Photo courtesy of John Deere

Auto Pickup simplifies collecting skidder production data while keeping jobsite progress up to date in live time.

John Deere announced its latest forestry technology feature with the rollout of Auto Pickup for its skidder line-up.

Industry-exclusive Auto Pickup within John Deere TimberMatic Maps makes it easier for skidder operators to collect production information while enhancing the ability to monitor job progress, according to the company. Without using Auto Pickup, operators must manually interact with the display to show the production completed on the job. This time-saving feature simplifies the collection of operation, requiring less engagement from the operator.

"This brand-new feature was developed to help meet our customer needs and boost efficiency and awareness in the woods, and we are confident that Auto Pickup will improve job sites and operator performance upon first use," said Matt Flood, product marketing manager, John Deere.

"The technology will automatically collect critical jobsite data, taking the guesswork out of the collection process."

Helping to simplify collection, Auto Pickup can be activated at the beginning of a shift by simply tapping an icon on the TimberMatic Maps display. Once engaged, the Auto Pickup feature stays on between key cycles unless manually disengaged. Therefore, the operator does not need to focus on frequently turning the feature back on, keeping the operator concentrated on the job.

Once activated, the operator simply selects the appropriate landing where loads need to be placed, and using machine intelligence, Auto Pickup will continually monitor machine functions to determine if a bunch is properly being picked up. As the operator picks up a bunch, Auto Pickup will automatically select it, and after an adjustable, preset amount of time, the bunch is added to the chosen landing. This new feature helps simplify the collection process, and is ultimately a hands-free method, requiring less engagement from the operator.

While using Auto Pickup, skidder operators no longer need to pause and track their production. This helps confirm that production information and inventory moved to the loader is up to date in live time, instead of calculated hours after collection. As the job progresses, production data and logging routes are updated in real-time on TimberMatic Maps, displaying the actual status of the jobsite, helping to minimize guesswork.

While Auto Pick data is being collected, owners, supervisors and foremen can monitor live progress remotely using TimberManager. This

provides full visibility of a job site from any remote location, minimizing the need to be present on the logging site to monitor operations.

Auto Pickup is now available on existing machines where TimberMatic Maps is installed.

For more information, visit www.deere.com/en/technology-products/forestry-and-logging-technology/.

This story also appears on Forestry Equipment Guide.

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