Machine of the Day

iTEC Pro now available for 30 Series tractors

John Deere’s automatic headland management system iTEC Pro (intelligent Total Equipment Control) is now fully available for all John Deere 8030 and 9030 Series wheeled and tracked tractors, following its pilot launch last year. Awarded a gold medal at the 2007 SIMA show in Paris, iTEC Pro combines AutoTrac automatic guidance with John Deere’s Implement Management System (IMS) to provide an active headland management system. Whatever the shape of the field, iTEC Pro automatically controls the entire headland turn and manages all tractor and implement functions with ease and precision.


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This includes forward speed changes, pto switching and the raising or lowering of front and rear linkages at exactly the right time and position in the field, in addition to automatically steering the tractor around each headland.

Tractors running iTEC Pro must be fitted with a GreenStar 2600 or 2100 display and a StarFire iTC receiver with SF1, SF2 or RTK signal accuracy. It is only suitable for use with the integrated AutoTrac steering system and is not compatible with AutoTrac Universal. Once activated, the display can then be used to work with iTEC Pro on any Waterloo built tractor, except the large frame 7030 Series models. John Deere’s AutoTrac automatic steering system provides accuracy levels down to +/- 2cm, in both straight lines and curves via the CurveTrac feature. When combined with John Deere’s GreenStar 2 displays, AutoTrac also operates seamlessly alongside ISOBUS implement control, documentation functions including on-screen mapping, and a comprehensive tractor performance monitor.

The key advantages of automatic guidance are now well established: reduced overlaps leading to savings in fuel, seed, fertiliser and pesticides, as well as higher working speeds, improved productivity and correspondingly higher levels of operator comfort.

With iTEC Pro, headland turns can be completed up to 30 per cent faster than before, with an accuracy and consistency that no human operator can match. The operator’s overall workload is dramatically reduced, and fewer headland overlaps will result in additional input savings and less wheeling damage.

Lincolnshire arable farmer William Strawson has been operating a John Deere 8230 tractor equipped with a pilot iTEC Pro system since 2007. He says: "With iTEC Pro my headland turns are 20 to 30 per cent faster and I can reduce overlaps across the field by three to five per cent. I can now work a 50 to 60 acre field up to 20 per cent quicker, and I don't feel half as exhausted as I did before, even at the end of a long working day. Just the fuel savings alone have already justified the investment. In addition, I now need less seed and I can apply sprays more precisely and efficiently. John Deere’s iTEC Pro really makes a difference." The iTEC Pro automatic headland management system adds £1538 (2262 euros) to the cost of the tractor, excluding the costs of AutoTrac and the satellite signal licence (where applicable).