Is a self-driving tractor in your future?

[smstonypoint]

Here's an interesting article about technological progress in commercial agriculture:Tractor for Modern Farm Features Everything But the Farmer - Bloomberg

Steve

 

[4570Man]

No. If I wanted to sit inside i'd pay someone to come do my work.

 

[jenkinsph]

No, I enjoy my seat time/quality time.

 

[CADplans]

No, I enjoy my seat time/quality time.

I JUST purchased a 2016 Honda CR-V,,, it is almost self-driving. WOW!!
Push a button, the car will stay in lane with no assistance,,, and it has cruise control speed matching.

I would LOVE to have a tractor with these features,,, seat time, AND no work,, the best of both!! :thumbsup:

Now,, I gotta learn how to use Facebook, so I have something to do while I am "driving" the new car!! :confused2:

:laughing:

 

[MrFoPow]

Lol no.

 

[CCWKen]

I agree, it's not for me. I enjoy the seat time, the dust, the pollen, the flying chaff, the birds following me around with the cutter and the hawks following them.

I guess I won't mention wanting to add GPS to my tractor so I can keep my rows straight though. :ashamed: I'd have it already if I could find one that doesn't insist on showing me 3-D Cartoons of the roads around here.

I tried my DeLorme PN-40 and it works good but the screen is too small. If I could just find a large screen version of a hiking GPS, I'd be all set.

 

[CADplans]

I guess I won't mention wanting to add GPS to my tractor so I can keep my rows straight though. :ashamed:

When I was planting soybeans for my BIL,, I ALWAYS told him there were MORE beans in a crooked row,, than a straight row!!

:laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

I JUST purchased a 2016 Honda CR-V,,, it is almost self-driving. WOW!!
Push a button, the car will stay in lane with no assistance,,, and it has cruise control speed matching.

I would LOVE to have a tractor with these features,,, seat time, AND no work,, the best of both!! :thumbsup:

Now,, I gotta learn how to use Facebook, so I have something to do while I am "driving" the new car!! :confused2:

:laughing:

A friend of mine just bought one of those. She loves it. Her husband turns all of it off. :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

Here's an interesting article about technological progress in commercial agriculture:Tractor for Modern Farm Features Everything But the Farmer - Bloomberg


Steve

A friend of my wife farms around 8000 acres with her family. Her husband says during planting season, he is basically there to turn the tractor around at the end of the field, and that's about it. He turns it around, pushes a button, sits back, crosses his arms and tries to stay awake while it plants all the way to the end of the field, regardless of terrain. It stops at the end and makes a sound. He turns it around and repeats. He's only there to provide a dead-man function should something malfunction.

And that's what I'd worry about with any large piece of machinery, like a tractor, a train, a semi on the road, etc... something can and will go wrong eventually.

 

[oosik]

I agree MossRoad. Unless you have extensive experience with "the system" - are you sure that the manual override will work? I have this wild picture of a large acreage farmer - sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop - he has some form of GPS overview of his robotic tractor out in the field doing its job. This picture changes as the robotic tractor suddenly makes a turn and heads off towards the dealership( Zippo is going home). As this overall picture fades - you see the farmer frantically pounding, with both fists, on the laptop and getting ZERO results.

The next installment of this mini-series will air soon.