Old tyme crop dusting

Great little film.

I'm thinking organic local produce all of a sudden though.
 
I didn't think anyone was using a bull steerman any more
 
You just know that **** they were using back then would kill you. Feel bad for the flagman...that job is only slightly better than getting firebombed with napalm.

Neat clip, though.
 
all those rows of crops look the same to me. I'd end up skipping rows or doing the same one 4 times. :lol:
 
rbridges said:
all those rows of crops look the same to me. I'd end up skipping rows or doing the same one 4 times. :lol:
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Not with the new Ag tractor, GPS field mapping will fly the field and not skip a square foot. and no more flag man.
 

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Amazes me how these pilots can fly a couple feet off the ground and manage all that energy. And without auto-throttles!!!!! (Sorry)
 
Tom-D said:
Not with the new Ag tractor, GPS field mapping will fly the field and not skip a square foot. and no more flag man.
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Ahem.. That is an AIR Tractor. The Ag Wagon/Truck/etc. is the Cessna line of utility planes. ;)
 
Tom-D said:
Not with the new Ag tractor, GPS field mapping will fly the field and not skip a square foot. and no more flag man.
Click to expand...

I figured the newer ones had some type of GPS tracking. My neighbor who is a farmer said their tractors use GPS to help with the fields. Someone said this film is circa 1970s, so I'm thinking he's doing it totally by memory.

The flying part looks fun, but going back and forth into your chemical spray doesn't seem like a good idea. :eek:
 
rbridges said:
I figured the newer ones had some type of GPS tracking. My neighbor who is a farmer said their tractors use GPS to help with the fields. Someone said this film is circa 1970s, so I'm thinking he's doing it totally by memory.

The flying part looks fun, but going back and forth into your chemical spray doesn't seem like a good idea. :eek:
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No, the flag man is marking where he should fly his passes. No memory necessary.
 
rbridges said:
thanks. I didn't realize that's what he was doing (I had the volume off at work). Talk about a crappy job.
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Some of the older guys talk about the days of using human 'markers' - they would go into town to the local dive bar and get some 'talent' to come out and hold the flag. They said they would get a 'show' on some passes. ;)
 
rbridges said:
I figured the newer ones had some type of GPS tracking. My neighbor who is a farmer said their tractors use GPS to help with the fields. Someone said this film is circa 1970s, so I'm thinking he's doing it totally by memory.

The flying part looks fun, but going back and forth into your chemical spray doesn't seem like a good idea. :eek:
Click to expand...

GPS is growing leaps and bounds in agriculture. The last ground-based spray rig I ran a few years ago had WAAS-accuracy GPS. Putting dry fertilizer or liquid nitrogen down on fields that didn't have rows was like flying a LOC approach at 20mph across a bumpy field.

Some of the larger farmers were actually putting their own antennas up to use for signal correction to get down to inch-level accuracy for their fields. They were literally letting the auto-steer on the tractor plant their fields. They could use the GPS in the fall when putting down fertilizer so they only applied fertilizer to the exact point where the seed would be planted the following spring.

The stereotype of "dirt-head stupid farmer" has never been accurate, but now, on top of having an in-depth knowledge plant/animal biology, finance, weather patterns, mechanics, fluid dynamics, etc. the farmers are also learning how to manage computer technology.
 
yea. straight rows used to be a matter of pride for farmers. now it just shows the ones who have the money for a GPS-steer tractor :)
 
CJones said:
GPS is growing leaps and bounds in agriculture. The last ground-based spray rig I ran a few years ago had WAAS-accuracy GPS. Putting dry fertilizer or liquid nitrogen down on fields that didn't have rows was like flying a LOC approach at 20mph across a bumpy field.

Some of the larger farmers were actually putting their own antennas up to use for signal correction to get down to inch-level accuracy for their fields. They were literally letting the auto-steer on the tractor plant their fields. They could use the GPS in the fall when putting down fertilizer so they only applied fertilizer to the exact point where the seed would be planted the following spring.

The stereotype of "dirt-head stupid farmer" has never been accurate, but now, on top of having an in-depth knowledge plant/animal biology, finance, weather patterns, mechanics, fluid dynamics, etc. the farmers are also learning how to manage computer technology.
Click to expand...

I installed auto steer GPS on my tractor for the first time this year. It gets me to one inch accuracy. Everyone talks of the straight rows but I bought it for strip till and the fact every year the rows will be in the same spot in the field.
 
He looks like the guy that taught me to fly 35 years ago....except his Stearman's were silver and yellow, instead of orange!
 
Swampfox201 said:
I installed auto steer GPS on my tractor for the first time this year. It gets me to one inch accuracy. Everyone talks of the straight rows but I bought it for strip till and the fact every year the rows will be in the same spot in the field.
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that is amazing.
 
I forgot to mention VRT - variable rate technology. Go out and do soil sampling for a field and mark the GPS coords for each sample you take. When the samples are analyzed, they are tied to that GPS coord. Now you can map your field and see where the nutrient deficient areas are. You can customize how much fertilizer is applied to each area.

Load that map into the application equipment, and you can put different types of fertilizers in each hopper on the machine. As you drive across the field, the GPS will tie your location to the nutrients required for that section of the field and apply the correct amount of fertilizer from each hopper according to the requirements. You are getting custom fertilizer blends for custom areas of the field, all on-the-fly.

I believe VRT is starting to make its way into cropdusting as well. As areas of the field are scouted, 'hot-spots' for pests are identified. Then they can GPS map that, load it into the application equipment in the plane, and the equipment will automagically adjust the flow of chemicals based on what area of the field is being sprayed.
 
Add to the VRT applications, in growing season spectral mapping of the fields to identify and treat problem areas. Amazing technology, but it will only be cost effective with drone use.
 
N2124v said:
Add to the VRT applications, in growing season spectral mapping of the fields to identify and treat problem areas. Amazing technology, but it will only be cost effective with drone use.
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field mapping for variable rate spraying paid for a lot of my bills in college. spent two summers doing a lot of that.
 
CJones said:
Putting dry fertilizer or liquid nitrogen down on fields that didn't have rows was like flying a LOC approach at 20mph across a bumpy field.
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Liquid nitrogen?? Is that a farming term for some kind of liquid fertilizer than contains nitrogen? Or are you actually dumping liquid nitrogen onto the field?
 
dukeblue219 said:
Liquid nitrogen?? Is that a farming term for some kind of liquid fertilizer than contains nitrogen? Or are you actually dumping liquid nitrogen onto the field?
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Fertilizer. We were spraying 32% N solution.
 
At 1:15 he's shown wearing Desert BDU pants. That style of BDU, to my knowledge, didn't come around till the mid 80's (the jungle fatigues of the Vietnam era looked entirely different and were of course, green), and the Desert shade didn't come around till the first gulf war. In what military did these Desert Sand colored BDUs exist in the 70's?
 
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