I have tried multiple things using autodrive, courseplay and followme and would like to hear your experiences on how you tackled this task.
AD - autodrive
CP - courseplay
FM - followme
My metrics are speed and automation, some people prefer speed and don't mind doing it all by themselves; others prefer automation no matter the time it takes, I'm trying to get the best of both worlds.
Using only a single combine + CP to harvest, here's possible unload methods I found:
Single unloader:
- CP: personally I haven't used this much because from my perception AD does a better job.
- AD: this is my most used and probably the most popular.
- Pros:
- Fully auto (if nothing goes wrong)
- Cons:
- Combine downtime: combine is not running while calling for unloader
- On big fields unloader takes too long to calculate path to combine leading to more combine downtime.
- Pros:
- FM: Just recently I started using follow me to unload combines (for this I ran as many clockwise headlands as possible within reason: on tight corners combine leaves crop behind):
- I can have the auger chasing the combine with the pipe just above the tank so it is always unloading. For some reason if I do this the combine is always slowing down (5kph instead of 10kph) because it is detecting traffic (go figure...).
- To avoid the problem above I have the auger chase the combine a bit further back and just pull up manually (by changing distance) when combine is almost full so it doesn't stop.
- Pros:
- Combine has significantly less downtime, 0% if managed correctly
- Cons:
- Not automatic: requires player to intervene.
- Unloading the auger is another problem: either done manually or using AD
Let me know if I missed something and what works best for you.
Also feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Thank you