Here's a low-cost, do-it-yourself guidance system used by sunflower growers Blake and Calvin Nestibo to make cultivating easier.

"It's like putting your tractors on auto pilot," says Blake of Goodlands, Man. "We've used this method for three years on about 1,200 acres a year. It greatly reduces operator fatigue and slightly increases speed at which you can cultivate."

The system consists of two C-tines off a 12-row Wil-Rich cultivator that mount on a 65-in. long 4-in. sq. toolbar that mounts across the tongue of their Deere 7200 MaxEmerge planter. The tines are positioned 4 ft. behind the tractor's hitch so they clear the rear tires on turns and the planter's front tires in transport. The tines are spaced on 60-in. centers, exactly the same as the rear tires on the Case-IH 7110 they use to pull the planter.

The tines run about 4 in. deep, leaving a track 6 in. wide and 3 in. deep immediately after planting. While the track erodes somewhat in the weeks between planting and cultivating, there's still plenty of it left to guide the Nestibos' Deere 4430 and Case-IH 7110 for cultivating.

"The key is, we put single-ribbed, narrow tires on front of the 4430 and 7110 to keep them in the track," Nestibo explains. "It works like a charm."