We get a lot of questions about this. In theory, Ditch Assist will work to operate a tile plow, however, there are some words of caution you must be aware of:
- Ditch Assist does not use an angle sensor, so for pitch plows it will not take account of the angle of the base of the plow. This may result in over or under pitching as it operates the hydraulics to try and move the plow to its target elevation. This over or under pitching could cause tiles to be pinched in the boot as the plow pitches up or down at an extreme angle, may cause tiles to be laid at a negative grade or have a 'dip' in the run, and could also cause damage to your equipment if the hydraulic cylinders don't have stops to limit their travel
- If you aren't using a pitch plow, then Ditch Assist will likely work well provided you aren't working in very complex scenarios. Using the regular grade control mode, Ditch Assist will work very much like a laser system. Using Slope-IQ it will allow you to implement variable slope installs - just be sure to add on whatever would be your minimum depth to the Blade to Ground measurement in Settings so that you trick the system to maintain at least this minimum depth.
- The position of the GPS antenna may have a significant effect on performance on some plows. Placing the GPS directly over the tip of the shear plate is usually the best, although this may not always be the case
If you decide to try using Ditch Assist on a tile plow, you must do so accepting the above possible risks and limitations.