Cranberry Farms Profit With Futtura EconoGrade System
Wisconsin produces more than half of all cranberries in the United States. Service Motor Company, an agriculture equipment dealer, located in Dale, WI, recognized an opportunity to aid cranberry farmers with their efficiency and bottom line with the Futtura EconoGrade Machine Control System. The System, consisting of the EG1 and EG2, is the most economical fine-grade system on the market and is distributed by Inteq Distributors, the exclusive provider to Kubota.
Jorden Kuntz, Agriculture Systems Technician for Service Motor Company states, “With so many cranberry farmers here, we knew the Futtura EG1 and EG2 technology would be significant to these farmers.”
Service Motor Company set up a demonstration event for November 11-12, 2020 at Fanning Cranberry Farm in Wisconsin Rapids inviting farmers in the area to attend. “We set up two box blades, the BB30 de and the BB45 with an EG1 and an EG2 and ran demos on both,” said Kuntz.
Farmers renovate cranberry beds, known as bogs, to promote growth, reduce disease and insect populations and improve productivity. When renovating, a layer of sand is dispersed across the bog and must be level so water does not pool during irrigation. The sand is graded across the bog at a consistent 14-18 inches deep.
Accuracy in the level of the sand is essential. The EG1 Laser Grade Control System provides accurate grading results in less time with less labor. The system is versatile, efficient, economical and durable and can be used for numerous applications including field grading, lot leveling, laser screed and automated control.
“We attached the EG1 to a BB45 Kubota box blade and were able to show farmers how easy the EG1 is to install, the amount of bog we were able to laser level in significantly less time, as well as the accuracy,” said Kuntz. “All seemed really impressed.”
Additional demonstrations included the EG2 on a Kubota BB30 and an iDig system on a mini excavator. EG2 offers dual 360-degree receivers providing the maximum laser accuracy down to 2mm. The iDig system provides 2D grade control eliminating the grade checker in the hole and over digging with its exceptional accuracy.
The EG Series System can be installed on a number of Kubota machines including box blades, box scrapers, graders, mini-graders and skid steers. It can control any valve package, giving the user both LED and real-time LCD display so they are always aware of the blade position.
Kuntz deemed the event a success, “We had a great turnout and definitely impressed the attendees with the significant capabilities of the EconoGrade systems.”
