Growers may now use GPS to guide implements. The new Outback Hitch is designed to guide agricultural implements such as planters and sprayers. When installed between the tractor and the implement, the hitch will automatically adjust the implement to the left or right, depending on the GPS signal from the Outback S guidance system.

Precise guidance

The hitch helps growers solve the problem of keeping implements in the intended rows, especially when inattentive driving leads to wandering. Use of the hitch and Outback guidance system should reduce operator fatigue.

The hitch uses two modes of operation. The GPS mode makes the hitch follow the GPS guideline. If the operator drives off the line, the hitch will compensate by correcting the implement. A “follow tracks” mode allows the implement to properly track through standing crops on hillsides and in curves, dramatically reducing crop damage. The unit includes a tilt sensor that provides side-hill compensation.

“The Outback Hitch's GPS ability to guide the implement, rather than simply guiding the tractor that pulls it, puts the Outback line into an entirely new league in comparison with the rest of the marketplace,” says Stephen Verhoeff, president and CEO of CSI Wireless, which developed the product. “It enables farmers to achieve unprecedented control.”

Total system

CSI Wireless in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, manufactures the Outback Hitch and the other Outback products exclusively for RHS, Hiawatha, KS. The Outback product line is a wireless, low-cost guidance system featuring differential GPS and Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) receiver and steering guide.

The suggested retail price of the Outback Hitch is $5,289, which includes a three-year warranty on electronics. Contact RHS Inc., Dept. FIN, 2005 W. Oregon St., Hiawatha, KS 66434, 800/247-3808, visit www.freeproductinfo.net/fin.