here in the corn belt I would have never guessed anyone had not seen them. If the operator is using the GPS with autosteer, the sprayer will even turn off each individual nozzle on the booms automatically. Think like you are spraying for grass and weeds in a corn field and you come to a waterway that is not perpendictular to the corn, as you cross the waterway each indivual nozzle on the boom is shut off and turned back on without the operator doing a thing. Very High tech!!! Around here they are owned by the local COOP's or VERY large farmers (10,000 acres +)

 

[Reverend Blair]

Lot's of them where I live.

They are serious gear!! Hi-tech, hi-performance, and expensive!! JD 4930 Base Price - $348,665.00CDN!!!

Not sure if most are owned by private farmers, or by custom applicators.

They can run on 'autopilot' via GPS, and when they do their tracks look like a perfect grid. They're slick, very slick.

-Jer.

Keep in mind that a lot of those private farmers around Regina are farming between 10,000 and 20,000 acres. I've heard of some guys running as much 50,000 acres. Not exactly the 800-1500 acre places I grew up around. With minimum/zero tillage a lot of them only see each piece of their land 3 or 4 times a year instead of the 6 or 8 times a year we used to, and they crop every year, so there's no summer fallow. When you start looking at that kind of economy of scale, a $300,000+ machine starts to make a lot of sense given the reduced input costs per acre. Things have changed a lot. About the only thing I know how to do on a large modern farm is get out of the way.

So the big guys own their own. The smaller places (and there are still guys trying to make it on a couple of sections) either use smaller (and much cheaper) equipment or hire it out to custom sprayers.

 

[jgrreed]

Keep in mind that a lot of those private farmers around Regina are farming between 10,000 and 20,000 acres. I've heard of some guys running as much 50,000 acres. Not exactly the 800-1500 acre places I grew up around. With minimum/zero tillage a lot of them only see each piece of their land 3 or 4 times a year instead of the 6 or 8 times a year we used to, and they crop every year, so there's no summer fallow. When you start looking at that kind of economy of scale, a $300,000+ machine starts to make a lot of sense given the reduced input costs per acre. Things have changed a lot. About the only thing I know how to do on a large modern farm is get out of the way.

So the big guys own their own. The smaller places (and there are still guys trying to make it on a couple of sections) either use smaller (and much cheaper) equipment or hire it out to custom sprayers.

Oh I know.... my family is one of the 'remainders'. We have around 2000ac I think, most of it is leased out to the heavy-hitters.

You're absolutely right about the 300k machine making perfect sense - or 4 of them!!!

It's crazy how it's gone since I left to go to university 15 years ago. At that time we were ~2400ac, and we're definitely above average size-wise. You're right with the 10-20,000ac numbers. I haven't heard of any 50k acre operations, but I sure wouldn't doubt it.

-Jer.

-Jer.

 

[Reverend Blair]

Yeah, the thousand acres my grandfather used to farm...and it was a big farm for the area back in the 1970s...is leased out now too. I guess 40 acres of it will be mine one day. So the question becomes, "What does a guy who lives in Winnipeg do with 40 acres in Punnichy, SK?"

There's a 50k acre operation near the SK/MB border and another near the AB/SK border (near Biggar, I think). I saw them on the Prairie Farm Report. Both are run by brothers.

 

[jgrreed]

Yeah, the thousand acres my grandfather used to farm...and it was a big farm for the area back in the 1970s...is leased out now too. I guess 40 acres of it will be mine one day. So the question becomes, "What does a guy who lives in Winnipeg do with 40 acres in Punnichy, SK?"

There's a 50k acre operation near the SK/MB border and another near the AB/SK border (near Biggar, I think). I saw them on the Prairie Farm Report. Both are run by brothers.

Punnichy??!! Let's open a giant amusement park!! We'll name it after Grant Devine, and the roller coaster will be called "home improvement".....

-Jer.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

They can run on 'autopilot' via GPS, and when they do their tracks look like a perfect grid. They're slick, very slick.

-Jer.

DW's cousin has one of those GPS units & they can move it to different machines. Apparently they can download topographical features so if, for instance, the area is too alkaline the sprayers know to shut off. When doing thousands of acres the savings in diesel fuel, fertilizer, seed from not over spraying can save big $$$. Apparently you can purchase different levels of accuracy. He said at the highest level when they plant the rows 8" apart, they can come back next year and split that and put a new seeding right down the middle.

 

[Reverend Blair]

Punnichy??!! Let's open a giant amusement park!! We'll name it after Grant Devine, and the roller coaster will be called "home improvement".....

-Jer.

With the hills around there, we could just lay the roller coaster tracks on the ground.:laughing: