Gps Swing Arms Prove Their Worth

By: Tharran Gaines

When Boswell decided to add two corner systems to existing pivots nearly two years ago, he opted to go with the newest option from the manufacturer and install GPS-guidance on both. According to Boswell, who farms with the aid of eight center pivot units near Shickley, Nebraska, one of the corner arms was brand new. The other one was a used arm that came off a pivot that had been flipped by a windstorm leaving the corner arm as the only usable piece.

“I went with GPS on the new one, because it’s on a rented farm where I didn’t want to have to bury wire,” Boswell explains of his investments. “The other GPS-guided arm runs beneath a high-voltage power line, which can interfere with the signal from the buried wire.”

Just as GPS guidance has taken a role in equipment steering, it’s also becoming the dominant force in corner pivot guidance. All four major pivot brands – Lindsay, Reinke, T-L, and Valley – now offer satellite-assisted corner guidance. Previously, the only option for corner system guidance was a wire buried in the ground that guided the steering arm via a radio signal.