History

Construction and forestry professionals around the world rely on John Deere equipment to get things done. While John Deere has a number of factory locations around the globe, a large percentage of the construction and forestry equipment that you see in action comes from the John Deere Dubuque Works factory.

Employees at this location focus on exceptional performance, disciplined growth, and a strong commitment to teamwork to produce high-quality equipment that will make professionals’ lives easier. Let’s take a closer look at the John Deere Dubuque Works location.

Whether we are aware of it or not, corn is present in nearly all aspects of most Americans’ daily lives. Sure, we know people and livestock enjoy consuming it directly as a food source. But, did you know it’s also used as a resource for the production of starches, sweeteners, beverage (and industrial) alcohol, and fuel ethanol? And of course, it can be used as a high-quality animal bedding material as well.

While the uses for corn continue to evolve, one thing remains constant: cob collection. Let’s take a closer look at the history of corn cob collection and John Deere’s entry into the corn sheller market.

Have you ever gone to visit a friend, relative, or neighbor, and discovered a themed garage that made you want one of your own? We certainly have. Luckily for us (and you), John Deere offers a number of different items that can be purchased to help decorate your garage and fill it with items from the brand you love.

In this post, we’ve broken down the list of items into various categories that can be found throughout any garage.

As the global population continues to expand, crop producers, farm managers, equipment manufacturers, dealers, and others must all work together to maximize farming efficiency and continue to harvest the land for food. Over the years, the harvesting process has evolved, and so too has the equipment that’s used to assist. John Deere is just one of many equipment manufacturers in the industry, but the iconic green and yellow machinery can be found scattered across farms both in the United States and abroad.

So, where exactly is this harvesting equipment produced? John Deere Harvester Works, located in East Moline, Illinois, is one such location.

When operating heavy machinery such as tractors or earthmoving equipment, accidents can happen. Some of the most dangerous types of accidents when using these pieces of equipment come in the form of rollovers.

While operator precautions should be taken into account at all times, rollovers are sometimes unavoidable. For this reason, John Deere and other equipment manufacturers add rollover protection structures, or “ROPS”, to their machines.

John Deere ROPS History

You may be asking yourself, “when did ROPS burst onto the scene?” Well, in June of 1966, John Deere officially announced the release of its Roll-Gard™ technology. This introduction was instrumental to showcasing the company’s commitment to the safety of all their customers.

Whether you’re out on the farm plowing, tilling, harrowing, or planting, one factor remains unchanged; you likely have a tractor mobilizing implements and doing the dirty work. However, with so many new tractor features and models hitting the market each year, it can be easy to lose track of the past.

Let’s take a look at some of the key dates and events that shaped the early history of agricultural tractor development.

1892

John Froelich, who was 43 years old at the time, successfully ran a gas-powered, vertical, single-cylinder engine on the running gear of a steam traction engine back in 1892. The machine, which is now known as the first gasoline tractor, moved forward and reverse.

The equipment John Deere produces plays a role in feeding and clothing the world’s ever-expanding population. At the heart of the equipment production process is John Deere factories and their employees.

Let’s take a closer look at one of John Deere’s many factory locations – John Deere Des Moines Works.

Early Des Moines Works History

1941

The story of what John Deere does today begins during World War II, when the government constructed the Des Moines Ordnance Plant. The plant operated throughout the war until 1945, and during that time, the plant made billions of rounds of machine gun ammunition.

For nearly a century, John Deere has been producing tractors for its customers that are now located around the world. However, a point in time more than 50 years ago is especially important in the company’s tractor production history. Yes, we’re talking about the introduction of the “New Generation of Power.”

Let’s take a closer look at this special point in time and learn about some of the features that made these pieces of equipment historical pillars for the company.

In 1967, John Deere started producing the JD570, the industry’s first articulated motor grader. During its time, this machine offered groundbreaking innovations to the construction industry.

Brief History of the JD570

Prior to the introduction of this machine, graders were straight-framed with solid rear axles; however, the JD570‘s articulated frame offered operators more efficiency than ever before.

With key features like the PowerShift transmission, articulated frame steering, hydraulic front-wheel lean and roll-over protection, both increased control and versatility were made available to operators. Not only did this motor grader allow operators to place the blade of the machine into a 90-degree bank in less than one minute, but improvements were made to the saddle so it was secured to the mainframe with a tapered pin design.