EZ Does It

By Beck Barnes|February 13, 2012

For many cotton growers, GPS-based auto-guidance systems have been an attractive option, but impractical to implement. As the technology has been popularized in the cotton market over the past few years, equipment manufacturers have catered to newer tractor models. Often, new pickers and planters will come pre-equipped for GPS auto-guidance implementation.

So a grower who has chosen to make the most of a picker he purchased six years ago, for example, has been unable to find an auto-guidance system that is compatible with his older model tractor. But through its EZ-Pilot product, Trimble has set out to remedy that problem.

“The EZ-Pilot product is for those types of vehicles that need higher performing accuracy, but that can be bolted on underneath a steering wheel that gives you a compact, almost factory appearance,” says Mike Martinez, Trimble’s product manager for guidance and steering products. “It’s gaining compatibility with hundreds of different vehicle models out there.

“We’ve all seen different farming operations where they like to keep their vehicles fresh, and like to lease new equipment every couple of years,” Martinez says. “But it’s the other farmers who want to soak the value out of their equipment over a longer period of time, their equipment isn’t all guidance ready. We’re offering an after-market solution at a high level of accuracy to them. The EZ-Pilot system can scale all the way up to the RTK level for high-accuracy purposes like planting and harvesting.”