With the cost of fuel increasing to almost $1.50 per litre farmers everywhere are looking for ways to decrease their fuel consumption and keep their operation costs under control.
Tom Shanahan, from Freeling, South Australia has found a system that does just that. It’s the Trimble AgGPS® EZ Steer™ assisted steering distributed by HARDI. It combines a friction wheel with GPS guidance from the AgGPS EZ-Guide® Plus lightbar and turns the steering wheel for you.
Less fuel is used because you no longer overlap (or miss, for that matter). ‘You can easily get your money back in one year… with the cost of fuel going up to around $1.50 per litre and with input cost rising, it pays … especially for spraying.’ Tom explained
Tom has been cropping 1500 Hectares in Freeling, ‘Just north of Adelaide’, since 1983. He grows cereals, pulses and export hay.
EZ-Steer reduces fuel bill
Tom has been using Trimble® GPS EZ-Guide Plus Lightbar and EZ-Steer since 2004. ‘Basically I got it to utilise with our spraying program and now we use it for sowing, spreading, swathing and harvest’
When the AgGPS EZ-Steer system was released in 2004, Tom was quick to recognize the benefits. ‘It gives you time to look at how the operation is going and if you need to change something, instead of just driving and looking forwards you can look at the implement or whatever you’re pulling behind you. You can see a little problem before it becomes a big problem …’
The EZ-Steer system enables Tom to work more productively and with less stress. ‘If there’s dusty or no till conditions you don’t overlap because you’re not worried about missing … it drives straighter than I can drive … it just makes life less stressful for me.
‘I know David, my operator, is going to be right on with the EZ-Steer system.’ ‘It takes about 15 minutes to transfer it from vehicle to vehicle … maybe a little quicker than that … once you’ve done it, its easy.
‘It will be nice to have another EZ-Steer system so I don’t have to move it so much from vehicle to vehicle’. The Trimble EZ-Steer system provides definite cost savings and helps farmers control their running costs.