May 25, 2013

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October 2008 Archive for Machinery Journal

RSS By: Margy Fischer, MyMachinery.com

The Machinery Journal blog is your place to find the latest machinery updates, industry news, and interesting tid bits.

Ag Manufacturers Address Congress

Oct 29, 2008

Richard Brown, President and COO of Krause Corporation and Chair of AEM's Small Enterprise Committee, testified before the House Committee on Small Business on Oct. 28.

To see video of his testimony, click here.

He spoke of his concerns for small businesses in the U.S. obtaining credit during the present economic crisis. And he cited the rapid rise in the cost of agricultural inputs, such as fertilizer, seed, chemicals and fuel.

Key points to his testimony were:

1) Extend the Bonus Depreciation and Enhanced Expensing Provision.

2) Invest in Infrastructure.

3) Help Small Businesses Export.

4) Help Control Rising Health Care Costs.

5) Continue the Government’s Commitment to Renewable Fuels.

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I See a Loader in Your Future

Oct 23, 2008

The engineers at John Deere looked into the crystal ball of their utility tractors' lifetimes and saw a loader in their future. This is due to the prevalence of tractors in this hp range getting paired up with a loader. So in response they beefed up their tractor design with this in mind.

To learn more, you can view my interview with Don Sterling from John Deere here:

For more on John Deere's utility tractors, visit previous posts on the Machinery Journal blog:
Green Tractors Take a Road Trip
2009 the Year of the Utility Tractor

You can build your John Deere tractor here.

And John Deere has designed their tractors for use with multiple attachments: loaders, hay tools, rotary cutters, and many other types of Frontier branded equipment.

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2009 the Year of the Utility Tractor

Oct 23, 2008

Recognizing the varying needs among tractor operators, John Deere has expanded their line up of small ag tractors. In fact, John Deere has 32 tractor models within the 32 engine hp to 140 engine hp range.

To learn more about how John Deere is manufacturing machines for this market, watch my video below in which I speak with Marketing Steve Geick from John Deere.

Producers who can put these tractors to work include grain producers, livestock producers (beef, poultry, hogs, llamas, goats, catfish, etc…), hay producers, specialty crops and large property owners. Machinery Doc explained how he puts these compact workhorses to task around his farm.

You can build your John Deere tractor here.

And John Deere has designed their tractors for use with multiple attachments: loaders, hay tools, rotary cutters, and many other types of Frontier branded equipment.

For more on John Deere's utility tractors, visit previous posts on the Machinery Journal blog:
Green Tractors Take a Road Trip

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Ag Manufacturers Recognized by Forbes

Oct 22, 2008

Call them small fish in a big pond, if you will, but four ag manufacturers have landed on the Forbes list of America’s 200 Best Small Companies. To be considered in this listing, a company must have annual sales between $5 million and $750 million, and the company’s stock price must be at least $5.

#45 Raven Industries maker of industrial, agricultural, construction and aerospace products.

#54 Art’s Way Manufacturing manufacturer of farm equipment and steel truck bodies.

#91 Lindsay Corporation develops irrigation systems for agricultural industry.

# 197 Alamo Group maker of highway and agricultural maintenance equipment.

Click here to see the full list by rank.

With all the economic gyrations lately, these small companies seem to be shining even brighter. Through the past 12 months, the S&P 500 dropped 28%, while the Russell 2000 (which consists of smaller companies) is down 18% over the same period.

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Gators Go To the Next Level

Oct 21, 2008

John Deere Gators don’t look the same. The new XUV 620i models are now available in two special edition colors: metallic silver and midnight black. But the new features are more than skin deep. These gators are outfitted with 4 cylinder Kawasaki engines, Independent Rear Suspension, 11” ground clearance and electronic fuel injection. All this on a vehicle with more than 1,000 lb. cargo capacity and a maximum speed of 30 mph. To fit your Gator to your specification, options include allow wheels, shift knobs, roofs, windshields, brush guards etc…

To learn more, check out my interview with Kevin Lund a product specialist with the Gator lineup.

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Green Tractors Take a Road Trip

Oct 14, 2008

A John Deere green 18-wheeler can certainly grab some attention.

Starting in January, John Deere will be taking its line up of utility tractors on the road. There’d be no better way to get from point A to point B of this trip than the Drive Green truck.

I visited with Iowa farmer Ron Lang, who helped John Deere outfit this rig, at the recent Drive Green event in Sarasota, Fl. Listen to my conversation with him here to learn about how he made this Kenworth unit John Deere green…