Autosteer and pylons

[Princess Pooper]

Tom Hawthorne has put up this link to youtube as a warning to others. Apologies if this was covered back in the summer but I've only just heard about it even though not a million miles from here.
Stay safe out there.

 

[Badshot]

Very easily done.
Must have been quite a few in ditches by now too.

 

[Shutesy]

Glad nobody was hurt and good on Tom for putting it up online, if it raises awareness in any way then it can only be a good thing.
@Tom H would you be willing to post a summary of what Western Powers procedures and recommendations were in this scenario as I would put money on quite a few people not knowing what to do in a similar situation?

 

[76masseyman]

Bloody good on Tom for posting that.
Like many others that have an incident, he could have denied all knowledge.
But you learn from your mistakes...........and others can learn as well.


Love the music choice too.

 

[dirty harry]

Well done for posting tom!

We had a smaller but similar do 5years ago with a wooden pole, no injuries but v v lucky!

Another farm a few parishes away had a similar do the same day which made it confusing!

Uk power networks were great & whilst looking at all the chaps& vehicles etc thinking it was an overkill it wasn’t at all !

Most important I found was think it all through very slowly without panicking before advising my operator what to do/not to do which probably saved his life thankfully.

Be safe, cheers dh

 

[Princess Pooper]

Note the very last words on the screen on the final shot.

 

[vantage]

Why couldn't the autosteer unit be equipped with a radar unit , so if the operator had not spotted an obstruction it would stop the tractor?

 

[Kidds]

Why couldn't the autosteer unit be equipped with a radar unit , so if the operator had not spotted an obstruction it would stop the tractor?

Or have someone in the tractor looking out of the window?

 

[franklin]

Hope the operator wasnt too traumatised. I think the trickiest bit would be overcoming the temptation to sit tight in the seat. I can only imagine the paperwork etc this sort of thing would / did generate. Hope all is well now though.

 

[JWL]

Earlier last year I was talking to a chap who had worked as a mechanic on various large strip mining concerns around the world. Many of these sites have the dump trucks operating driverless, some under satillite control and others by a radar system that follows the berns(earth banks that edge the roads). Sometimes these systems are monitored from many miles away but seeing as there aren't any people wandering about on the site miles from anywhere in the middle of Austrailia there's little chance of running over many people. All vehicles are tracked via satillite and one of the jobs he had to do was to park his service truck in the way of the unmanned kit. He was saying on how it taks a fair bit of bottle to sit there waiting for a huge dumper capable of carrying 50 tons keeps lumbering towards you even if it's only doing 20mph to avoid you using it's avoidence setup!

 

[Feldspar]

Link to this thread: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/beware-overhead-power-cables.207802/.

Horrible thing to happen, but thank goodness no-one was hurt. If it can happen to a highly experienced operator, then it can happen to any of us. Too many of us assume that accidents only happen to other people.

 

[Feldspar]

Thinking about the comment on the video about needing the next step in technology, I thought that Horsch were working on a system for sprayers when spraying at night that would stop the sprayer in case of an obstacle. This is what I was thinking of:

I think a system which will kick in itself is probably needed. I have programmed in most of the telegraph poles on our X30 screens, but I don't think they sound an audible alarm when approached. I must definitely check this as a starter.

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Just a thought for you blokes with such obstacles. Why not add a barrier around said pylon, like either a ditch or a mound that gives enough room to avoid the tower. It's pretty easy to nod off with auto steer (and pretty easy to deny that you did too). But such an obstacle would grab the operators attention before impact hopefully. @Feldspar , I'm pretty sure you can set alarms for obstacles on the x30. But its still easy to doze through it....should come with an electric prodder option

 

[graham99]

Or have someone in the tractor looking out of the window?

you know what they say about common sense.
it isn't that common

 

[kiwi pom]

Or have someone in the tractor looking out of the window?

Used to be that "steering wheel attendant" was a phrase levelled at certain "operators" when they had a oops. Cant even call them that now

 

[Kidds]

I wasn't being holier than thou with my comment, it's the sort of thing I could see me doing and I don't even have autosteer.

 

[JJT]

Used to be that "steering wheel attendant" was a phrase levelled at certain "operators" when they had a oops. Cant even call them that now

Seat warmer?

 

[milkloss]

I don’t want to be the arse of the thread but how did it happen? What was the driver doing for that run up the field towards the pylon?
I don’t have autosteer but I do have a monster pylon in the middle of our biggest field at 25 acres and to be honest it’s kind of hard to miss.

I understand accidents happen but the video didn’t explain much beyond that.

 

[miniconnect]

On these systems don't they have a function where you mark an obstacle, then it gives you an alarm next time your near it? I'm sure our EZ guide does?
Still no excuse for the steering wheel attendant not seeing it.

 

[franklin]

I dont want to make any assumptions, but when cultivating on autosteer for a few weeks in 60+ acre fields, with the engine pretty much making one note all day it can be pretty soporific. My wife's electric car reminds her to take a break after 30 minutes driving; HGV drivers have strict rules on length of breaks during their driving time. I wonder how many of us take regular breaks out of the cab during our working days?

Like I said, I dont know any details about the above accident, but I imagine that the powers that be were all over the owners' paperwork. Its tricky enough making sure harvest workers understand that while we want them to be working, that we are keeping a close eye on their hours also for their safety ie making sure that they finish their working day alert enough to drive home safe etc.