John Deere rolled out two redesigned mini excavators at the 2025 Utility Expo, boasting fast cycle times, improved digging power and expanded attachment compatibility for a variety of construction and landscaping tasks.
In the video above, Equipment World gets a walkaround tour of the new 1.7-ton 17 P-Tier and the 2.7-ton 26 P-Tier mini excavators.
The 17 P-Tier and the 26 P-Tier are manufactured for Deere by Wacker Neuson as part of a 2022 collaborative supply agreement. Deere says the new models have both been "fully manufactured to John Deere specifications.”
Both come standard with one set of auxiliary hydraulic lines. A dual auxiliary hydraulic option is available from the factory. For the 26 P-Tier, operators will also find a diverter valve for plumbing auxiliaries to dedicated attachments like augers or compactors.
The mini excavators come with a standard arm or long-arm option that adds up to 8 inches of dig depth.
The excavators get a variety of new features, including an optional fixed-pin mechanical coupler designed for quick attachment changes. Justin Steger, product marketing manager for John Deere excavators, says customers with wedge-style attachments will find the new coupler will still maintain their needed compatibility with available adapters.
Deere’s P-Tier compact excavators will now come with float even on standard blades from the 26 P-Tier and up in the product line.
A completely redesigned cab for the 26 P-Tier includes new operator comfort features like standard heat and air conditioning, Bluetooth radio and LED lighting.
Large entryways and “virtually unrestricted sightlines” deliver visibility to all areas of the jobsite. The ergonomically designed operators station includes a mechanical suspension seat with adjustable arm rests. Guards, mirrors a 3-inch seat belt or fire extinguisher bracket are available through field kits and service parts.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:30:26
Justin Steger
Because while these are really popular with landscape customers, they're even more popular with residential plumbers. Telecom install. There's a lot of versatility with these size machines one. They're simple to operate, so it doesn't take up an especially skilled operator to get in these. And two, they're easy to transport. The 17 comes in just under 4,000 pounds. The 26 as you see here in its heaviest configuration with a cab and a long arm, comes in right around 6,000 pounds.
00:00:30:26 - 00:00:37:22
Justin Steger
So very easy to transport, mobilize, put in the dirt, you get to work.
00:00:51:05 - 00:01:15:25
Justin Steger
Hi, I'm Justin Sager, Product Marketing Manager for our excavators and here today we're unveiling our two newest excavators in the 17th tier and the 26 tier compact excavators. We'll start up here in the front with the new mechanical coupler. That's going to come standard on every machine. This is our fixed pin mechanical coupler. Real simple easy tool is designed for quick attachment changes.
00:01:15:27 - 00:01:37:26
Justin Steger
Now if you're a current customer that has a wedge style bucket or attachment machine, we still maintain that compatibility. So you don't have to purchase all new attachments with the new machine. Next let's talk about the auxiliary hydraulics. So these machines are really designed to run complex and more versatile attachments. So we come standard with one set of ox lines.
00:01:37:29 - 00:02:01:14
Justin Steger
We can get a factory optional second set of shocks lines. And on the 26 and up we have this diverter valve here as well. So whether you want to plumb your auxiliaries to a dedicated attachment, say a farm and one circuit open for a hammer or compactor, you can do that. Or if you want to, just have one set and divert that flow the way we do already today, you can do that as well.
00:02:01:20 - 00:02:27:05
Justin Steger
Generally, between either machines, we're going to have a standard or a long arm option. The long arm is going to give you 7 to 8in more dig depth and reach depending on the model. But these machines are really designed to do a couple things. One, we're maximizing the breakout force on the tool or attachment. And two, we're speeding up the response on the hydraulics to give this machine some quicker response times.
00:02:27:08 - 00:02:50:23
Justin Steger
Keep those operators happy and productive. Everything still comes standard with a two way up and down backfill blade. What's new for the new features is even our standard blades are going to include float on everything from the 26 on up, so we can still get angled blades. These two models don't offer it. That would be more 3 to 4 metric ton and up, but we will offer angled blades.
00:02:50:23 - 00:03:11:26
Justin Steger
But we can get float on the straight blades as well. As we move back into the cab, the 26 is specific that we have a canopy or a cab option, and this cab is completely redesigned. Really, really nice. There's a couple things that I like about it. First, it's going to come standard with heat and air conditioning. Our current 26 is heat only.
00:03:11:26 - 00:03:36:01
Justin Steger
So being able to reintroduce air conditioning on this size class machine. Something we're really excited about. And also it's going to come standard with Bluetooth radio anytime that you get a cab on the 26 as well. We've got led lights, standard JD link from the factory standard. So all that customer has to do at the dealership is set up that operator of Operation Center account.
00:03:36:03 - 00:04:04:19
Justin Steger
They don't have to mount any hardware or install any components. It's going to let them hit the dirt a little bit quicker. And then when it comes to serviceability, we've really maintained a lot of ground level daily service checks, very, very similar to how we're doing it today. We're still using our robust Yanmar engine solutions, but certain models are going to get a little bit more horsepower because again, I was talking about those faster response times to keep our operators happy there.
00:04:04:22 - 00:04:19:11
Justin Steger
Other than that, this is just the beginning of a new path forward for John Deere. So we're starting with our 17 and 26. We'll transition up the portfolio with some larger machines in the future and more to come on when that happens.
