Home Uncategorized The History of Fanggs: John Deere Bucket Teeth

Fanggs remain a John Deere exclusive bucket tooth and have been field tested to provide exceptional performance across a wide variety of applications. Don’t know how tough and reliable Fanggs teeth truly are?

John Deere Fanggs

Today, owners and operators who leverage this equipment will experience important benefits like:

  • Less digging effort and faster cycle times
  • Tougher and longer wear life
  • Improved break up of soil for better bucket fill
  • Profiles available for most John Deere, Cat, Hensley, and H&L bucket teeth

But, where did it all start? In this post, we’ll be telling the history of Fanggs. Enjoy!

Out of the Vault: John Deere Enters the Bucket Tooth Market

Wade Ellett of John Deere explains the history of Fanggs, Deere’s bucket tooth design. This story starts in 2013, when John Deere was contacted by a retiree named Ron Fellner who had spent most of his career in the Suggestion Department and retired in 1991. What Fellner wanted to talk about was a product called Fanggs.

Brief Overview of Fanggs

Fanggs was John Deere’s introductory contribution to the bucket tooth market – invented by Ron Fellner. The design of his bucket tooth was really simple and almost like two moldboard plows that stood back-to-back. In the video above, you’ll learn more about how Fellner was inspired to invent the bucket tooth.

Where It All Started

Starting from his drawing, Ron decided to make mock ups of his bucket tooth. His first was made out of paper and masking tape, and his second was sculpted out of clay. This design is what evolved into a working prototype. In the video, you’ll also have a chance to see these models for yourself.

The Design Proves Successful

Field testing showed that this new design was extremely effective. Fellner’s design was self-cleaning, so it sliced into the ground with less effort and reduced wear so that operators could stay on the job a lot longer.

“Fanggs last at least twice as long as the teeth we’d been using. We were surprised at how long they stay sharp…they retain their shape very well.”

– Cal Carter from Mission, British Columbia

Hitting the Bucket Tooth Market

Deere dubbed the product “Fanggs” and launched an aggressive advertising campaign aimed at the bucket tooth market – a completely new venture for the company. Initially, 13 different models for various applications were introduced at the 1990 Dealer Expo in Phoenix, Arizona, where Fellner was present to tell the story of his creation.

Final Thoughts

This collection is a testament to the spirit of innovation started by John Deere almost 200 years ago. We’re excited to be sharing Ron Fellner’s story with you and look forward to sharing more stories like this as part of John Deere’s Out of the Vault video series. Stay tuned for more!

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