Shayne and Alex Jones farm 430 hectares at Rangiatata, Canterbury, focusing on dairy support, a bit of crop, and calf grazing. They cultivate around 250-300 hectares of their own land annually, and another 250-300 hectares as part of their contracting work locally.
Before working with Vantage, they had an older CFX system in their Puma tractor, which they bought second-hand. “It took forever to get on the line, wandered a lot, and often dropped the RTK signal. The farm’s location in a riverbed with lots of trees made it hard to get a reliable signal, and the CFX wasn’t unlocked to Glonass, which added to the frustration”.
“Vantage provided a solution by upgrading us to a new GFX-750 display for the Puma to solve our issues. We planned on moving the CFX to another machine but it didn’t cost much more to upgrade to a new display and get away from the issues they were having altogether. We also bought another low-houred Magnum and added a CNH completion kit to that too. Now, all three tractors are set up on PTx Trimble, running on Centrepoint RTX, and the GFX systems, LX40 modems, auto-sync, Trimble Ag Software and data-sharing features make everything so much easier to manage. From guidance lines to proof-of-placement, it’s all automatically updated, and we no longer have issues with signal drop-outs.
Centrepoint RTX is a game changer – it’s so much better than the old RTK system. The convergence time is fast, and the signal is far more reliable, even around trees. When we’re out contracting across the district, we don’t have to worry about switching radio channels or finding a signal – it just works.
The Vantage team has been fantastic to work with. They’re easy to reach, quick to respond, and always ready to help, whether it’s fixing a problem remotely or working through it over the phone. We’ve been really impressed with their support and expertise.
I was initially sceptical, but now that the system is reliable and works seamlessly, I wouldn’t do without it. Even rolling in the dark has become easy! For us, switching to Centrepoint RTX has made a world of difference – we wouldn’t go back.”
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