gps system

TheSunderz

Hi all,
Just wondering does any1 know de average price of an ez guide 250 gps system and if they are any good? Thanks:)

maxxuumman

TheSunderz wrote: »

Hi all,
Just wondering does any1 know de average price of an ez guide 250 gps system and if they are any good? Thanks:)

Got on earlier in the year, about 1800 fitted, and with good aerial. Depends what you want them for. Perfect for fert/spraying/etc on grassland. Very happy with mine. Reception good. Paint feature very good for handy sized paddocks where you don't need bang on straight lines. With the price of fert, money well spent I think.

delaval

I have one two years now. €1500 with bog standard patch antenna. I would like the better antenna as some times lose sat under trees but then again it's the last thing you'd need under trees.

Certainly recommend it

TheSunderz

Thanks it would be used mainly for fert as im buying a twin disc spreeder( moving from wagtail) so i thought it would be a good idea to get one. is it a once off price or do you have to pay a sum yearly for satellite usage??

delaval

TheSunderz wrote: »

Thanks it would be used mainly for fert as im buying a twin disc spreeder( moving from wagtail) so i thought it would be a good idea to get one. is it a once off price or do you have to pay a sum yearly for satellite usage??

Once off payment. Whatever spreder you get make sure it spreads at least 18m or it's a waste of time

Dunedin

delaval wrote: »

I have one two years now. €1500 with bog standard patch antenna. I would like the better antenna as some times lose sat under trees but then again it's the last thing you'd need under trees.

Certainly recommend it

excuse my ignorance on this but how do these actually work?

Zr105

Ez guide 250's should be down around 1300 with basic Ariel at this stage ours was around that anyways! Used here for fert, spraying and opening sets when mowing which leaves it very handy for rake, turner or baler as ya never have short ground (well short ground that runs in to each other if ya get me) they can be a bit tricky to get used to, you have to try to remember its another reference and try not to look at it the hole time like... Simple enough to set up, just play with ur mounting location a bit to leave it close i hand for the buttons and so you can see the screen as writing can be small enough at times, but also were its handy to glance over to it

toyotad4d

why isint it suitable for any fert spreader less than 18m i was thinking of getting one but i only have a wagtail spreader i would also be using it for spraying and where in ireland can they be bought i dont know much about these gps systems im just a beginner Thanks

rs8

have used the top com, hate it

toyotad4d

delaval wrote: »

Once off payment. Whatever spreder you get make sure it spreads at least 18m or it's a waste of time

would it not be suitable for anything less than 18m as i was thinking of getting one and i only have a wagtail spreader i would also be using it for spraying and where in ireland can they be bough i dont know much about these gps systems im just a beginner Thanks

speedtheplough

we have a BlackBox cost about 1500 2 years ago works excellent on all 15m work,ariel about 2inch circle by haf inch, u stick a large steel washer on roof of cab,and ariel is a magnet.never gets hit by anything.

delaval

toyotad4d wrote: »

why isint it suitable for any fert spreader less than 18m i was thinking of getting one but i only have a wagtail spreader i would also be using it for spraying and where in ireland can they be bought i dont know much about these gps systems im just a beginner Thanks

Well less than that you could judge the distance without guidance

Zr105

toyotad4d wrote: »

would it not be suitable for anything less than 18m as i was thinking of getting one and i only have a wagtail spreader i would also be using it for spraying and where in ireland can they be bough i dont know much about these gps systems im just a beginner Thanks

They can be used at any width but when you get down to narrower widths it can be hard to distinguish between the lines. Have often set ours down at 3meters for setting out with the mower but it can be very easy to end up jumping from one line to the next, i just set it to a multiple of 3 meters for the mower(ie 9 or 12meters) now and its much easier to follow!

They are very handy for spreading in awkward shaped fields or ones that have a big hump in the middle where its easy loose your direction.

Also the paint feature is great for keeping track of area spread, and even just to mark were you ran out in the middle of a bigger field.
I have an external switch wired into our one to turn on and off the paint and have it fitted into the top of the spool valve lever so i can turn it on/off as i open/close the spreader to keep track of the acerage better

toyotad4d

delaval wrote: »

Well less than that you could judge the distance without guidance

ya i was thinking the same i would also be using it for spraying if i got one, thanks for the info

toyotad4d

Zr105 wrote: »

They can be used at any width but when you get down to narrower widths it can be hard to distinguish between the lines. Have often set ours down at 3meters for setting out with the mower but it can be very easy to end up jumping from one line to the next, i just set it to a multiple of 3 meters for the mower(ie 9 or 12meters) now and its much easier to follow!

They are very handy for spreading in awkward shaped fields or ones that have a big hump in the middle where its easy loose your direction.

Also the paint feature is great for keeping track of area spread, and even just to mark were you ran out in the middle of a bigger field.
I have an external switch wired into our one to turn on and off the paint and have it fitted into the top of the spool valve lever so i can turn it on/off as i open/close the spreader to keep track of the acerage better

ya id say they be great in awkward fields alrite iv a few with humps and hollows and im usually not good at judging distances so id say itl be a good investment the external switch seems to be a great mod very handy Thanks for the info

Zr105

toyotad4d wrote: »

ya id say they be great in awkward fields alrite iv a few with humps and hollows and im usually not good at judging distances so id say itl be a good investment the external switch seems to be a great mod very handy Thanks for the info

Meant to add earlier you can get the proper pins to fit the connector block on the back from eBay and there simple enough to fit, then just a bit of light 2 core cable and a switch!

Dont be daft

I seen someone say here before that a lad was charging them so much for mapping the farm and they just bought a GPS system and did it themselves.

Can anyone confirm or deny this feature on the EZ Guide 250?
What do you do? Just turn on some mapping setting and drive around the headlands of each field?

5live

Dont be daft wrote: »

I seen someone say here before that a lad was charging them so much for mapping the farm and they just bought a GPS system and did it themselves.

Can anyone confirm or deny this feature on the EZ Guide 250?
What do you do? Just turn on some mapping setting and drive around the headlands of each field?

There are 2 options, easy and advanced.

Easy will just show you the e-tramlines to travel at your selected widths.

Advanced allows you to do the same but you can also keep each field/paddock in the spreaders memory and measure distances, areas, locate points in the field, map field drains etc. You can also keep track of fert use and where spread and use a memory stick to download all data to your farm computer.

For measuring areas you must go to the advanced menu and select measure areas and drive around the fields headland at whatever distance you chose to stay out from ditch/fence and when you arrive back at your start point, you will have the area. Fairly simple to use, tbh.

Zr105

If you dont strictly want to map it but just want to get the acerage in the field you can do it in easy mode as well, just use the headland feature and drive around the field, you have to set an a-b line as your doing it(same with advanced mode) but once you get back to the start you press the first button on the left of the screen and the field size is listed within the menu that appears,

Also i could be mistaken but was the bit to keep track of manure spreading only added in the update which off the shelf units probably haven't had uploaded? Its simple enough to do as you just down load it from trimble web site onto a memory stuck and plug it into the GPS unit then

bob charles

my contractors got them, but dont charge anymore for their use. Thats another saving i have made so

Sharpshooter82

bob charles wrote: »

my contractors got them, but dont charge anymore for their use. Thats another saving i have made so

Must have got the price of them out of ya already bob

GRASSorMUCK

Would any guys have gone the next step and gone into auto-steer and the likes yet?

Zr105

GRASSorMUCK wrote: »

Would any guys have gone the next step and gone into auto-steer and the likes yet?

Nope couldn't justify it on mixed farm plus a bit of contract spreading etc, perhaps on a large tillage operation, but i think you'd either need to be doing low speed work like bed forming or else have big fields to work, you'd be half way up the stroke of a 5ac field before you'd have it on and be turning it back off again as quick

Hugh 2

Zr105 wrote: »

If you dont strictly want to map it but just want to get the acerage in the field you can do it in easy mode as well, just use the headland feature and drive around the field, you have to set an a-b line as your doing it(same with advanced mode) but once you get back to the start you press the first button on the left of the screen and the field size is listed within the menu that appears,

Also i could be mistaken but was the bit to keep track of manure spreading only added in the update which off the shelf units probably haven't had uploaded? Its simple enough to do as you just down load it from trimble web site onto a memory stuck and plug it into the GPS unit then

Have a 250 a few years now (a modified HP iPaq in otter box before that)
Never bother with A B line (I would refuse to use system that limits you to ABline (b.box and the like))
Spreading fertilizer I just drive round the headland in ever decreasing circles (or whatever shape the field is(think its called "freeform" option was called "last round" on iPaq)
The next step for me would be some simple way getting the data to the computer onto some sort of software package (preferably a free or dirt cheap one and preferably something super simple to use)
Anyone have any experience with this option on Trimble 250?

Zr105

Hugh 2 wrote: »

Have a 250 a few years now (a modified HP iPaq in otter box before that)
Never bother with A B line (I would refuse to use system that limits you to ABline (b.box and the like))
Spreading fertilizer I just drive round the headland in ever decreasing circles (or whatever shape the field is(think its called "freeform" option was called "last round" on iPaq)
The next step for me would be some simple way getting the data to the computer onto some sort of software package (preferably a free or dirt cheap one and preferably something super simple to use)
Anyone have any experience with this option on Trimble 250?

Yeah i tend to use freeform when spraying an awkward field as it lets you hit the field what ever way suits the bank to keep the booms as level as possible! But for fert its genarally just the straight a-b, perhaps it's just i started off with tramlines so used to doing it that way.. Also find going round and round ends up awkward in corners at wider widths, turn into the field and you'll miss a bit, turn out around in a loop and you may aswell just be doing it like a tramline...

One i do find handy in certain fields when mowing is identical curve! There's a field here that if you follow curved ditch on one side there's pretty much no short ground but try make a straight line there's short ground every were! Its ok going straight with the spreader because at 15m you cover the shorts in a pass or 2 but with mower its 5 times the amount of strokes....

Hugh 2

Zr105 wrote: »

Also find going round and round ends up awkward in corners at wider widths, turn into the field and you'll miss a bit,.

I did not want to over complicate that last post of mine
I generally follow the ditch for a few rounds but when the turns get tight I just spread following the 2 longer ditches turning off and on spinner ( if you know what I mean
Do you save your data on PC ?

Zr105

Hugh 2 wrote: »

I did not want to over complicate that last post of mine
I generally follow the ditch for a few rounds but when the turns get tight I just spread following the 2 longer ditches turning off and on spinner ( if you know what I mean
Do you save your data on PC ?

Yeah i get ya, i suppose it really depends on what your used to!

No haven't saved anything back, no real need for us!
I think the farm works software is one of the easier ones to link up to gps systems, but i think its costly, not sure as haven't looked into it, did get the free trial though and used it to work out were the divisions would be for paddocks to get then even but it was before we had the gps so didnt get to transfer it