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Mode 05 · Tiling

RTK tile plow grade control for subsurface drainage, depth control, and Automatic Rock Hit Recovery.

Tile-Best-Fit designs the pipe profile around minimum grade, target depth, and the plow's depth limits. If rock, hardpan, frost, old tile, or dense subsoil forces sustained plow ride-up, Ditch Assist automatically nudges the tile target up by the measured amount — that is Automatic Rock Hit Recovery — so the controller does not dive the plow back toward the original target and put tile off grade.

Required hardware → Get a quote
New to Ditch Assist?

Ditch Assist™ is centimeter-accurate RTK GPS grade control and guidance for field machines — one kit, one Android tablet, any compatible RTK source. Tiling is an included workflow. Buy the kit for this job and every other surface workflow comes with it — surface drainage, terraces, land forming, single-grade work, levees, leveling — at no extra cost, no per-mode activation.

What is Ditch Assist? →
What it is

Tile is a depth game and a grade game.

Tile needs positive grade, enough cover, and a profile the plow can actually reach. Tiling mode treats minimum grade, target depth, minimum depth, and maximum depth as hard design constraints. Ditch Assist™ computes the Required Start Depth at the outlet and shows the planned pipe as a black line on the chart, so the install target is clear before you start pulling.

It is still a single-pass tile workflow: survey, design, drop in at the outlet, and install uphill. Automatic Rock Hit Recovery is enabled by default in Tiling mode and responds to sustained upward plow deflection, not one noisy GPS sample.

Tile plow on a tile drainage run with Ditch Assist
Tile-Best-Fit design screen
Quick fit check

Is Tiling mode the right fit for your plow?

Best for

Operators running a pull-type or tractor-mounted tile plow — pitch, cantilever, or direct raise/lower hydraulics — who want RTK depth and grade control plus Automatic Rock Hit Recovery on a Tile-Best-Fit design.

Tiling mode walkthrough

Complete tile drainage how-to: preflight, blade height, survey, design, and install uphill.

This is the in-app workflow an operator follows for a tile drainage run: run preflight checks, enter plow blade height, survey the proposed route, confirm flow direction, design with Tile-Best-Fit, lower to Required Start Depth at the outlet, install uphill, and let Automatic Rock Hit Recovery handle sustained ride-up.

Preflight and blade height

Confirm module, GPS, and hydraulics, then enter the raised transport blade height so survey elevations become true ground profile.

Survey, flow direction, and design

Run a new survey, confirm inlet and outlet direction, set target depth and minimum grade, then review Tile-Best-Fit depth limits and Required Start Depth.

Install uphill with rock-hit recovery

Lower to the required outlet depth, tap Start, watch the actual install path, and let Ditch Assist nudge the target when sustained plow ride-up is detected.

What the Tiling walkthrough covers

This walkthrough follows the complete Ditch Assist Tiling workflow for surveying, designing, and installing a tile drainage run.

  • 1. Run preflight checks Connect the tablet to the Ditch Assist control module Wi-Fi, connect to the controller, confirm green status checks, verify live latitude, longitude, and elevation, and test Raise and Lower hydraulic control.
  • 2. Set plow blade height In Settings, enter the height from the cutting edge or shear plate to the ground when the tile plow is fully raised in transport position. Ditch Assist subtracts this from survey GPS elevation to record true ground profile.
  • 3. Start a new survey Choose Tiling, select New Survey, press Start Survey, and drive the proposed tile route. The survey can be driven either direction, but tile installation must start at the outlet and finish at the inlet.
  • 4. Save and confirm flow direction Stop at the end of the route, save the survey, then confirm or reverse the app's inlet-to-outlet water-flow direction before designing.
  • 5. Enter design parameters Confirm target depth, minimum grade, minimum depth, and maximum depth. Tile-Best-Fit draws the proposed installation line while respecting grade and depth constraints where possible.
  • 6. Review warnings and Required Start Depth If part of the run is outside the selected depth limits, review the warning. The design also shows the Required Start Depth at the outlet; the plow must be lowered to that depth before Start is allowed.
  • 7. Apply and save the design Press Apply Design, save the design, then review the map, profile, depth guide, Start/Stop controls, and Nudge Up/Nudge Down controls before installing.
  • 8. Install uphill from the outlet Lower the plow to the required start depth at the outlet, press Start, and drive uphill while the thicker black profile line shows the actual installation path against the design.
  • 9. Recover from sustained ride-up If rock or hard soil forces the plow above target by more than a couple inches, Ditch Assist automatically nudges the target up so the controller continues smoothly instead of diving back down and hanging the pipe.
  • 10. Stop and start the next run At the end of the run, press Stop, raise the plow manually, return to Tiling, and start a new survey for the next tile line.
Before Tiling

Before you survey the tile run.

Before Tiling, confirm the tablet, control module, RTK, hydraulics, and plow blade-height setting. Blade height matters because the survey assumes the plow is fully raised in transport position.

  • Connect to module Wi-Fi, open Preflight Checks, confirm green status indicators, and verify live latitude, longitude, and elevation values.
  • Use Raise and Lower to confirm hydraulic direction. If the controls are reversed, swap the valve wires; if nothing moves, check pressure and detent.
  • In Settings, enter the height from the plow cutting edge or shear plate to the ground with the plow fully raised.
Setup video
Built for tile drainage

The tile-plow problems Ditch Assist solves.

Subsurface drainage is unforgiving: a line that gets too flat, too shallow, too deep, or chased back down after sustained ride-up can hold water. Tile-Best-Fit gives the operator the target before the plow goes in the ground.

Minimum grade

Keep the pipe flowing

Design the run with positive grade from the head of the line back to the outlet, with no intentional backslope.

Depth window

Stay inside min and max depth

Hold cover where you need it and stay within the physical reach of the tile plow.

Outlet setup

Know Required Start Depth

The design gives the outlet start depth up front, so the operator knows where to drop the boot before tapping Start.

Obstruction ride-up

Automatic Rock Hit Recovery

When the plow rides above target and stays there, Ditch Assist applies a bounded target nudge and shows a Rock Hit alert so the controller does not dive back toward the original target after the ride-up.

Dive protection

Descent Governor

Down is not the same as up in tile — an overcorrection downward can cut a belly that no second pass can fix. Ditch Assist eases the plow back to grade instead of slamming it down, so raising stays fast while lowering stays gentle, with no extra pitch sensor to buy or maintain.

Pre-rip runs

Use Nudge before the real install

Create the design, nudge up 6″, and pre-rip to loosen deep installs or rocky areas. Then nudge back down to design grade and install tile into a fresh-cut support channel.

Contour routes

Lay tile with the field

Use saved LiDAR, surveys, point files, or GeoTIFF DEMs to generate contour guidance for tile routes that follow natural field shape.

Offline prep

Save the field data once

Cache imagery and saved LiDAR DEMs ahead of time so contour generation and tile design can work at the field without internet.

Universal kit

Run more than a tile plow

The same Ditch Assist kit can run tiling, surface drainage, terracing, land forming, pads, and single-slope grading.

Any RTK

Bring the receiver you own

Use Ditch Assist with any compatible RTK GPS source, or start fresh with an affordable Emlid Reach bundle.

The workflow

Typical tiling workflow.

Survey the run, confirm water-flow direction, let Tile-Best-Fit solve the depth-constrained design, then plow uphill from the outlet. If an obstruction forces sustained plow ride-up, Automatic Rock Hit Recovery nudges the tile target up by the measured error.

STEP 01

Survey the run

Tap the Tiling card and choose New Survey. Press Start Survey and drive the proposed tile route at a steady pace. The survey can be driven either direction, but the install must start at the outlet and finish uphill at the inlet. Stop, name it, save, and confirm flow direction.

STEP 02

Design with Tile-Best-Fit

The Tile-Best-Fit dialog opens automatically. Set Target Depth, Min Grade, Min Depth, and Max Depth. The optimizer fits the best install line inside your depth window while holding minimum grade. Review any warning and the Required Start Depth before you apply the design.

STEP 03

Plow with Automatic Rock Hit Recovery

Drop the plow to the Required Start Depth at the outlet and tap Start. The plow tracks the black tile line as you drive uphill, and the thicker black line shows the actual installation path. If sustained ride-up is detected, Ditch Assist automatically nudges the tile target up by the measured error.

Tile-Best-Fit design screen
Exclusive technology

Tile-Best-Fit

Depth-constrained design with ride-up recovery. Built specifically for tile.

Tile-Best-Fit runs an optimization on every survey: fit the tile inside the depth window, hold your minimum grade across the full length, and stay inside the plow's reach. Automatic Rock Hit Recovery then watches for sustained obstruction-style ride-up and applies a bounded target nudge when the plow cannot reach planned depth. Prefer to draw the line yourself? Guided and Freeform design tabs let you pin the tile through chosen points or shape it vertex by vertex — with amber and red cover shading flagging shallow or deep spans as you edit.

DEPTH BUDGET

Min & Max depth window

Set the deepest the plow can reach and the shallowest the tile can sit (frost line, traffic load, conservation rule). Tile-Best-Fit treats the window as a hard constraint — the design will never violate either limit, even if that means the engine has to flag a section as un-installable for you to plan around.

MIN GRADE

Minimum grade, end to end

Water has to flow. Tile-Best-Fit holds your minimum grade across the full length — no planned backslopes, no planned flat sections, no surprises from a design that looked good only at the ends. The Required Start Depth at the outlet is computed for you so you know exactly where to drop the plow before you start.

ROCK HIT

Automatic Rock Hit Recovery

When the plow is forced high and stays above target, Ditch Assist nudges the tile target up by the measured error, shows a Rock Hit alert with sound, and keeps the correction bounded for safety. It detects the sustained ride-up pattern, not the object in the soil.

Dive protection

Protection against the plow diving — without extra hardware to buy, mount, or calibrate.

Dedicated tile systems solve plow dive with a pitch sensor — a module mounted on the plow, its own wiring, and recalibration as soil conditions or tip wear change. Ditch Assist solves the same problem without any of that extra hardware. Every other grading mode drives straight to target as fast as it's tuned, which is fine when an overshoot just costs another pass. Tile only gets one pass, so in Tiling mode alone, Ditch Assist eases the plow back down to grade instead of letting it dive — no sensor to buy, mount, or keep calibrated.

Coming back down to grade

Eases down, never slams down

If the plow needs to settle back to grade, Ditch Assist brings it down smoothly in small steps instead of one hard correction — so the boot never noses down and cuts a belly below your design.

Any speed, any ground

The same gentle correction, every time

Whether you're creeping through tough ground or pulling at a normal pace, downward corrections are paced the same safe way. Typical tile minimum grades are only a fraction of a percent, so your normal designed drop is never slowed down — only a dive-style drop gets eased back.

Stopped means stopped

Sitting still never digs deeper

Stop the tractor and the target holds — the plow can't creep deeper while you're sitting still.

Works with Rock Hit Recovery

No ride-up ends in a dive

When the plow rides up over rock or hardpan, Automatic Rock Hit Recovery raises the target so the controller doesn't chase back down into a belly — the same dive protection has you covered the rest of the time too.

Also new in Tiling: it's an easy mistake to start at the wrong end, so Ditch Assist now warns if you try to begin in the inlet half of the run — tile installs uphill from the low outlet end — on top of the Required Start Depth check that already keeps you from starting until the boot is at proper depth.

Why no pitch sensor?

The pitch sensor isn't what keeps tile on grade — even on the systems that have one.

On dedicated tile systems, the pitch sensor is a short-term steadying aid between GPS updates — even those systems still get their grade from RTK elevation, and every major dedicated system also offers a GPS-only mode with no pitch sensor at all. Ditch Assist runs that same RTK-only approach, and pairs it with the Descent Governor dive protection described above — so the plow is protected without an extra sensor to mount or maintain.

Get your RTK dialed in.

Because Ditch Assist reads grade from RTK the whole time — not a backup pitch sensor — a solid base station, correction service, and antenna mount matter even more here than in other modes. Get your RTK setup right and the rest of Tiling takes care of itself.

Measured right at the boot

The GPS moves with the cutting edge

Ditch Assist mounts the RTK receiver right where the plow cuts, so grade is measured directly at the boot instead of guessed from the frame's tilt.

Built into the design

The design itself won't ask for a dip

Tile-Best-Fit only ever designs positive grade, end to end — there's no planned low spot in the line for the controller to chase downhill toward in the first place.

Smooth by default

Tuned gentle, backed by Rock Hit Recovery

Hydraulic response is tuned for smooth, controlled movement instead of aggressive snaps to target, and Automatic Rock Hit Recovery handles the one case that could force a dive — rock or hardpan ride-up — by raising the target instead of chasing it back down.

Equipment

Grade control for the machines you tile with.

Tiling mode is aimed at pull-type and tractor-mounted tile plows that control depth through pitch, cantilever, or direct raise/lower hydraulics. The Soil-Max Stealth ZD™ gets special treatment: its factory PWM hydraulic valve plugs straight into the Guidance Kit, no Automation plumbing required. Pick yours below for setup and compatibility details.

Soil-Max Stealth ZD™

Grade Control for the Soil-Max Stealth ZD™
Soil-Max Stealth ZD tile plow running with Ditch Assist grade control

The Soil-Max Stealth ZD™ ships with a factory-installed PWM hydraulic valve — you only need our affordable Guidance Kit. No second valve, no plumbing, no manual-bypass circuit to wire. The Guidance Kit's control module plugs into the existing valve and drives the plow's pitch automatically as Tile-Best-Fit calls for depth changes. The tablet shows the active design line and the Required Start Depth at all times.

Because the install is so light, the Stealth ZD™ is one of the best-supported fits for Ditch Assist RTK GPS grade control. Ditch Assist also sells and supports Soil-Max in Western Canada through Northern Plains Drainage Systems, so plow, tile, GPS, and grade control conversations can stay connected.

Tile-Best-Fit handles the design heavy lifting: minimum grade enforced end to end, depth held inside your min/max window, Required Start Depth surfaced at the outlet. Automatic Rock Hit Recovery applies a bounded target nudge when sustained ride-up is detected, so the controller does not dive the plow back toward the original target after the ride-up.

Compatible with any RTK GPS. Ask about the affordable Emlid Reach RS3 or RS4 if you're starting fresh.

Pitch & cantilever tile plows

Grade Control for Pull-Type & Tractor-Mounted Tile Plows
Ditch Assist

Ditch Assist is designed for pull-type or tractor-mounted tile plows where depth is controlled by pitch or cantilever hydraulics. Good fit candidates include Johnson pull-type tile plows, Liebrecht MFG tile plows, Legacy L48 and L72 plows, Crary Tile PRO, Baumalight UnderTow, and similar tractor-pulled or tractor-mounted machines. We confirm cylinder function, valve type, hydraulic flow, and bypass requirements before quoting.

Min/max Duty Cycle (DC) settings in the app tune hydraulic responsiveness to the plow size and pulling tractor. Wireless valve-to-cab communication keeps the wiring light, and the kit moves between machines in under an hour — same kit pulls the tile plow this week and the scraper next week.

If your plow has an existing aftermarket valve, call first to confirm compatibility. Most non-Soil-Max setups still need the full Automation Kit, but a few proportional or PWM valve setups may be able to run on Guidance Kit only.

Tile-Best-Fit design, single-pass workflow, Automatic Rock Hit Recovery, Required Start Depth — all available regardless of plow brand. Works with any RTK GPS; the Emlid Reach RS3 or RS4 is our affordable starter option.

Custom equipment review

Other Hydraulic Equipment
Ditch Assist

Some plows, including the LaSole Tile Plow and certain hydraulic-tilt or raise/lower configurations, use direct control instead of a pitch or cantilever geometry. Ditch Assist can be reviewed for direct up/down installs, but the valve requirement must be verified with us first.

We have also made Ditch Assist work with some other hydraulic equipment in the past. Those installs are custom reviews, not published fitments: the machine needs a clear control goal, stable position reference, hydraulic response that fits the app tuning range, and a safe manual override or bypass path.

If your equipment is not listed, contact us before ordering hardware. Send the machine model, photos of the valve and cylinders, how depth or grade is currently controlled, tractor hydraulic details, and what you want the system to automate or guide.

Contour tiling

Generate contours from LiDAR or your own DEM, then tile along them.

For fields where tile is installed along elevation contours, Ditch Assist can turn an elevation surface into driveable contour guidance. Fetch a public LiDAR DEM in the app, load a DEM or point file you already have, or use a driven field survey, then pick the contour you want the tile line to follow.

Elevation contours used for contour tiling guidance
CONTOUR GUIDANCE Use the field surface as your steering reference.

Save the LiDAR DEM before you lose internet, reconnect to the control module in the field, and generate contours from the saved surface. The route you survey along the contour becomes the line you install.

ELEVATION SOURCES

Fetch LiDAR, import your own, or survey it.

Use public LiDAR where coverage is available, load a GeoTIFF DEM or XYZ point file, open a saved survey, or drive a new field survey. Once Ditch Assist has a surface, it can draw contour lines for guidance.

WATER MANAGEMENT

Install tile along contour, not just fall line.

Contour tile layouts are commonly used where the goal is more controlled groundwater level management, and in some systems where tile may also support subirrigation. The contour line helps the operator stay on the intended elevation band while still using RTK grade and depth control.

01Fetch LiDAR DEM or load your own elevation surface 02Generate contours and survey along the selected contour 03Install from the route with tile depth and grade control active
More than tiling

Same kit. Every other grading job too.

Whichever kit you buy for tiling — Automation or Guidance — unlocks every other surface workflow in the Ditch Assist app. No extra cost, no per-mode activation. Tile in the spring, surface drains in the fall, terraces or a bin pad next season — same kit, same tablet, same operator.

Mode 01

Ditching

Surface drainage runs — survey, design with Slope-IQ™, auto-grade. Curved, multi-grade, long-run.

See Ditching → Mode 02

Terracing

Cut a channel, build a berm. Wide-base farmable terraces with balanced cut and fill.

See Terracing → Mode 03

Land Forming

Variable-slope and all-way designs from OptiSurface™, Ezigrade™, Topcon™ AGForm-3D™, AGD, and LandXML.

See Land Forming → Mode 04

Simple Grading

Single-slope grading or a sloped plane — the fastest path from arrival to graded ground.

See Simple Grading → Mode 06

Leveling

Flat pads for grain bins, machine sheds, riding arenas, and equipment yards.

See Leveling → Mode 07

Levee

Drive elevation contours for levees, paddy dikes, and contour berms — lightbar guidance with no automation valve or hydraulic plumbing.

See Levee →
Problem → fix

Tiling, in detail.

Feature highlight: Tile-Best-Fit does not just pick a slope — it solves an optimization. Fit the tile inside the depth window, hold your minimum grade, stay inside the plow's reach. When the constraints cannot all be satisfied, the engine flags the binding constraint instead of producing a design that lies to you.

Automatic Rock Hit Recovery: rock, hardpan, frost, old tile, or dense subsoil can force the plow above target. Ditch Assist watches for sustained ride-up, sounds a Rock Hit alert, and applies a bounded target nudge so the controller does not dive the plow back toward the original target and put tile off grade.

In the cab: the Required Start Depth at the outlet is the headline number on the design dialog. No mental math, no second guessing where to drop the plow. The black tile line stays on the chart as you pull, so the operator can see the target and boot position pass by pass.

FAQ

Tile plow grade control questions.

Answers for farmers and contractors comparing RTK tile drainage systems.

Grade control

What is tile plow grade control?

Tile plow grade control uses RTK GPS elevation and hydraulic control to keep the boot on the designed pipe profile while installing tile uphill from the outlet with a pull-type or tractor-mounted plow.

Laser replacement

Does Ditch Assist replace a laser for tile installation?

For many RTK pull-type and tractor-mounted tile plow jobs, yes. You survey the run, let Ditch Assist calculate the profile and Required Start Depth, then install from the outlet with RTK grade control instead of setting and moving a laser tripod.

Pitch sensor

Does Ditch Assist use a plow pitch sensor?

No — and you're not missing anything. Even on systems with a pitch sensor, RTK elevation still sets the grade; the sensor only smooths the ride between GPS updates, and every major dedicated system also offers a GPS-only mode with none at all. Ditch Assist keeps the GPS mounted right at the cutting edge, designs every run on positive grade from the start, and — in Tiling mode — our Descent Governor eases the plow back down to grade instead of letting it dive, so there's no extra sensor to mount, wire, or recalibrate. Automatic Rock Hit Recovery covers the other side: if the plow rides up over rock, it raises the target instead of chasing it back down.

Rock Hit Recovery

How does Automatic Rock Hit Recovery help?

Automatic Rock Hit Recovery is a Tiling-only feature. When rock, hardpan, frost, old tile, dense subsoil, or another obstruction keeps the plow above target, Ditch Assist detects sustained upward deflection and automatically nudges the target up by the measured error. The correction is bounded for safety and announced with a Rock Hit alert and sound.

Soil-Max Stealth ZD™

Does Ditch Assist work with the Soil-Max Stealth ZD™?

Yes. The Stealth ZD™ factory PWM valve can be driven by the Ditch Assist Guidance Kit, so most installs do not need the full Automation Kit plumbing package.

Other plows

Which pull-type and tractor-mounted tile plows can Ditch Assist work with?

Ditch Assist is designed for pull-type or tractor-mounted tile plows that control depth with pitch, cantilever, or direct raise/lower hydraulics. Soil-Max Stealth ZD is well supported, and Johnson, LaSole, Liebrecht MFG, Legacy, Crary Tile PRO, Baumalight UnderTow, and similar plows can be reviewed for valve and cylinder requirements before quoting. Other hydraulic equipment may also be possible, but it is a custom review.

Comparison

How is this different from Intellislope, WM-Drain, or SD Drain Tile?

Ag Leader® Intellislope®, Trimble® WM-Drain®, and SD Drain® Tile are dedicated water-management or tile-control systems. Ditch Assist is a universal RTK grade-control platform for tractor-pulled and tractor-mounted tile plows, and the same kit also runs ditching, terracing, land forming, pads, and single-slope grading. Every system on the market gets its grade from RTK elevation — a pitch sensor only steadies the ride between updates. Ditch Assist pairs that same RTK reference with Descent Governor dive protection, Automatic Rock Hit Recovery, and the same hardware across more jobs.

RTK GPS

Can I use my existing RTK GPS?

Yes. Ditch Assist works with any compatible RTK GPS source that can feed the Android tablet. If you are starting from scratch, ask about the affordable Emlid Reach RS3 or RS4 bundles.

Excavator using the Ditch Assist DIG kit for bucket-tip guidance Ditch Assist DIG
Excavator guidance

Have an excavator or backhoe too?

Add Ditch Assist DIG™ as a separate excavator guidance kit for bucket-tip elevation, trench design, and dug-earth mapping. It uses the same familiar Ditch Assist app experience, so operators can expand from implement grade control to excavators without learning a different UI.

See Excavator mode → DIG™ Kit
Emlid Reach RS4 RTK receiver for tile plow grade control
Optional RTK GPS bundles

Need RTK for tile plow control?

Tiling needs reliable RTK elevation for the survey, Required Start Depth, and boot-grade target while the plow installs uphill from the outlet. Bring existing RTK, or bundle Ditch Assist with Emlid RS4 / RS3 receivers and the Ditch Assist-only install package: base tripod, tripod extender, mount hardware, and Ditch Assist-to-Emlid RTK GPS cable.

Emlid RTK options →Get a quote
Compatible equipment

Pull-type and tractor-mounted tile plow compatibility.

Soil-Max Stealth ZD™ Soil-Max 3-Point Johnson Pull-Type Tile Plows LaSole Tile Plow Liebrecht MFG Tile Plow Legacy L48 / L72 Crary Tile PRO Baumalight UnderTow Pitch Control Plows Cantilever Plows Direct Up/Down Plows Custom Hydraulic Equipment Review
Try it live

See the real app before you talk hardware.

Walk through the Tiling workflow yourself: Tile-Best-Fit design and Required Start Depth grading, all in your browser.

Open the app simulator →
Ditch Assist app home screen in the browser simulator