Fendt VarioGuide implement problem.

[Ted]

We have just had a software upgrade in our 724 to unlock Contour Assist which works fine.
However we now have a problem where a trailed implement when operating in a dead straight line maps askew to the tractor. Not in an offset manner but the left hand side further back.
This is ok if you're continually placing your last mapped run to your right but if you turn on the headland and come back against the last run with the mapped side on your left, there is a noticeable gap on the coverage.
In affect the machine is being placed in the right place along the wayline but the map coverage ends up with misses and overlaps.
If you reverse up you can see the implement icon correct itself and become dead square to the tractor icon.
Also if you change the implement mounting mode from drawbar to fully mounted the implement shows as being square to the tractor.
We had this issue with our 718 but a software upgrade corrected the problem.
Just wondering if anyone has encountered this problem.

 

[Longneck]

My one does this but only with one implement. Tried deleting the implement and re loading it but no difference. Dealers been and fiddled a few times but still does it.

 

[Boysground]

My drill always shows a miss to one side on the screen. If I get the measuring tape out it’s spot on. Never understood why this is.

Is this what you mean @Ted

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[Ted]

My drill always shows a miss to one side on the screen. If I get the measuring tape out it’s spot on. Never understood why this is.

Is this what you mean @Ted

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Bg, it won't show a miss unless you turn back on yourself and come directly back along the next adjacent way line.
The mapping is biased towards the right hand side as the implement icon is skew whiff to the tractor.
Annoying because it was fine before the software upgrade.

 

[Boysground]

Bg, it won't show a miss unless you turn back on yourself and come directly back along the next adjacent way line.
The mapping is biased towards the right hand side as the implement icon is skew whiff to the tractor.
Annoying because it was fine before the software upgrade.

Ive always wondered why the implement is skew whiff, I guess it’s because of the tiny offset I use. It’s been the same on 2 tractors one with Topcon receiver and current one with Novatel

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[matttargett4]

Yes we get this, drilling is spot on but implement crabs down the field behind the tractor, shows a slight miss but there isn’t one, I have asked but no one can tell me if it affects the section control or just the colouring in? Got the problem after an update to do contour assist as you say, not sure if latest software will fix it or if mine is out of date now, I don’t keep track as I get sick of paying for updates for radios that won’t turn off and gyros that need endlessly calibrating.

 

[Northern farmer]

An interesting issue. I've never seen this but then again, I run a very old SW on the tractor. Would expect bugs being fixed with new SW but these days it seems you get more new bugs than old ones get fixed.

Have you looked at the heading display? I guess you could create an AB-line at an arbitrary angle and then check if the gyro shows exactly the same heading. Also the steering angle calibration error could do something like this. Due to PID control, the integral part, the tractor may accurately follow the AB line but still feel the steering pointing to the right. In this case the trailed implement would be leaning to the right.

I can't even remember if VarioGuide gyros need any calibration. Usually the gyro heading would be fused with the GNSS heading. The steering angle sensor certainly needs calibration. Some farmers claim the sensor attachment wearing and introducing play at very high operating hours. Does not sound like wear and play here if the implement always leans to the same direction.

 

[matttargett4]

I could well be wrong but I think it's just software, the tractor icon runs straight so I don't think it's a heading issue, never shows up with a mounted implement, it started as soon as I got the software update so I don't think there are mechanical issues

 

[Ted]

I could well be wrong but I think it's just software, the tractor icon runs straight so I don't think it's a heading issue, never shows up with a mounted implement, it started as soon as I got the software update so I don't think there are mechanical issues

I'm inclined to agree that if mounted implements aren't affected in the same way, and the problem wasn't apparent before the new software and Contour Assist unlock, it looks more like a software gremlin than a suddenly new calibration issue.
This isn't a new problem as the 718 was doing the same for two years before new software last Autumn cured it.
The 718 doesn't have Contour Assist which is puzzling, making the link to the crabbing implement doubtful?

 

[Boysground]

Was going to take a photo and forgot, been on fertiliser today and no misses showing on the screen. Planning to drill barley tomorrow so will try to remember to photo the miss on the screen. I am certain it’s just the software and the screen. Drilling always comes up fine.

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[Ted]

Was going to take a photo and forgot, been on fertiliser today and no misses showing on the screen. Planning to drill barley tomorrow so will try to remember to photo the miss on the screen. I am certain it’s just the software and the screen. Drilling always comes up fine.

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[Ted]

In this picture, I'm working off the right hand side so the crabbing on the mapping is countered by having the same overlap placed on each bout.
Once you turn back on yourself you then start to get a miss and an overlap as the irregular implement placement becomes apparent.

 

[Northern farmer]

Ted, your tractor is clearly driving to the left of the AB-line. Should not happen but I don't know what to conclude from there.

The later SW has a setting to steer the pivot point to the AB-line or the implement (older SW default to the latter), which setting do you use? Not that the bug would be there but I'm just curious.

 

[Longneck]

This was what mine was doing back in the autumn when it was on the Horsch Joker.

It just started doing it one day. Not had any trailed implements on since then but it’s not done it with the fert spreader of tine drill.
Anyway they came and did a SW update after I reported this problem and it didn’t fix it.

 

[Ted]

Ted, your tractor is clearly driving to the left of the AB-line. Should not happen but I don't know what to conclude from there.

The later SW has a setting to steer the pivot point to the AB-line or the implement (older SW default to the latter), which setting do you use? Not that the bug would be there but I'm just curious.

In the first picture we are on sloping ground and in the second dead flat.
Not sure if that has any bearing on that wayline in that photo.
Interestingly today, I've run the drill configuration as semi mounted with a steering axle in the implement setup menu.
100% accurate mapping with no implement icon crabbing which brings me to the conclusion that this is a software issue. Put it back to drawbar mounted with a rigid axle and it's skew whiff again.
@Northern farmer, I can't find any settings to steer the pivot point to the AB- line or the implement.
Current Software in the 724 is 787/840.

 

[Richard Smyth]

This had been an issue within Fendt software for years in my experience. 3 or 4 years.

very odd but can be accounted for by changing the implement axle to a steered axle as opposed to rigid axle.
You then need to play with the axle to hitch point measurement making it longer to make the implement track correctly when turning. I had to do this with my sprayer as section control wasn’t quite right because of the crabbing on screen.

 

[Northern farmer]

So confirmed that the issue affects section control, not just an aesthetic issue then.

 

[Richard Smyth]

It affects the position of the mapping on screen which section control works from.

on mine it would turn the sections on if I drive across the ab lines.

doesn’t bother me as I’ve got the work around but odd it does it. New 936 on latest software is the same.

 

[Ted]

Ted, your tractor is clearly driving to the left of the AB-line. Should not happen but I don't know what to conclude from there.

The later SW has a setting to steer the pivot point to the AB-line or the implement (older SW default to the latter), which setting do you use? Not that the bug would be there but I'm just curious.

@Northern farmer, yes we do have the latest SW and we are using the setting that steers the implement to the wayline, that is, the tractor tries to square the implement to wayline.
If it wasn't for Forums like this and Youtube videos we'd be stumped half the time.

 

[Richard Smyth]

Have you tried my suggestion