A soil penetrating apparatus having an automatic tool (e.g., aerator tine) depth control system and method. The system includes an actuator that sets and controls tine depth, a sensor that monitors tine depth, and a controller that controls the actuator in response to the sensor. In some embodiments, the actuator is a hydraulic actuator, wherein once tine depth is set, flow to the actuator is bypassed. A relief may be provided to allow the tines to lift to a shallower depth temporarily when soil hardness exceeds a threshold. The system may then automatically return the tines to the pre-selected depth once soil conditions permit.

A soil penetrating apparatus having an automatic tool (e.g., aerator tine) depth control system and method. The system includes an actuator that sets and controls tine depth, a sensor that monitors tine depth, and a controller that controls the actuator in response to the sensor. In some embodiments, the actuator is a hydraulic actuator, wherein once tine depth is set, flow to the actuator is bypassed. A relief may be provided to allow the tines to lift to a shallower depth temporarily when soil hardness exceeds a threshold. The system may then automatically return the tines to the pre-selected depth once soil conditions permit.

An agricultural machine includes a set of ground engaging elements that perform a ground engaging operation. The agricultural machine includes a rearward sensor mounted to the agricultural machine to sense an area of ground behind the agricultural machine and generate a rearward sensor signal. The agricultural machine includes rearward zone generator logic that determines a first zone and a second zone, wherein the first zone and the second zone represent portions of the area of ground behind the agricultural machine. The agricultural machine includes rearward residue generator logic configured to receive the rearward sensor signal and determine a first residue metric indicative of the amount of residue in the first zone. The agricultural machine includes control logic that controls one or more aspects of the ground engaging operation on the area of ground based on the first residue metric.

A tillage implement comprising a frame operably supporting tillage tools, and a soil monitoring system comprising instrumentation operably supported from the frame and disposed to detect soil criteria before, after, or before and after the soil is tilled by the tillage tools. The soil criteria detected is at least one of surface residue criteria, soil clod size criteria and soil shatter criteria.

A tillage implement comprising a frame operably supporting tillage tools, and a soil monitoring system comprising instrumentation operably supported from the frame and disposed to detect soil criteria before, after, or before and after the soil is tilled by the tillage tools. The soil criteria detected is at least one of surface residue criteria, soil clod size criteria and soil shatter criteria.

In one aspect, the present subject matter is directed to a method for maintaining a desired amount of residue coverage in a field during a tillage operation. The method includes generating, with a computing device, an available residue map that includes an amount of available residue at each location of the field using a yield map and/or crop biomass. The method also includes generating, with the computing device, a desired residue coverage map that includes a desired amount of residue coverage for each location within the field. Further, the method includes determining, with the computing device, an amount of residue that needs to be incorporated into the surface of the field based on the available residue map and the desired residue coverage map. Moreover, the method includes generating, with the computing device, a prescription map for the field based on a correlation between a tillage parameter of one or more ground-engaging tools of the implement and the amount of residue that needs to be incorporated into the surface of the field. In addition, the method includes controlling the tillage parameter based on the prescription map during the tillage operation to maintain the desired amount of residue coverage at each of the locations in the field.

In one aspect, the present subject matter is directed to a method for maintaining a desired amount of residue coverage in a field during a tillage operation. The method includes generating, with a computing device, an available residue map that includes an amount of available residue at each location of the field using a yield map and/or crop biomass. The method also includes generating, with the computing device, a desired residue coverage map that includes a desired amount of residue coverage for each location within the field. Further, the method includes determining, with the computing device, an amount of residue that needs to be incorporated into the surface of the field based on the available residue map and the desired residue coverage map. Moreover, the method includes generating, with the computing device, a prescription map for the field based on a correlation between a tillage parameter of one or more ground-engaging tools of the implement and the amount of residue that needs to be incorporated into the surface of the field. In addition, the method includes controlling the tillage parameter based on the prescription map during the tillage operation to maintain the desired amount of residue coverage at each of the locations in the field.

A soil penetrating apparatus having an automatic tool (e.g., aerator tine) depth control system and method. The system includes an actuator that sets and controls tine depth, a sensor that monitors tine depth, and a controller that controls the actuator in response to the sensor. In some embodiments, the actuator is a hydraulic actuator, wherein once tine depth is set, flow to the actuator is bypassed. A relief may be provided to allow the tines to lift to a shallower depth temporarily when soil hardness exceeds a threshold. The system may then automatically return the tines to the pre-selected depth once soil conditions permit.

A soil penetrating apparatus having an automatic tool (e.g., aerator tine) depth control system and method. The system includes an actuator that sets and controls tine depth, a sensor that monitors tine depth, and a controller that controls the actuator in response to the sensor. In some embodiments, the actuator is a hydraulic actuator, wherein once tine depth is set, flow to the actuator is bypassed. A relief may be provided to allow the tines to lift to a shallower depth temporarily when soil hardness exceeds a threshold. The system may then automatically return the tines to the pre-selected depth once soil conditions permit.

A method and apparatus provide active vibration damping when remotely positioning a stabilizer wheel of a towable agricultural implement by detecting an onset of ground-induced vibration and automatically introducing a phase-shifted vibration-countering or cancelling/damping modulation pattern into a signal that simultaneously and cooperatively controls the flow of hydraulic fluid to and from both the rod and base ends of the bore of a double-acting hydraulic cylinder, to hold the piston of the hydraulic cylinder at a target position determined from a desired position input signal corresponding to a desired position of the stabilizer wheel with respect to a frame of the agricultural implement.