Solsteer conversion tool lets farmers use GreenStar and AutoTrac with any tractor brand

A clever conversion kit hailing from the UK that lets farmers use John Deere’s GreenStar receiver and AutoTrac Guidance to steer their tractors regardless of the brand is now available in Australia via local distributor, T3RRA.

A common pain point among users of mixed-fleet equipment is the lack of commonality across machines. Farmers will use a John Deere tractor and move to another different brand machine just to find that the guidance system is different or less reliant.

A software engineer from West Sussex in the UK, Chaunce Barrett, had a lightbulb moment several years ago when helping out in his family business which does contracting work on farms focusing on silage and baling.

Barrett's home business was running a mixed tractor fleet consisting of several different brands including John Deere and Fendt.

In 2018, Barrett was studying for a BEng degree at Harper Adams University and wanted to help his father create a universal guidance system for all the tractors in his fleet.

They wanted to use the user-friendly John Deere guidance system – including a Starfire receiver and in-cab monitor – in their autosteer-ready Fendt tractors.

While Barrett remains tight-lipped on the full development process, he says it involved many hours on a laptop combing through the programming data on Fendt’s Canbus system.

Once the data was untangled and understood, Barrett used the programming skills honed at Harper Adams to write the software that would facilitate the flow of data between the John Deere and Fendt systems.

This software is stored on a small computer which is connected to both systems via a wiring harness in the cab.

Hence, Solsteer was born.

 “It took a long time to get the first one right – perhaps a year of testing within my dad’s business – but it’s pretty good now and well worth all the effort,” Barrett says.

Since the first iteration of the Solsteer setup, Barrett says he has managed to decipher the data on all major modern autosteer-ready tractor models, including the whole AGCO stable, CNH, CLAAS, JCB Fastrac and more.

Just about the only popular machines that aren’t compatible, unless modified, are some of the British-built self-propelled sprayers, which until now have tended to sell fewer units that are autosteer ready, Barrett says.

“All the manufacturers are slightly different and there are even differences between brands across CNH,” he says.

“The architecture is essentially the same, with a hydraulic valve and wheel angle sensor, but the way the computer communicates to make it work is slightly different for each model.”

For machines not geared up for autosteer, Solsteer is offering a conversion kit which includes the hydraulic valves and a gyroscopic steering sensor that fits on to the axle’s kingpin.

Since graduating in 2019, Barrett has been able to concentrate fully on the Solsteer Greenstar Conversion system, and there are now more than 500 units working in the UK. When including growing exports to Europe, North America and Australia, the total is more than 1000, Barrett says.

In a further evolution of its offering, Barrett has programmed a stack which enables the operator to set up and calibrate implements through the John Deere display via an ISOBUS interface.

Where required, section control and variable-rate applications can be run through the JD monitor too.

CLAAS and CNH combine users can also record yield data through the John Deere display and, with the relevant JD Link module, can transfer all the data into the cloud.

Barrett has also spent many hours scratching his head over automatic turns and headland implement management, which he says he has now perfected for all compatible tractors.

The ISOBUS interface and headland management come as additional, unlockable features.

On Fastracs that have rear steering capability, there is an option to put a receiver over the rear axle so it can operate independently of the front axle, according to Barrett.

This ensures mounted implements stick to the A-B line on slopes and is particularly useful for those operating in bed systems, with some Shropshire spud growers already taking advantage of the feature for ridging.

In the UK, almost all Solsteer kits are sold and supported through the John Deere dealer network, although some requests will come through other brand franchises.

Prices depend on whether the machine is autosteer ready or not, what features are specced, and what type of wiring harness and mounting brackets are required.

Toowoomba-based precision land forming systems company, T3RRA, has been appointed the distributor for the Solsteer conversion kit in Australia. Visit solsteer.com.au for more information.  

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