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For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

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Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#291

Post by bryik »

froindt wrote: post #25
RosanaAnaDana wrote: post #7

There is probably a sizable market for building out software and technology for 'upgrading' older farm equipment to modern principals, such as self driving, variable rate fertilization, variable rate planting, etc. When I was more involved in ag research I met several farmers who DIY built themselves variable rate fertilization drills. While its not ubiquitous, the farming community has a very long culture of DIY out…

I've heard of farmers going so far as to make their own GPS guidance systems, enhanced before they were widely available and reasonably priced. I'm not sure how accurate and repeatable they were. Going to any farm that's been around for 20+ years, you'd see so many custom solutions that are really functional. Farmer one-off solutions are kind of like homebrew Excel applications - they're infinitely customizable, the…

Trimble GPS receivers go for around $10k (USD) [0], so I'm not surprised farmers try to build their own devices. Here's one who built an RTK GPS system out of a Raspberry Pi (and various other parts) for £250: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwxpo04AC5Q

0 - https://trimble-exchange.com/store/item/used-trimble-r10-gns...

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#292

Post by stjohnswarts »

johnchristopher wrote: post #254
macinjosh wrote: post #98

My grandfather, rest his soul, was a 3rd generation rancher and farmer. He bought 2 John Deere tractors in the '80s and used them for 35 years. They are still being used to this day on the ranch. Growing up, I visited the ranch regularly. Farming and ranching is very hard on equipment so the tractors often needed repair. My father and grandfather could seemingly fix anything on the tractor without even needing to go…

Do you think end-users products from corporation style farms are cheaper than family farm (for equivalent quality) ?

Initially yes, but through consolidation they will form 2 or 3 huge megacorps that control our food supply. It won't be pretty.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#293

Post by stjohnswarts »

scarmig wrote: post #71
brenden2 wrote: post #16

The technology itself is not the issue, the problem is that companies are at war with their customers. These companies will go to any length to extract as much revenue as possible. Milking your customers is not good for business, especially if you drive them into insolvency. I hope in the future there are more companies that try to align incentives with their customers, such that their business practices help custome…

> Milking your customers is not good for business, especially if you drive them into insolvency. It clearly is good for business, even if it's bad for customers and society at large. Pretending it's bad for business just encourages complacency because it suggests that the natural discipline of the market will drive the milkers out of business and encourage good business practices. But that doesn't happen, and if we w…

I think what's being overlooked is "it's good for businesses in the short term" not necessarily good for them in the long term.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#294

Post by stjohnswarts »

tejtm wrote: post #201
Vesuvium wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These companies are losing customers. That is never good for business. Eventually, someone will take the matter into his own hand and start making 80s-like tractors, so these companies will lose even more customers. They could do the same, but at this point they lost the trust of their customers, so it will be very hard to gain them back.

Maybe they are loosing a particular kind of customer they may want to loose anyway. Neither the number of acres to be farmed nor the number of mouths to feed decrease when a small farm goes under. The tractor has no long term concern of sitting idle and it may be giant non-corporeal people prefer doing business with their own kind.

lose... losing.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#295

Post by bryik »

froindt wrote: post #127
pmiller2 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does civilian GPS have enough resolution to be useful in a tractor guidance system?

I belive they were enhancing it with terrestrial base stations (Loran-C was mentioned in the discussion, which was 10+ years ago). John Deere has proprietary secret sauce and if I recall correctly, they can get sub 1" accuracy. That precision farming has enabled things like different amounts of fertilizer for different parts of the field, a substantial material savings and improvement for the environment.

u-blox's ZED-F9P chip is capable of 10 mm (0.39 inch) accuracy [0]. AFAIK, high accuracy requires being relatively close to a terrestrial correction station. Some states, such as Iowa, run a network of these stations and provide free access to the public [1].

0 - https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15136

1 - https://iowadot.gov/rtn/IaRTN-resources/About-the-IaRTN

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#296

Post by enknamel »

ogre_codes wrote: post #173
rtkwe wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Specifically though on tractors we're seeing companies essentially DRMing replacement parts. Farmers etc can easily find and install parts but then the computer controller will not recognize the replacement or won't reset from the error condition.

Yeah, that's something regulations can handle (and should).

I would like to move towards informed consent. A product should clearly state that it only accept OEM parts VS it will accept any replacement parts or only certified parts. Or that is unrepairable or only repairable by the manufacturer or can be repaired by anyone.

Heck think about printers. I would gladly only purchase printers that take ink or toner without chips only.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#297

Post by lmm »

Armisael16 wrote: post #222
jv22222 wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I heard somewhere that the greatest innovation (the most impactful at the particular stage of our evolution) was the bicycle, because, it enabled human cross breeding over much larger distances at a much faster rate than possible before.

That seems rather implausible given that railroads came about at the same time.

How affordable was railroad travel? Even assuming there was a railroad in the right place, would people have been able to go back and forth often enough for courtship?

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#298

Post by m4rtink »

tomjen3 wrote: post #180
minikites wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Which products are getting more repairable with time? Nobody is bringing back easily repairable washing machines or easily repairable automobiles.

I don't know about cars, but I am typing this on a Thinkpad in which I can change the battery with no tools and can change most of the internal components without more than a screw-driver.

While true for my Thinkpad (T520), it no longer really holds for many of the latest models, with many of the T series having solderen on RAM or secondary batteries that are built-in a not easily servicable.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#299

Post by stjohnswarts »

vmchale wrote: post #195
brenden2 wrote: post #16

The technology itself is not the issue, the problem is that companies are at war with their customers. These companies will go to any length to extract as much revenue as possible. Milking your customers is not good for business, especially if you drive them into insolvency. I hope in the future there are more companies that try to align incentives with their customers, such that their business practices help custome…

> Many businesses these days seem to be geared toward making a quick buck, rather than really providing any value. Seems like an American thing, in part.

Yes this only happens in America. In the rest of the world businesses are done strictly by folks with a good heart and no ulterior motives.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#300

Post by TeMPOraL »

danem wrote: post #288
NeedMoreTea wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Progress implies improvement. s/progress/change/

And how haven't things improved for the vast majority of people on Earth in regard to food security?

The dependence on fossil fuels goes so deep that we may end up having to choose between going hungry and overheating the planet.
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