Looking to invest in GPS. The thing that has been holding me back is the job set up.. A lot of my work is agriculture related waterways, terraces, etc.. USDA/NRCS does not use CAD, so my question is what would it take or is it possible for me to go to the field and map a waterway out 40' wide and 1.4 deep and have it ready for a machine control unit. Also most of my jobs are not on flat land, the slope percents will change from one spot to the next.
With changing slope percents and long runs, that is all the more reason to get into GPS machine control. Get someone who is experienced in setting up jobs to help you until you get the hang of it. After that you will wonder why you didn't get into it sooner. You can set up a job with local coordinates, set my control for the job, do a quick topo of the site, and you are ready to plug in your design, create the surface and start working. From there you will find endless other uses for the equipment. Good luck.
Dirthawk Designing a project like you described is a very basic function of the Trimble rover (ie the stick) and can be taught in about a half hour over the phone. Our trimble guys are very helpful and it isn't a big deal for them to spend time on the phone to go over stuff. The only real learning curve is the initial setup, which again, no big deal there after you do it a few times. It's the way of the future, so if you plan to be moving dirt in the future its a good time to get on board.