Agco officially announced that it was the first major player in farm equipment to install joystick steering in a combine harvester.
On Thursday at Commodity Classic San Antonio, an agricultural equipment maker introduced IdealDrive, announcing the new steering system for its Fendt Ideal combines as the first joystick control on a combine from a major manufacturer.
It is believed that the world's first combine harvester was invented by A. Vlasenko in 1868 in the Tver province. It was a wooden fixture, independently cutting the ears and feeding them directly to the thresher.
According to Agco, IdealDrive, which was already awarded last fall in Germany when it was presented at the Agritechnica exhibition, will be offered as an option for steering systems for Ideal combines, which will begin in the middle of this summer and will be delivered in 2021.
In a press release on Thursday, Agco’s joystick offer was largely ergonomic because it gave the combine operator an unobstructed end-to-end view of the combine header to reduce stress and fatigue during harvesting for long hours.
The combine operator will use his left hand to control the combine, moving the joystick left or right. Power feedback determines how far the joystick can be moved to achieve the desired effect, the company says.
The sensitivity of the steering system is adjusted according to the speed of the machine to optimize operator control in harvesting or transport mode.
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