Coverage mapping: see what you've covered
Short answer
Coverage mapping paints the ground you have worked onto the map as you drive, at your implement's width. In Tractor GPS – Field Guidance a missed strip shows up as a gap on the screen while you can still fix it, and the area covered counts overlapping passes only once.
Updated · Oran Dynamics
How it works
Tap START on the Drive tab. As you move, the app draws a swath behind the tractor as wide as the active implement, in that implement's colour. Pass by pass, the field fills in.
- Gaps are visible straight away. A strip you've missed shows as unpainted ground between passes.
- Area is real area. Overlapping swaths are merged before the area is calculated, so driving over the same ground twice doesn't inflate the figure.
- Different jobs, different colours. Each implement has its own track colour, so the sprayer's coverage and the spreader's are easy to tell apart.
Pausing, resuming, continuing
- PAUSE when you stop to refill; paused time and movement aren't recorded, and the app warns you if you start moving while still paused.
- RESUME carries on the same job.
- Finish saves it to the work log. Need to come back tomorrow? Open the log and tap Continue: the earlier coverage is still on the map and the new passes add to it.
- If the app is interrupted mid-job (a call, a flat battery), the work log offers to recover the session next time you open it.
Recording keeps going
- Screen locked or app in the background: recording continues during an active job (iOS shows the blue location indicator).
- No mobile signal: guidance and recording only need GPS. The satellite map itself needs data, so for fields with no signal, download offline images of your saved fields in advance with No Reception Mode.
- Under trees: coverage points aren't thrown away when the GPS gets noisy, so recording doesn't stop along a hedge.
What's in the work log afterwards
The coverage map plus area covered, enclosed area, perimeter, time, width, distance, average speed and area per hour, with the date and any notes. You can also turn the outline of a job into a saved field with Create Field.
Questions
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Yes. Worked ground is painted on the map as you drive, at the implement's width, and stays there when you pause, finish or continue the job later.
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No. Overlapping passes are merged before the area is calculated.
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Yes for guidance and recording, which only need GPS. The satellite background needs data, unless you download your saved fields in advance with No Reception Mode.
Try Tractor GPS on your iPhone
A–B guidance, live coverage mapping and field boundaries — using the phone you already own.
Download the appRelated
- Working width and overlap Why working width matters for GPS guidance, how to set it and the implement offset in Tractor GPS – Field Guidance, and how much overlap costs. Includes a free overlap calculator.
- How accurate is a phone as tractor GPS? Measured against an RTK reference, a dual-frequency iPhone is typically within 0.5–0.7 m side-to-side under open sky; older iPhones are typically within 4.9 m (GPS.gov). Which iPhones are dual-frequency, what the app adds, and when you need RTK.
- Phone vs light bar vs autosteer vs RTK: tractor GPS options and costs What each kind of tractor GPS costs and how accurate it is, with sourced prices: phone apps (about $30–$100 a year), light bars ($1,500–$2,000), autosteer kits ($3,000–$12,000+) and RTK corrections.
- A-B line guidance on an iPhone What an A-B line is and how to set one in Tractor GPS – Field Guidance: tap A, drive, tap B, and the app draws parallel passes at your implement width. Set in two taps.