New autosteer retrofit kits added to our popular catalogue
After being around for over 25 years, the market for autosteer retrofit kits started to change a couple of years ago. Who are the newest players and what’s up next?
In a recent analysis, the changing market for universal brand independent autosteer systems, also referred to auto guidance or autopilot systems, was already touched upon. Many independent manufacturers of the technology have been acquired by tractor manufacturers. While on the other hand, many new suppliers have emerged whose majority is of Chinese origin.
Our catalogue is your guide
For the Future Farming catalogue, company ownership is irrelevant as long as an autosteer retrofit kit fits different brands and models of tractors and self-propelled machinery. Up till now, 18 of those systems were included in the catalogue with prices ranging from $ 550 for a do it yourself (DIY) solution to $ 17,000 for an advanced hydraulic system. The overview with extensive in-depth information about capabilities, features and technical specification of every autosteer system has proven to be an immensely popular and invaluable guide for farmers across the world. Our catalogue is your guide to choosing the right solution for your farm.
Prices stabilise
As far as rough retail prices are concerned, most prices have stabilised or have slightly gone down over the past years. That in itself is interesting as tractor and equipment prices have soared the past couple of years.
Two new brands
This year’s additions to the buyers’ guide are from Brazil and from China. Agres from Brazil introduces its agroNave system. Agres claims to out for its universal compatibility. Their terminals and autosteer systems are multi-brand, adaptable to machinery from various manufacturers, irrespective of the brand or production year. agroNave is available from $ 12,000.
Another addition is eSurvey from China with their EAS301 Pro electrical and EAS301 Pro-Hydraulic systems. eSurvey says that thanks to their advanced route planning algorithm, the EAS301 systems ensure that vehicles follow the exact same paths for seeding, spraying, and harvesting, maintaining an accuracy of ±2.5 cm. EAS301 Pro costs $ 6,499 and EAS301 Pro-Hydraulic costs $ 7,499.
Chinese manufacturer SingularXYZ was already included with their SAgro100 system and now also proposes the SingularXYZ SAgro150 for € 5.650 and SingularXYZ SAgro200 for € 5.850.
Growth expected for affordable systems
We’ve asked all suppliers for their views on the near and midterm future for autosteer technology. Not every manufacturer provided their view while these were the most interesting and partly also most surprising answers.
John Deere: “We see a growing market environment for retrofit auto steering solutions with an increasing number of new competitors entering the market. The challenge for the future will be to offer affordable retrofit solutions with a high accuracy and functionality level.”
Topcon: “We would estimate there is still a decent demand for autosteering kits as there are many tractors out in the fields and farms that – today – do not have a system yet and are not applicable for a factory-fit system. Towards the year 2030, there might be more factory fit systems present in the more advanced markets. On a global scale, there will still be the demand for retrofitted steering solutions.”
