Kverneland Automatic Variwidth

Has anyone heard of Kverneland offering variwidth which automatically adjusts the plough to keep it straight. Kverneland man told me about it a couple years back but from looking on the website can't see it on there. Just interested in seeing how it works more than anything.
 
Location
North
I thought these systems are independent of the plough brand? An example here:
http://dempseyprecision.com/category/sbg/

"AutoPlough is brand independent and easy to install. The plough width is adjusted by the existing plough width cylinder. The cylinder is operated by an electro-hydraulic valve or by using one of the tractor’s electro-hydraulic valves. (Fendt, John Deere, Valtra)."

Never seen one in action but it should only need an angle sensor on the plough (to measure the adjusted plough width), a tractor with an external electric control for a valve and of course a screen that has this feature?
 
Thanks for the link, yeah I most probably misunderstood him at the time. Got it in my head it was a kv system. Be interesting to see one in action, you would want to be able to limit what it does, i mean you wouldn't want it trying to correct it all in one pass moving from 1.5m right up to 2.5m in the same pass. Better if you could limit it to a minimum width of say 1.8m up to 2.1m or something like that. Have to look out for them at the next show i go to.......
 
What is the benefit here exactly? Is the tractor manually or auto steered?
I think its for in the furrow, so manually steered. The benefit is straight ploughing which is up to you whether you consider it a benefit or not. We have lots of fields with changeable soils and slopes when your going in and out of holes and different soils it can be challenging to keep a straight line. These systems automatically maintain a straight line. Probably a hard thing to justify buying tbh but maybe if it was cheap enough.........trouble is it feels like cheating, think I might lose some of the reward one feels when doing good work.
 
Thanks Zebbedee,
see http://www.soilessentials.com/Essentials Plough Guide.cfm

It works by either adjusting the amount of land the first fur takes or the overall width of the plough.

Can you restrict the amount it adjusts. What I mean is can you get it to slowly correct a line that was out by say 5 or 6 metres. Adjusting just a foot at a time so that after a twenty or so passes it's straight. Or would it just widen or narrow it as much as possible and do it in 5 passes. I know from experience that the former method is what you want to do.
 

Stoxs

Member
I think its for in the furrow, so manually steered. The benefit is straight ploughing which is up to you whether you consider it a benefit or not. We have lots of fields with changeable soils and slopes when your going in and out of holes and different soils it can be challenging to keep a straight line. These systems automatically maintain a straight line. Probably a hard thing to justify buying tbh but maybe if it was cheap enough.........trouble is it feels like cheating, think I might lose some of the reward one feels when doing good work.

If you have Auto steer then this is a bit unecessary. Auto steer works just fine in the furrow. takes a bit of time to get width just right or just cneter it at the beginning of each run.
 

JimWilson

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Angus
What sort of cost is involved Jim? Just a ball park figure for fitting to say a kv hyd vari-width plough and in conjunction with an rtk auto steer system already available on the tractor

Ballpark ( as depends on valves, plough, tractor, etc) is £4k to £5k on a tractor already fitted with Trimble RTK

Can you restrict the amount it adjusts. What I mean is can you get it to slowly correct a line that was out by say 5 or 6 metres. Adjusting just a foot at a time so that after a twenty or so passes it's straight. Or would it just widen or narrow it as much as possible and do it in 5 passes. I know from experience that the former method is what you want to do.

Yes - once setup it "pares" the curves out by a small amount each time, assuming you start from a non straight line. However, once the line is straight, the main use is to compensate for different soil types. Can also be used on curves.
 

General-Lee

Member
Location
Devon
Can it make you a cup of tea as you go
If you tick on the options list.

acache1.asset_cache.net_gc_78075645_young_woman_operating_a_plee33923ca45372fd045f779c96f41fdc.jpg


:sneaky::bag:
 
Location
North
I'm sure John can see the third bolt on the bottom right is a bit loose, even if it is not visible in the photo.

Why criticise plough settings when that is not the topic at all. Chickens was more on the topic. :)

Robt, could you clarify if this setup is using a plough width sensor and actively adjusting the width? It is not easy to spot the sensor although looks like some extra wiring is present. Would be nice to see how the sensor is installed.

My avatar is on the same subject but no vari-width, just autosteer on RTK (and plough is nothing like properly adjusted, no need to comment on that).
 

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