Your first job, start to finish

Tap Pre-Flight Checks

Open the Ditch Assist app. Tap Pre-Flight Checks, the orange button at the bottom of the column down the right-hand side of the Home screen. A window opens.

1

Tap Connect

Tap Connect, at the bottom left of the window. A small Connect to Controller window opens.

1

Tap Connect again

Tap the green Connect button at the top of the small window. The app finds the module in a few seconds. A red message instead? See When it won't connect.

1

Check for green ticks on Controller and GPS

The window now reads ONLINE. The Controller row names your control module. The GPS row must read RTK with a green tick: the most accurate GPS position. Anything else: wait. Every row explained.

1 2

Full Automation Kit: hold Raise, then hold Lower

Under the GPS rows, press and hold the green Raise button: the implement must go up. Let go: it stops. Then hold the red Lower button: it must go down. Backwards? See Test raise and lower. Guidance Only and Ditch Assist Lite: skip this step.

Tap the X to close the window

Tap the X at the top right of the Pre-Flight Checks window. You stay connected.

1

Tap Ditching

On the Home screen, tap Ditching, the first big square. Because you're already connected, there's no Connect window: it asks What would you like to do? straight away.

1

Tap New Survey

The first choice. The Survey screen opens.

1

If a Set Blade Height window appears, tap Enter Manually

The first survey asks for the blade height if none is set: how high the cutting edge sits off the ground with the implement raised. Tap Enter Manually, the button on the left. No window? Blade height is already set: check it's right for this implement (Blade height) and skip the next two steps.

1

Type the blade height you measured

A box appears and number keys open along the bottom of the screen. Type the height in inches (typing on the tablet).

1

Tap Save

Tap Save, the green button to the right of the box. The window closes.

1

Drive onto the benchmark spot and lower the cutting edge

Drive to the spot you'll use every time, for example the field gate. Lower the implement so the cutting edge rests on the ground, and stop.

Tap BM

Tap BM, the small grey square in the bar across the top of the Survey screen. The Calibrate Elevation window opens.

1

Tap Manage benchmarks

Green writing with a flag, near the bottom right of the window. If you can't see it, scroll down inside the window.

1

Tap Set Benchmark here

The wide light-blue button. A small window asks for a name.

1

Type a name you'll recognise next year

The box holds a suggested name such as BM 4. Hold down the delete key (top right of the keyboard, an arrow with a cross) until the box is empty. Then type something like "South 40 gate".

1

Tap Save, and keep still

Tap Save at the bottom right of the small window. Keep the machine still: the app averages 5 seconds of GPS.

1

1

Drive to the start of the ditch, implement raised

Raise the implement into transport position and line up on one end of the run.

Tap START SURVEY

When the Ready to Survey window shows three green ticks, tap START SURVEY, the big green button in it.

1

Drive the line, then tap STOP

Drive the line the water will take, at a steady speed, without stopping. The red bar at the top counts the points. At the far end, stop the machine and tap STOP, the red button in the small dark bar at the bottom of the map. Survey a route.

1

Type a name for the survey

A window called Save Survey? opens with the keyboard. Hold the delete key to clear the suggested name. Type the field and ditch, so you'll find it next year: "South 40 main ditch".

1

Tap Save

Tap Save, the big green button under the name. Not Discard.

1

Tap Yes, that's correct

Slope-IQ asks three questions. First: did you drive from the inlet (START) to the outlet (END)? If yes, tap Yes, that's correct. If you drove from the outlet end, tap No, it's reversed.

1

Tap Continue

Second: Minimum Grade. Leave it at 0.05%, the standard for surface drainage, and tap Continue.

1

Tap Create Design

Third: tap Create Design. You get the BestFit design: as little cut as possible, always draining to the outlet.

1

Check the design, then tap Implement Slope

Read the strip along the bottom: Max Cut (deepest cut) and Est. Passes. Most first ditches need nothing changed. Then tap Implement Slope, the green button in the bottom right corner. Design with Slope-IQ.

1 2

Tap Save & Implement

The name is filled in: the survey name plus (Ditching). Tap Save & Implement. A survey you just drove on this base setup doesn't ask to calibrate.

1

Set Max Cut Per Pass, then tap Enable Auto-Nudge

Auto-Nudge™ splits the cut into passes, so the implement never takes more than Max Cut Per Pass at once. Use the − and + buttons to set what your implement takes in one bite (2 in to start). Then tap Enable Auto-Nudge, the green button on the right. Nudge and Auto-Nudge.

1 2

Lower the cutting edge and tap Start

• On the route: the tip of the pink machine arrow sits on the dotted orange survey line.
• Same base setup as the survey, untouched. If the base moved, calibrate on the benchmark first.
• No calibrating and no blade height changes since you started the survey.

Drive to the start of the run, lower the cutting edge to the ground and tap Start, the big green button at the top of the right-hand column. Guidance Only and Ditch Assist Lite: you keep the tip of the triangle on the line with the lever. On each kit.

If the blade dives when you tap Start, tap Hold and lift it: Blade dives at Start.

1

Grade the pass

Drive at grading speed. Auto Grading Active shows in red at the top of the depth guide, and ON GRADE on the map means the cutting edge is where it should be. Hold (under Stop) pauses the automatic control; Resume carries on. Grade the ditch.

1 2

At the end of each full pass, tap Pass +

Tap Pass +, the blue button in the AUTO-NUDGE group. The next pass goes a little deeper. Repeat until the last pass.

1

Tap Stop when you're done

Tap Stop, the red button at the top of the right-hand column. The hydraulics stop and the app saves the job with your pass number.

1

Tap Ditching

On Home, tap Ditching. You're connected, so it asks What would you like to do?

1

Tap the X

That window has no choice for picking up a job. Tap the X in its top-right corner. You're back on Home, with Ditching marked ACTIVE.

1

Tap Grade

The third button down the right-hand column. The Grade screen opens with No Slope-IQ Design Loaded.

1

Tap BM

The small square in the bar across the top. Within about 165 ft of your benchmark, the window opens straight on its card. Otherwise tap your benchmark's name under CALIBRATE TO.

1

Drive onto the benchmark until the card turns green

The card counts down: Drive … to the benchmark. Within about 10 ft it turns yellow, Almost there. Within about 1.5 ft it turns green: On the benchmark — lower blade and calibrate.

1

Lower the cutting edge and tap Calibrate to … (5s avg)

Rest the cutting edge on the ground at the benchmark. Tap the orange Calibrate to … (5s avg) button in the card and keep still for 5 seconds.

1

1

Tap Resume

The orange button with a clock symbol in the right-hand column. A list called Resume Job opens.

1

Tap Resume on your job

Your jobs are listed by date, newest first. Tap the Resume button on yours.

1

Tap Skip on Calibrate GPS?

You just calibrated on the benchmark, so tap Skip. Then choose Enable Auto-Nudge again, and carry on from the pass you left with Start. Coming back tomorrow.

1