When it comes to precision agriculture, every pass counts. And to make every pass count, you need to have the ability to closely follow your guidance line of choice. Accurate line following isn’t just a nice-to-have feature; it’s the foundation for efficiency, crop health and profitability in your growing operation. Poor performance in this area can lead to overlapping passes, missed coverage and wasted resources. Let’s break down why this matters and how the ProSwath steering control engine is delivering improvement on every pass across your field.
The Hidden Costs of a Small Overlap
If your guidance system struggles to stay on track, the ripple effects are significant. Overlaps mean extra seed, fertilizer, and other input costs. Gaps can compromise yield and create uneven crop growth. In short, poor line following performance translates directly into lost time and money.
At first glance, a 2% overlap might seem insignificant. But when you scale that across hundreds or thousands of acres and multiple passes every year, the numbers tell a different story. One of our PTx Trimble customers in Oregon noticed a persistent six-inch overlap during tillage passes, even while running RTK corrections. With a 25-foot-wide implement, that six inches comes out to a 2% overlap on every pass.
This farm covers 2,000 acres and performs four tillage passes each year. In the fall they run a disk after harvest to incorporate residue, then cultivate to break down clods and improve moisture retention. In the spring, they run a vertical till pass and a roller harrow before planting. At an estimated speed of 20 acres per hour over 2,000 acres, each tillage pass requires about 100 hours to complete.
What Does That Cost?
The operation leases a 300-hp tractor at roughly $0.20 per hp per hour, totaling $6,000 for 100 hours. Labor adds another $1,800 at $18 per hour, and fuel costs about $54 per hour, adding $5,400 for diesel. All in, each tillage pass across the farm costs approximately $13,200.
Now factor in the constant 2% overlap they have with their guidance: $13,200 x 2% = $264 per pass for their 2,000 acre farm. Multiply that by four passes, and the farmer is losing $1,056 every season just from a small overlap.
That’s over a thousand dollars in wasted time, fuel and wear on equipment, not to mention the impact of unnecessary fuel consumption and soil compaction. And this is just one example. For larger operations or fieldwork involving more expensive inputs, the cost of just a 2% overlap grows exponentially. Precision matters, and even small errors can have big consequences.
What is ProSwath?
ProSwath is PTx Trimble’s next-generation steering control engine, designed to deliver superior accuracy and consistency in machine positioning and path-following control. These advancements are powered by the NAV-960 Guidance Controller, which offers enhanced processing capability and improved GNSS hardware for precise machine location and movement tracking. The latest improvements go beyond tighter accuracy and smoother turning. They include:
advanced correction for terrain-induced wheel slip
better control of steering actuators that are slow to respond
compensation for worn or degraded steering mechanisms
All this means operators can maintain optimal performance across varying field conditions with both new and old equipment. Field validation tests show ProSwath regularly achieves up to 50% improvement in steering accuracy (measured using 2-sigma XTE*) compared to our previous industry-leading algorithms. This means the machine stays within 2 cm or less of the guidance line 95% of the time, delivering the precision you need day in and day out.
From the Field
Farmers are noticing clear improvements with ProSwath and the NAV-960 guidance controller. They report that the system quickly orients itself after restarts, reducing downtime and keeping operations efficient. Steering performance has become noticeably steadier, with machines holding the guidance line more accurately and minimizing drift during passes on both tractors and self-propelled sprayers. Many also highlight faster convergence compared to previous receivers, which means less time waiting for the system to lock in and more time focused on productive fieldwork.
How to Get Started
Taking advantage of ProSwath is simple. If you’re already running PTx Trimble guidance and steering systems, adding ProSwath is as simple as using the NAV-960 guidance controller – a straightforward upgrade from the popular NAV-900. The benefits of ProSwath apply to other precision ag technologies from PTx Trimble as well. Any guidance setup that utilizes GNSS receivers, like subsurface drainage, land-forming activities, section control and advanced guidance patterns, can use the NAV-960 to leverage the accuracy of ProSwath. Talk to your dealer about compatibility and installation options to start improving your line following performance today.
* “2 sigma XTE” is a metric commonly used in precision agriculture to quantify steering performance and consistency. It refers to a statistical measure of steering accuracy in terms of Cross Track Error (XTE), which is the lateral deviation of the machine from the guidance line. XTE is the distance between the machine’s actual position and the intended guidance path, measured perpendicular to the path. Sigma represents the standard deviation, a measure of variability in data. 2-sigma is two standard deviations from the center. In a normal distribution, this covers 95% of all data points. So, 2-sigma XTE indicates the value within which 95% of the machine’s lateral deviations fall. For example, if the 2 sigma XTE is 2 cm, it means that 95% of the time, the machine stays within 2 cm or less of the guidance line.
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