Should I buy a bolt-on autosteer kit or build it myself?
Be honest with yourself about what you're buying, because it isn't accuracy — both get you there. A bolt-on kit buys you install time, a support number, and somebody else's testing. Building it buys you the ability to fix it at harvest with parts from three suppliers, and freedom from anything that can be switched off. If you don't enjoy a wiring bench, the kit is a reasonable purchase and we won't pretend otherwise.
What actually works
The open path: cheaper, fixable, nothing to renew, and no company that has to still exist in five years for your tractor to steer.
$1,000–1,300 in partsA weekend you don't spend fabricating a wheel-angle sensor bracket, and someone to ring when it won't calibrate. That's worth real money to plenty of people, and it is the honest case for buying one.
Three questions, in writing: is there a subscription, does the licence stay with the tractor when I sell it, and can I still get parts in seven years? The answers sort the market faster than any review.
DIY fails at the bench, where you can fix it. A closed kit fails at the vendor — discontinued models, dead firmware, a support line that stops answering. Pick the failure you'd rather have.
Run the numbers
- Autosteer: dealer quote vs. built yourself → — free calculator, works offline.
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