GrainsWest Tech 2020

Tech 2020 grainswest.com 29 INTERSTELLAR PERFORMANCE Over the last two years, New Holland has gutted the cabs of its flagship tractor models, rebuilding them from the ground up. The company’s production tractor models T8 and T9 with PLM Intelligence now come pre-loaded with digital infrastructure to give the farmer greater in-field assistance. “These cabs needed to be upgraded from a cosmetic and functional standpoint, but the cab’s wiring just didn’t have the bandwidth to keep up with the speed of technology that’s happening,” said Ken Paul, marketing manager for high horsepower tractors. Chief among these upgrades, their remote abilities are designed to keep the farmer operating with minimal interruption. The corporation’s dealers can, with the farmer’s permission, tap into the tractor to remotely diagnose issues from virtually anywhere. When troubleshooting, the dealer should theoretically be able to discern the problem and make just one well-informed service trip to the farmer’s field. For certain smaller issues, a dealer can even fix the problem from their office. “The diagnostics could be a lot quicker because the dealer doesn’t have to come out and see the customer,” said Paul. “We can do service diagnostics within that display remotely. [Then] dealers come out with the right part, eliminating downtime.” Another leap for the company is its ISOBUS Class 3 compatibility. This digital dialect allows implements to communicate with the tractor. For instance, when New Holland’s ISOBUS Class 3 compatible square baler is connected to the tractor, it senses and reports issues. “It will gauge the high-low areas in the windrow and tell the tractor to speed up or slow down. It has a consistent feed of hay into that baler, so it creates the perfect bale,” said Paul. “It’s almost taking the operator out of the equation to let technology run the implement.” New Holland sees this as a priority area where farmers will want increasingly sophisticated machinery that will continue to maximize productivity. With the machine’s re-engineered armrest, farmers can control about 80 per cent of in-field operations without moving their arm. Depending on the task, they can change presets and re-program the interface to suit their agronomic needs. Frommoving forward and reversing to changing speeds, gears, hydraulics and more, the setup is aimed at operator convenience. “That kind of customization excites me, where we can look at a customer and say, ‘Yup, we get it,’” said Paul. He added that the company offers an unlimited number of user profiles. Over the next decade, Paul believes further technological change will see machinery become easier to operate. “These operators may not be the most skilled. With that in mind, we need to make the controls—the functionality within the displays that hold a lot of our precision farming aspects of the operation of the tractor—as intuitive as we can,” he said. Paul also believes that by 2030, ISOBUS will continue to gain acceptance. “The vast majority of the implements will get to some type of ISOBUS class or smart implement,” he said. “We’re going to see a lot more within the next five to 10 years. The landscape is going to change quite a bit.” ADOPTINGALIEN TECHNOLOGY Perhaps the biggest innovator in decades has been AGCO’s Fendt, which launched its Ideal combine three years ago. The company applied its innovative approach to tractor cabs, too. Its bestselling tractor globally, the “next generation” 700 Vario series will feature a new user interface. With it, users can drag and drop items just as you would on a smartphone. The tractor is expected to be available by late 2020. Fendt continues its push into the U.S. and Canada after decades operating in Europe. Richard Kohnen is marketing director for Fendt North America. While both markets demand progressive products, each has its own preferences. “Europeans are willing to go into a bit more complexity, whereas the North American farmer is like, ‘Hey, give me two or three clicks to get to where I want to go. Don’t ask me to push 12 buttons,’” said Kohnen. Customer demand has also pushed Fendt to take dramatic leaps in cab design. According to Kohnen, the joystick steering system for the Ideal combine was created in response to customers clamouring for better visibility and ergonomics. “If you’ve seen combine operators, they never sit straight,” he said. “Quite often, they’re sitting forward. It comes back to ease of operation.” With no steering wheel to grasp, operators can sit with improved posture. As smart farming continues to advance and machines do more of the thinking, there is progressively less need for operators to move at all. Many Ideal combine operational functions are incorporated into the left-hand steering joystick. While there is a generational divide on the setups of old and new models, it appears Fendt has its eyes on the future. Younger operators are naturally more comfortable with the tap, swipe and pinch than the turn, flick and crank. “It’s almost taking the operator out of the equation to let technology run the implement.” — Ken Paul Photo:CourtesyofAGCO