Learning Center

Take a deep cut in passes: Nudge and Auto-Nudge

Two ways to grade a cut deeper than one pass: Nudge, where you move the target up or down a step at a time, and Auto-Nudge™, where the app stages the passes from your Max Cut Per Pass and you step through them with Pass + and Pass −.

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

In the app Grade sidebar › Nudge Up / Nudge Down, or Pass + / Pass −

A scraper or ditcher takes only so much in one pass. When the design calls for more, you grade it in passes, each one a little deeper, until the last pass reaches the design. The app gives you two ways to set each pass's target: Nudge, which you move yourself, and Auto-Nudge™, which works the passes out for you.

Each Pass + lowers the current target by the max cut per pass until it reaches final grade.

You use one or the other. With Auto-Nudge on, the column of buttons down the right side of the Grade screen shows Pass + and Pass −. With it off, it shows Nudge Up and Nudge Down.

Before you start

  • A design is implemented and you're on the Grade screen (Ditching, Simple Grading), or about to be: Auto-Nudge is chosen in a window that opens right after you implement
  • You know roughly how deep your implement can cut in one pass in this ground

Time: a few seconds to set up, then one tap at the end of each pass.

NudgeAuto-Nudge
What movesThe whole target, up or down by the same amount everywhereEach pass's target, worked out station by station from the survey
You tapNudge Up / Nudge DownPass + after each full pass
Shallow stretchesRaised with the rest: the blade lifts there tooAlready at final grade from pass 1
Use it forShallow cuts, a one-off shallower or deeper pass, hard groundDeep cuts that vary along the run
WorkflowsAll grading workflowsDitching, Simple Grading, Terracing, Land Forming

Auto-Nudge

Auto-Nudge reads the deepest cut on the design and divides it by your Max Cut Per Pass, rounded up: a 7.7 in cut at 2 in a pass is 4 passes. On each pass the target is your surveyed ground less that many bites (pass 1 = ground − 2 in, pass 2 = ground − 4 in…), but never below the design. Where the cut is shallow, the target is the design from the first pass, so the blade finishes those stretches straight away and keeps working where the cut is deep.

Auto-Nudge pass targets Top: side view of a ditch run. The green surveyed ground sits above the dark orange final grade, deepest in the middle. Auto-Nudge stages the cut: the target for each pass is the ground minus the pass number times Max Cut Per Pass, but never below final grade. Pass 1, the bold dashed line, follows the ground 2 inches down; passes 2 and 3 are fainter, each 2 inches deeper. Near the ends the cut is shallow, so pass 1 is already final grade there. Bottom: a close-up of the deepest point, a 7.7 inch cut at 2 inches per pass: pass 1 takes 2 inches, pass 2 another 2, pass 3 another 2, and pass 4 the last 1.7 inches to final grade, so the app counts 4 passes. Auto-Nudge stages a deep cut Ground Pass 1 Final grade Pass 1 = final here Deepest point: 7.7" cut 2" 2" 2" 1.7" Ground Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 3 Pass 4: final
Each pass's target is the ground less one more Max Cut Per Pass (2 in here), but never below final grade, so shallow stretches are finished on pass 1. At the deepest point, 7.7 in at 2 in a pass, rounded up, is 4 passes: the sidebar shows Pass 1 of 4.

Set Max Cut Per Pass

A window called Auto-Nudge Mode opens across the screen after you implement a design (Ditching, Simple Grading, Terracing, Land Forming).

Set Max Cut Per Pass to what your implement takes in one bite in this ground. It starts at your Max Cut Depth setting (2 in). Tap ⊕ (right of the number) for more, ⊖ (left) for less: 0.5 in a tap, from 0.5 to 12 in.

Auto-Nudge Mode window across the screen: Max Cut Per Pass with a minus button, 2.0 inches and a plus button, Estimated 6 passs at deepest point, and two wide buttons, Use Manual Nudge (white) and Enable Auto-Nudge (green)
  1. Max Cut Per Pass. ⊖ and ⊕ either side of the number.
  2. Estimate. Passes at the deepest point, worked out at the starting value.

Tap Enable Auto-Nudge

Enable Auto-Nudge is the wide green button at the bottom right of the window. Tap it. Pass + and Pass − take the place of the nudge buttons on the Grade screen.

The same Auto-Nudge Mode window, with the wide green Enable Auto-Nudge button at the bottom right
  1. Enable Auto-Nudge. Bottom right of the window.

Tap Start and grade the whole run

Lower the cutting edge and tap Start, top of the column on the right (Grade a pass). Grade the whole run.

You should see an AUTO-NUDGE box in the column on the right, reading Pass 1 of 6. Where this pass's target sits above the design, the guide shows a blue CURRENT line over the yellow FINAL TARGET band. The stats bar shows Design next to Target.

Auto-Nudge pass 1 while grading: the guide's blue CURRENT line above the yellow FINAL TARGET band, readout Current Tgt 0.0 ON GRADE, stats Target 807.06 and Design 806.67, and an Auto-Nudge box with Max Cut 2.0, Pass +, Pass 1 of 6 and a greyed-out Pass −
  1. CURRENT. Pass 1's target, above the yellow FINAL TARGET band.
  2. Target and Design. This pass's elevation, and the design's.

Tap Pass + at the end of each full pass

When you've covered the whole run, tap Pass +, the blue button in the AUTO-NUDGE box. Every target that's still above the design drops another bite. Passes don't step on by themselves: you decide when the run is done.

The Auto-Nudge box in the right-hand column: Max Cut 2.0 in, a blue Pass + button, Pass 1 of 6 and a greyed-out Pass − button
  1. Pass +. Next pass, one bite deeper.

Check the pass number

You should see Pass 2 of 6, and Pass − turns blue. Pass − goes back one pass if you stepped on too soon or the ground was too hard. Pass + stops at the last pass.

After Pass +: the Auto-Nudge box reads Pass 2 of 6 and Pass − is now blue; on this stretch the readout says Target 0.0 ON GRADE with no CURRENT line
  1. Pass 2 of 6 and Pass −. Where you are, and the way back one pass.

Finish on the last pass

Keep grading pass by pass. On the last pass every target is the design: the CURRENT line is gone, and the readout is labelled Target. Coverage on the map turns green as each stretch reaches final grade.

Grade screen on a stretch already at final grade: no CURRENT line in the guide, and the readout box reads Target 0.0 ON GRADE
  1. Target. No CURRENT line: this stretch is at final grade.

Turn Auto-Nudge off or on mid-job

The Auto Nudge switch, in the stats bar at the top of the Grade screen, swaps between Pass + / Pass − and the nudge buttons at any time. Tap it.

The stats bar at the top of the Grade screen with the Auto Nudge switch turned on (green), between the RTK button and the Wi-Fi button
  1. Auto Nudge switch. Green: on (pass buttons). White: off (nudge buttons).

New designs start with Auto-Nudge as set in Settings (Auto Nudge, under GRADING; on unless you changed it). With that setting off, the Auto-Nudge Mode window doesn't appear at all.

Nudge

Each tap of Nudge Up raises the target by the Nudge Sensitivity step (2 in unless you changed it, in Settings under GRADING), so the blade cuts shallower. Nudge Down lowers it. The value shows between the two buttons: green when raised, red when lowered.

  1. Get the nudge buttons

    Tap Use Manual Nudge in the Auto-Nudge Mode window, or turn the Auto Nudge switch off. You should see Nudge Up and Nudge Down in place of the pass buttons, with 0" between them.

    Grading with the Auto Nudge switch off: Nudge Up, 0 inches and Nudge Down in the right-hand column; the stats bar shows Current, Target and Nudge
    1. Nudge Up, the nudge, Nudge Down. Here at 0".

  2. Tap Nudge Up

    Tap Nudge Up, the upper blue button. Each tap raises the target one step.

    The blue Nudge Up button in the right-hand column, above 0 inches and Nudge Down
    1. Nudge Up. Target up one step (2 in).

    You should see the value go up in green, here +6.0" after three taps. The guide shows a blue CURRENT line for the nudged target, the stats bar adds Design, and the chart draws a dashed pass line.

    Nudge +6.0 inches: green +6.0 between Nudge Up and Nudge Down, stats Nudge +6.0 and Design 808.45, the guide's CURRENT line above FINAL TARGET, a dashed orange PASS line on the chart above the design
    1. +6.0". The target is 6 in above the design.
    2. CURRENT. The nudged target, above the FINAL band.

  3. Step back down pass by pass

    Example: an 8 in cut, 2 in bites. Nudge Up three times (+6 in) and grade the run. Tap Nudge Down once (+4 in) and grade again. Then +2 in, then 0 for the final pass on the design.

  4. Nudge below zero only on purpose

    Below 0, the value turns red and the target is below the design, so the blade cuts deeper than designed. The CURRENT line drops under the FINAL band.

    Nudge -2.0 inches in red between Nudge Up and Nudge Down; the guide's CURRENT line below the FINAL TARGET band
    1. −2.0". Red: target below the design.
    2. CURRENT. Below the FINAL band.
  • Range: effectively unlimited (±999 in), so a nudge can carry a big offset across many passes.
  • Back to zero: tap the other button until it reads 0.
  • Saved with the job, not the design: a resumed job comes back with its nudge. Reset, and applying an edited design, clear it.

Which one to use

  • Cut no deeper than one bite anywhere: Use Manual Nudge and grade it in one pass at 0.
  • Deep cut through rises, shallow elsewhere (most ditches): Auto-Nudge. The shallow stretches finish on pass 1 while the deep ones are staged.
  • Hard ground on one pass: with Auto-Nudge, Pass − takes a lighter pass. With nudge, Nudge Up a step.
  • Check the passes before you implement: Est. Passes in the design strip. 8 passes too many for the day? Raise Max Cut Per Pass to 3 or 4 in for loose soil.
Reading the Grade / Depth Guide The guide column as the app draws it in the light display mode. 1: the tip of the black triangle is the cutting edge of your blade or bucket. 2: the blue CURRENT line is the target for this pass; it only shows when Nudge or Auto-Nudge moves the target off final grade. 3: the black and yellow FINAL TARGET band is the design grade. 4: the readout gives how far the blade is from the target named on top, here Current Tgt plus 2.0 inches, CUT, then the elevations Current 805.50, Current Tgt 805.33 and Final Tgt 805.00. 5: tap the readout and it measures to Final Tgt instead: plus 6.0 inches, CUT. Reading the depth guide CUT CURRENT FINAL TARGET FILL Current Tgt +2.0" CUT Current Current Tgt Final Tgt 805.50 805.33 805.00 1 2 3 4 5 Cutting edge This pass Final grade How far off Tap it Final Tgt +6.0" CUT
Nudge and Auto-Nudge move the blue CURRENT line. The yellow FINAL band, the design, never changes.
  1. Cutting edge. The tip of the triangle is your blade's cutting edge.
  2. CURRENT. This pass's target. It only shows when Auto-Nudge or a nudge moves the target off final grade.
  3. FINAL TARGET. The design grade.
  4. How far off. From the blade to the target named on top. + means above it: cut more. − means below it. Green when close, amber to red when far above, blue below.
  5. Tap it. While there's a CURRENT line, a tap switches the readout to Final Tgt, the distance to final grade (red while there's cut left). Tap again to switch back.

In other workflows and kits

  • Simple Grading, Terracing, Land Forming: the same window and buttons.
  • Manual Grade, Leveling, Tiling, Excavation: nudge only. No Auto-Nudge.
  • Ditch Assist Lite: both work. They set the target you steer the blade to. Working in Ditch Assist Lite.

If something goes wrong

  • No Auto-Nudge Mode window, or no Pass + / Pass −: More.
  • Nudge Up / Nudge Down are gone: Auto-Nudge is on. Turn the Auto Nudge switch off.
  • Too many passes: More.
  • Pass + is greyed out: you're on the last pass, or not connected.

Related

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