Trident 5550 with Raven Autonomy vs GUSS
Two spraying machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
The industry's first driverless spreader — Case IH's 415 hp liquid/dry combination applicator running CNH's Raven Autonomy stack, sold in North America.
Best for: US ag retailers and large row-crop operations spreading fertiliser who struggle to seat applicator drivers.California-built (Kingsburg) autonomous sprayer for orchards and vineyards, now a wholly owned John Deere subsidiary after an August 2025 acquisition that followed a three-year joint venture. GUSS navigates rows itself on GPS + LiDAR with no driver on board, but GUSS/Deere describe this as "supervised" autonomy — one operator monitors and can remotely intervene on up to 8 machines at once from a laptop. The line spans base GUSS (600-gal tank, diesel), Mini GUSS (smaller footprint for vineyards/high-density orchards/berries), Herbicide GUSS (sensor-triggered spot-spray weed control) and a 2024 fully electric option; sold and serviced only through John Deere dealers in the US and Australia, with 250+ units deployed globally as of the 2025 acquisition.
Best for: Large commercial orchard, vineyard and berry operations in the US or Australia (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, citrus, stone fruit, wine grapes) wanting to shrink a multi-tractor spray crew — GUSS's own case study shows a conventional 8-worker, 6-tractor medium-scale crew dropping to 2 workers and 4 GUSS units.| Trident 5550 with Raven Autonomy Verified 2026-07-16 | GUSS Verified 2026-07-18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Spraying | Spraying |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United States | United States |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-18 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Diesel, 415 hp peak | Diesel — John Deere 4.5L 173 hp Stage V engine (Tier 3 available for export); Herbicide GUSS uses a 4.5L 74 hp Stage V engine (no DEF); a fully electric variant (Electric GUSS, John Deere KREISEL batteries) launched 2024 |
| Required tractor power | Is the machine (self-propelled applicator) | Not applicable — self-propelled 4WD/4-wheel-steer platform, not a tractor implement |
| Dimensions | 14 ft 2 in wheelbase | GUSS: 24 ft long x 6 ft 4 in tall x 8 ft 3 in wide (standard tires; 7 ft 6 in narrow / 8 ft 4 in low-impact options). Herbicide GUSS: 23 ft 6 in long x 6 ft 4 in tall x 8 ft 4 in transport width, 15-19 ft adjustable spray width |
| Weight | Not disclosed | GUSS: 11,660 lb empty. Herbicide GUSS: 12,460 lb empty (manufacturer brochure) |
| Min farm size | 400 ha | Not disclosed as a number; manufacturer brochure markets GUSS at small, medium and large operation scales (its own "small scale" case study is still a professional commercial grower, not a hobby farm) |
| Productivity | Plans and completes entire mapped field operations, one or more machines per supervisor | 90-gallon fuel cell gives approximately 13-14 hour run time; one operator can monitor/supervise up to 8 GUSS machines at once; manufacturer case study cites refill downtime cut from a typical 45 minutes to about 3 minutes |
| Max speed | 40 mph (64 km/h) road | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | Camera array + radar · 360° perception · AI obstacle detection (Raven Autonomy) | GPS + LiDAR for autonomous row navigation; user interface flags position/spray-rate/mobility faults with automatic visual and audible alerts; Herbicide GUSS adds multiple onboard weed-detection sensors for spot-spraying |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Machine purchase through Case IH / Raven dealers; autonomy availability limited | Buy, sold and serviced exclusively through John Deere dealers in the US and Australia; Herbicide GUSS is also offered as a pay-for-service option alongside outright purchase. No unit price published. |
| Ongoing cost | Not disclosed | Diesel fuel, tires, spray consumables (nozzles, pump wear parts) and scheduled maintenance through the John Deere dealer network; costs not published |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Applicator operator Whole-field operation supervised from a mobile device · vendor | Spray-crew labour and equipment at medium scale 8 workers to 2 workers (75% fewer); 12 pieces of towed/tractor equipment to 4 GUSS units · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Autonomous configuration not CE marked for the EU | Not disclosed — no CE-marking evidence found; confirmed commercial deployment is US and Australia only |
| Machinery Regulation | No EU conformity for driverless operation — North-American offering | Not applicable — no evidence GUSS has been placed on the EU market |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — not purchasable in the EU | Not applicable — no EU/CAP-linked deployment found; case-study savings above relate to US/Australia operations |
"—" means the manufacturer has not disclosed the figure; we never estimate silently. Model either machine's payback with your own numbers on its ROI calculator page.