A productive boost for dozers

John Deere has launched a new dozer into the Australian market to push productivity to the next level.

In 1837, John Deere, a blacksmith, listened to farmers who were concerned their ploughs, designed for eastern United States land, weren’t shredding the thick soil in the west.

In response, John Deere created a highly-polished steel mould board from a broken saw blade. Within five years he had manufactured nearly 200 ploughs.

Throughout the 20th century John Deere’s company acquired a variety of products and expanded its offerings. It followed the example set by the company’s founder and established an advisory group of customers to provide advice when creating new machines.

One such machine is the company’s newest dozer, the 850L, part of John Deere’s new range of equipment designed to improve productivity, reliability and durability.

John Deere’s previous line of dozers, the K-Series, was updated to include a larger displacement engine, increased operating weight and an improved operator station to make the 850L.

These upgrades were advised by the John Deere Customer Advocate Group comprised of owners and operators of John Deere machines.

Nathan Horstman, Crawler Product Marketing Manager at John Deere, says the K-Series of dozers has been a long-time favourite with customers.

“Thanks to customer’s ongoing feedback, the next generation of Deere dozers are our strongest, most durable and productive yet,” he says.

The new machine incorporates a John Deere diesel engine which provides a 10 per cent increase in horsepower, more than any other dozer in its class, Mr. Horstman says.

With ongoing calls from the advisory group for machine durability, the 850L was designed with a heavy-duty mainframe, and electrical and hydraulic routing. In total it has an eight per cent weight increase from the last model.

The thickness of the mainframe was increased by as much as 60 per cent in some areas of the machine, compared to the last model.

Fuel economy was also factored into the creation of this machine, featuring an ‘eco mode’ that reduces fuel consumption by up to 20 per cent.

The 850L dozer, like all John Deere dozers, features a dual-path hydrostatic transmission which aims to provide an efficient method to transfer energy to the tracks. The 850L has transmission pumps 13 per cent larger than the previous K-Series.

“With the hydrostatic transmission you truly have constant power to both tracks,” Mr. Horstman says.

To further increase productivity, Mr. Horstman says the new dozer features the widest power angle tilt blade in its class at 436 centimetres. This enables the machine to work faster, especially in grading applications.

Mr. Horstman says one of the most exciting changes for operators is the inside of the cab, designed with input from the John Deere Customer Advocate Group.

The new cab features 15 per cent more space and a 27 per cent reduction in interior operator noise compared to the K-Series model.

The seat is angled to keep operators comfortable while using the rear implement or when looking backward. It can tilt and raise up to 65 degrees providing easy access to major machine components, which can speed up adjustment times.

The air-conditioning system and new heated or ventilated seat option also work to increase operators’ comfort.

The 850L’s cab also features new ergonomic control joysticks for the transmission and hydraulic functions.

Mr. Horstman says this new dozer is intended for a variety of different applications and can take advantage of new technological capabilities.

“No matter the intent, owners can customise the 850L with factory installed configurations for waste handling, forestry protections, mechanical angle blades and a purpose-built pipe layer-ready model,” Mr. Horstman says.

The machine comes with control-ready electrohydraulic valves, making it simple to add a grade-control system.

John Deere SmartGrade technology can be included which removes the need to install blade-mounted sensors and components often, increasing productivity.

It also features John Deere’s WorkSight system, a suite of technology solutions which aim to improve productivity and profitability of machines alongside machine health prognostics, remote diagnostics and programming capabilities.

The 850L model is protected by John Deere’s customer support package, Ultimate Uptime, a customisable package which includes telematic support, pre-delivery instructions and follow up inspections.

“The 850L combines muscle, efficiency and balance for impressive new levels of performance,” Mr. Horstman says. “Coupled with an extraordinary focus on reliability and uptime, you have the winning combination our customers are asking for.”