AShyFig

Interesting. I just finished with a thorny hydraulics problem on a 9870 Combine. It turned out to be a faulty sensor. Part of my troubleshooting involved buying a new sensor, and swapping out each sensor in the system one by one with the new unit until I was sure they were all working correctly. No calibration needed. When i do need to calibrate a system i can do it all from the onboard computer.

What a systemic downgrade in capabilities.

I've always been a bit confused about the right to repair debate, especially as it concerns John Deere equipment. I don't own any "new" John Deere products, but I do have a few pieces circa ~2010. Perhaps my experience is out of date.

Here's how it's always worked for me:

1. A code comes up on the computer.

2. A. The problem is self evident. Or;

2. B. I search online and find the problem. Or;

2. C. I search online and find the diagnostics manual, which I use to find the problem. Then I have diagnostics manual pdf forever, and can use this in the future.

3. A. I search online and find the parts diagram. Or;

3. B. I search my dealers website and find the parts diagram.

4. I order the part.

5. I install the part.

Has something changed with newer equipment that prevents farmers from doing this?

This sounds really interesting! I'd love to see it when you're done.

I wasn't aware that my Nest thermostat was going to be End of Life'd, but I just finished replacing it with an older Honeywell/Zwave combo due to lack of features and general de-googleing. Would be great to do something with the hardware, which is really slick.

It's funny you mention PitViper, because they are by far the worst offender in my inbox. I've unsubscribed multiple times, I've marked as spam multiple times, yet somehow I still get the occasional marketing message in my Gmail inbox.

Oh wow! Not sure if it was this exact program, but I remember some similar sheep roaming my desktop when I was young. It had the ability to draw pictures in MS Paint, and would often do so when you were working on something...

This future is a lot closer than most people think, but is hardly a solved problem.

-posted from my self driving tractor.

The future of drones, especially in dense areas may require some sort of technological solution like that, but for the time being out in the boonies here I would love for the rules to change so that the first 300' or so of airspace above my property is "claimed."

Enter at your own risk.

NathanBuilds on YouTube has a little robot which does the same thing with a large magnifying glass. A concept I am very eager to demo on an industrial scale.

Crush becomes a problem for us in Canola and Lentils during desiccation; which is a chemical application at the end of the season right before havest. As the name implies, desiccation takes a crop which might have variations in "greenness"/maturity and kills it all down to a consistent state for harvest.

At this point in the crops life, the canopy is quite filled out, and a large portion of it is already dry. By driving through the feild at this time you knock the seed from the pod onto the ground, where it is impossible to harvest. Thus it is better to do desiccation from the air.

They have the natural right of way. No matter who's paperwork isn't filled out, if a spray plane hits my drone I am at fault.

The advantage flying sprayers have over a tractor is loss. Driving a tractor through a field will crush a percentage of your crop, and a percentage of that crushed crop will never recover.

Depending on the field that percentage can be as high as 10. Depending on the crop, the value you gain by aerial application can be in the 10s of thousands of dollars.

Drones are going to be a large part of agriculture, but the problem isn't the technology. Imo the technology is already at a point where it's useful enough for me to invest in. If i wanted to today i could buy what i need for scouting and spraying a ~1000h farm from aliexpress.

The problem is the regulatory environment on two fronts. First ( in Canada) the pesticides I'd like to use are not registered for drone application, even if they are registered for application from helicopter or plane.

Second, I don't have priority airspace rights. Which means I have to have a person watching both the drone and surrounding airspace for crop dusters or personal low flying aircraft. Even if I file a flight plan weeks ahead of time and a NOTAM [notice to all airmen] i am required to ground my drone if an aircraft with a person is nearby. Even if they have failed to file NOTAMs, which in the case of my local spray dudes is 100% of the time. This makes completing a scouting or spraying job more labour intensive than using a tractor because I often require a spotter at the far end of a field.

Until the regulatory issues are sorted out, and drones can be operated with Beyond Visual Line of Sight rules, you won't see massa adoption of this tech.

My drone fleet is sitting and collecting dust at the moment, which is a shame because they do provide valuable information.