Learning Center

Terracing: target won't switch, dirt doesn't balance, or lost in the zone

The Channel / Berm button won't switch, the volume strip shows a shortfall or Auto-Balance gives up, the berm line looks wrong, a terrace design won't load, or you can't tell where you are in the Contour-Guided Terrace Zone.

  • Full Automation Kit
  • Guidance Only Kit
  • Ditch Assist Lite

In the app Home › Terracing

Terracing works with two targets: the channel and the berm. Standard terraces need a channel survey and a berm survey; Simple Maintenance builds the berm from the finished channel design. The app balances channel cut against berm fill, and Contour-Guided Terracing keeps you inside a layout band.

Before you start

  • Know which terracing method you're using: Simple Maintenance, Standard Terracing or Contour-Guided Terracing.
  • For grading problems, be on the Grade screen with the terrace design loaded.

Time: 1 to 5 minutes for most of these.

Quick checks first

  • To switch between Channel and Berm while grading, tap Hold first (Ditch Assist Lite: Stop).
  • The berm survey was driven on the berm top, downhill of the channel and parallel to it.
  • Saved terrace designs reopen from the Terracing card on Home (steps), not from the general Load list.
Terrace channel and berm Top: cross-section of a terrace on sloping ground, uphill on the left. Runoff from uphill collects in the channel. 1: soil cut from the channel builds the berm just downhill. 2: the berm top stands a set height above the finished channel bottom, called Berm Offset in Simple Maintenance and BERM MIN HT in Standard Terracing, 18 inches by default. Bottom: the long profile along the terrace, falling toward the outlet on the right. 3: the berm line is the channel design raised by the offset; Simple Maintenance builds the berm to it, Standard Terracing treats it as the minimum. 4: the channel design is a smooth grade toward the outlet, never flatter than Min Grade, 0.10 percent by default; the bumpy line above it is the channel bottom as surveyed. Terrace channel and berm Cross-section Runoff 18″ Channel Berm 1 2 Along the terrace Outlet 3 4

The channel cut supplies the berm fill. If the channel is too shallow, there isn't enough dirt.

  1. Cut builds the berm. The dirt you cut from the channel goes on the downhill side.
  2. Berm height. How high the berm top stands above the finished channel bottom: Berm Offset in Simple Maintenance, BERM MIN HT in Standard Terracing. 18″ by default.
  3. Berm line. The channel design raised by the berm height. Simple Maintenance builds the berm to it; Standard Terracing treats it as the minimum.
  4. Channel design. Falls toward the outlet, never flatter than Min Grade (0.10 % by default). The bumpy line above it is the channel bottom you surveyed.

Find your symptom

Tap the line that matches what you see. It opens with the causes, most likely first. Check tells you how to spot the cause. Fix tells you what to do, one step at a time.

The Channel / Berm button won't switch“Tap HOLD before switching the terrace target”

Automatic grading is running Most likely

Check: The sidebar shows Hold, not Resume. An automatic RTK hold doesn't count; it has to be your own Hold.

Fix:

  1. Tap Hold, the grey button under the red Stop button. It turns orange and reads Resume.
  2. Tap Channel or Berm in the two-part button under it. The one you pick reads ACTIVE.
  3. Tap Resume.
Terrace grade screen while grading: the sidebar has Stop, a grey Hold button, and under it a two-part button, Channel (ACTIVE) and Berm; a bar along the bottom reads Tap HOLD before switching the terrace target.
  1. Hold. Tap it first.
  2. Channel / Berm. Then tap the target you want.

Ditch Assist Lite

Check: The app says Stop guidance before switching the target. Ditch Assist Lite has no Hold.

Fix:

  1. Tap Stop.
  2. Tap Channel or Berm.
  3. Tap Start.

Not connected

Check: The Channel / Berm button is greyed out and the Wi-Fi icon at the top is grey.

Fix: Connect first. See The app won't connect.

The volume strip shows a shortfall“−N short — deepen channel?”

The berm strip may also show NEEDS FILL, and the summary Redistribute material from higher berm sections to fill deficit zones.

The channel is too shallow or the berm too tall Most likely

Fix, any of these in the design window:

  • Tap Auto-Balance, the orange button by the volume strip. It deepens the channel until the cut covers the berm.
  • Raise DEPTH OFFSET by hand with its + button.
  • Lower BERM MIN HT with its − button.

Moving dirt from high berm sections into the low zones also works.

Standard terrace Channel Design window: the chart with the channel and berm lines, the cards DEPTH OFFSET, MIN GRADE, CHANNEL BASE WIDTH, BERM MIN HT and SIDE SLOPE, and the volume strip reading short, deepen channel, with an orange Auto-Balance button.
  1. Auto-Balance. Shows only when the cut is short.

Auto-Balance hit its limit

Check: The app says Cannot auto-balance — cut requirement exceeds N″ offset cap. The cap is Auto Balance Max Offset in the GRADING box of Settings (default 36 in, from 12 to 120 in).

Fix, any of these:

  • Raise Auto Balance Max Offset: tap its number in the GRADING box of Settings and type a bigger one.
  • Widen the channel base, or lower the berm height, in the design.
  • Plan to haul in fill.
Auto side slope won't work“Cannot auto-compute side slope from survey data”

The berm survey has too few usable points beside the channel

Fix: Set the side slope by hand with the + and − buttons on the SIDE SLOPE card.

The berm line on the chart looks wrong or sits above the terrain

The berm was surveyed on the uphill side Most likely

Fix: Survey the berm top again, downhill of the channel and parallel to it.

Minimum berm height set very high

Fix: Check the BERM MIN HT card in the design.

The outlet end is wrong

Check: After saving the channel survey the app asked Survey Direction, and you may have accepted the wrong end. The flow button at the top right of the design reads Reversed or Auto Flow.

Fix: Tap that flow button once to flip it.

Step 2 shows no channel design“No design”

The channel survey has fewer than 2 points

Fix: Tap Back and pick a channel survey with more points, or survey again.

A saved terrace design won't load“Terrace design — use the wizard”

Terrace designs need both surveys

Check: The app says Terrace designs need both the channel and berm surveys to grade correctly. Loading just the design here would drop the berm half.

Fix:

  1. Tap OK.
  2. Tap Home at the top of the sidebar.
  3. Tap the Terracing card. (If the Connect window opens, connect and tap Continue.)
  4. Under Terracing Method, tap Standard Terracing.
  5. Tap Load Surveys, pick the channel and berm surveys, and implement again. Or tap Resume Job to carry on a job.
Contour-Guided Terracing: I can't tell where I am in the Terrace Zone

App v1.5.4 has no zone readout (no UPHILL / CENTER / DOWNHILL / OUTSIDE ZONE text, although the in-app manual describes one). You read your place from the map and the lightbar.

Reading the zone Most likely

Check: The bright cyan line is the contour nearest you. The band either side of it is the Terrace Zone, half its width each side: amber on the uphill side, blue on the downhill side. The lightbar and the big arrows show how far you are off the contour and which way to steer back.

Fix: Keep the tractor over the band. You don't have to sit on the contour: ease downhill toward the outlet so the channel gets fall. Watch Drop and A→B Grade in the survey stats bar. If the band is too narrow for the channel and berm, start again with a wider Terrace Zone Width.

The band is grey on both sides

Check: The app couldn't tell uphill from downhill: no surface under the contour, or the ground is too flat there.

Fix: Use your own read of uphill and downhill. Survey the berm on the downhill side of the channel.

The lightbar jumped to a different contour

Check: Before you start recording, the cyan highlight moves to whichever contour is nearest. Once you tap START SURVEY it stays on that contour.

Fix: Drive onto the contour you want before you start.

No zone after Resume

Check: Contour reference unavailable — steering off the saved route.

Fix: Carry on; it steers off the saved channel and berm routes. Only the band is missing.

Still not fixed?

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