GPS for fertiliser spreading
Short answer
For fertiliser spreading, set Tractor GPS – Field Guidance to your bout width and it draws your passes across the field and maps the ground you've spread. With bout widths of 12–36 m, the phone's GPS accuracy (a metre or two on newer iPhones) is enough to stop the guesswork that causes striping and missed strips, on grassland or anywhere without tramlines.
Updated · Oran Dynamics
Why it works well for spreading
Spinner spreaders throw product much wider than the machine, and the pattern is designed to overlap with the next bout. Getting the bout spacing right matters more than centimetre precision. On open grassland there's nothing to aim at, so most striping comes from misjudging the distance to the last pass. A line on the screen at the right spacing fixes that.
Setting it up
- Width = bout width. Enter the distance between passes that your spread chart gives for the product and setting, not the spreader's physical width.
- Plan the job (optional): in Work Log → Jobs, enter the product, rate per acre or hectare and hopper size. The app estimates fills and time, and tracks progress on the Drive screen.
- Set the line and go: A-B along the first bout, or let the app lay out lines for a saved field with headland passes around the edge.
- Pause to refill, then resume. The map shows exactly where you stopped.
What to expect
- Phone GPS is accurate to a metre or two on newer dual-frequency iPhones, up to about 5 m on older ones. Against a 24 m bout that's a small share of a pass, and the overlap built into the spread pattern absorbs much of it.
- It won't find a mis-set spreader. If the pattern is wrong, guidance can't fix it; check your settings and do a tray test.
- No rate control: the app doesn't talk to the spreader or switch headland modes.
Questions
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Your bout width: the spacing between passes that your spreader settings are designed for.
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For wide spinner spreaders on open ground, yes for most farms: the error is small against a 12–36 m bout. For narrow or precision work, use an external receiver or dedicated guidance.
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It records the area spread, time and coverage map. If you enter the product, rate and hopper size in the job planner, it estimates totals and fills.
Try Tractor GPS on your iPhone
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Download the appRelated
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