While we tend to highlight the go-fast nature of the automotive world here at Driving Line, we’re slowing it down a bit with this one. We’re also trading in pavement for dirt, and bling for functionality.
After being invited to John Deere’s Davenport Works facility in southeastern Iowa, we couldn’t resist the chance to get acquainted with some of this iconic company’s extensive product line. But here’s the twist: Farm equipment had nothing to do with our visit. Instead, we were treated to the “yellow” side of ‘Deere’s business: construction equipment. That meant motor graders, four-wheel-drive loaders and articulated dump trucks were on the menu.
Once inside, everything from the earliest stages of piecing a machine together to final assembly and test-driving the finished product was on display. We witnessed the cutting of 10-inch thick steel counterweights, a 12,000-pound bucket being fitted to ‘Deere’s largest wheel loader and dozens of employees working alongside robots.
Throughout the course of the plant tour, we learned things not even a die-hard ‘Deere fan would know. The facts and figures illustrated here should help put the size and scope of John Deere’s massive Davenport Works operation into perspective.
1. Biggest & Baddest
John Deere builds 16 different loaders, from compact to midsize to large, but this is its biggest: the 944K. Unlike the other four-wheel-drive wheel loaders that are built at Davenport Works, the 944K isn’t pieced together on the assembly line. Rather, it’s “bay-built,” with the same group of people (usually four) sticking with the machine from start to finish in one stationary location.
Its bucket measures 12 feet, 10.5-inches wide, holds 10 cubic yards of material (heaped) and weighs 12,190 pounds empty. The 944K is powered by a John Deere 13.5L PowerTech PSX 6135 diesel engine that turns out 536 hp and 1,866 lb-ft of torque. ‘Deere’s largest loader possesses an operating weight of 117,947 pounds and houses a 201-gallon fuel tank.
2. 8 Different Motor Graders
Eight motor graders are produced at the Davenport Works plant, four of which are six-wheel drive (the model numbers that end with a “2”). Separate dual-path hydrostatic drives (one per side) provide six-wheel-drive functionality and 14R24 (53.7-inch) tires do the biting on the 622G model shown above. A John Deere PowerTech PSS 6.8L powers the grader thanks to an available 225 hp and 763 lb-ft of torque. The 622G’s operating weight tips the scales at 42,060 pounds, along with a blade pull of 45,000 pounds.
3. Articulated Dump Trucks (ADTs)
You can find these monsters roaming quarries, mines and large-scale construction projects any time earth, rock and ore need to be relocated in a hurry. As such, each of ‘Deere’s five articulated dump trucks has an eight-speed transmission that allows for a top speed of 34.2 mph. The ZF transmission is fully automatic and vertically mounted, which eliminates the need for a drop transfer case in order to send power to the tandem planetary rear axles. The front axle features an electronically activated locking differential, which engages automatically when slipping is detected, but can also be activated via a switch on the floor of the cab (just to the left of the brake pedal).
With productivity being paramount for these machines, the only time you’ll find them sitting still is when they’re being loaded or dumping. The high-strength steel dump body is raised via dual-acting, single-stage dump cylinders with hardened steel bushing and pivot pins, and the feat can be pulled off in 12 to 13 seconds depending on which model ADT you’re looking at (the 310E is pictured here). The 460E model shown above is John Deere’s largest ADT. When the 19-foot, 8-inch by 12-foot wide dump body is loaded to its 46-ton payload capacity, the 460E has an operating weight of 163,223 pounds. The remaining models in Deere’s ADT product line are as follows: 410E (41-ton), 370E (37-ton), 310E (31-ton) and 260E (26-ton).
4. John Deere Yellow?
Yes, yellow. And no, not the same, bright yellow found on its tractors. Like most construction equipment manufacturers, John Deere machines make use of industry-adopted, cautionary yellow paint (aside from special orders and skidders), which ‘Deere calls "Industrial Yellow." At the Davenport Works facility, some 44,600 gallons of paint are consumed on an annual basis (256 tons!). Thanks to a massive, fully-enclosed, state-of-the-art paint booth, the primer and painting process takes just 12 minutes per machine. By comparison, the same painting operation used to consume 3.5 hours in the days of old.
5. 2,200,000 Square Feet
It all takes place under this roof, which covers 2.2 million square feet of working space. That’s 50 acres to you and me, or 40 football fields... Opened in 1974, the original Davenport Works facility spanned just 400,000 square feet, but by 1980 rapid growth in the construction segment and the addition of forestry equipment production forced ‘Deere to expand. At the present time, nearly 1,300 employees call Davenport Works home. Some 840 people are directly involved in the production line, 200 of which are expert welders.
6. 75,000 Parts per Day
While John Deere doesn’t typically disclose production volume numbers for completed machines, the company shared plenty of other figures with us. For example, at the height of production (three shifts operating at full steam ahead), the Davenport plant burns through 225 tons of steel per day.
After being delivered, steel is cut and then shot-blasted to increase its strength. Most of the steel used in production measures 2 to 2.5-inches thick, but ‘Deere also cuts its own, 10-inch thick counterweights. From start to finish, the steel used to build these massive machines undergoes 9 miles of travel within the Davenport facility. In addition, the plant’s daily production efforts call for the use of 75,000 individual parts, which John Deere keeps track of — down to the last nut and bolt — via a complex yet sophisticated inventory management system.
7. Black Light Inspections
After all the plate cutting, forming, welding, machining, painting and assembling of the equipment has been completed, various final testing and verification processes take place. To detect fluid leaks and potential hard-part defects, all equipment undergoes black light inspections. Because a lot of materials fluoresce under ultraviolet lighting, colors or light that the naked eye can’t pick up on can become illuminated during this process. While it serves as more of a confirmation of a successful assembly process than anything else, it’s one of the final quality control measures employed on every machine that’s built at Davenport Works.
Author's Note: In case you were wondering... Due to confidentiality purposes, no photos or video recordings were allowed to be taken from within the Davenport Works facility.