Closer Look: Deere’s New 210, 230, 260 P-Tier Excavators Packed with Smart Tech

00:00:00:05 - 00:00:30:00 

Justin Steger 

Behind me, we have our new 210 tier excavator. We're actually bringing a press out here for a press event in preparation for when we launch three new models at Khan Expo this month. The two ¬£0.10 tier, the two ¬£0.30 tier, and the 260 pitcher. There isn't a whole lot on the new Deere excavators we haven't touched or haven't thought about, or taken that customer feedback to try to make it a more positive experience. 

00:00:30:02 - 00:00:35:27 

Jordanne Waldschmidt 

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00:00:36:00 - 00:00:58:07 

Justin Steger 

So let me walk you through some of the ideas, features and technologies that are available on every model in our midsize line up, starting with these three machines. The first is really in kind of keeping what we've already got, so we still have JD link connectivity enabled through Operation Center, free from subscriptions, free for the life of the hardware. 

00:00:58:09 - 00:01:22:13 

Justin Steger 

That's what we have today. And we're continuing going forward. But what we add in there is something that really comes from our G5 or G5 plus display. The primary monitor in the machine, something we call remote display access. So again enabled through Operation Center, all you need is a signal anywhere in the world. You can use it on your phone, your tablet or your computer. 

00:01:22:16 - 00:01:47:11 

Justin Steger 

But what that does is it allows you to see what the operator sees. Now that could be customer to customer, customer to dealer, customer to OEM, anywhere in between if there's something that needs to be addressed. We don't have to travel up to the machine. Maybe for a simple machine setting. Very, very simple to do. I can just remote display into the machine and get that machine set just right for that operator. 

00:01:47:14 - 00:02:09:19 

Justin Steger 

Or we actually have some control capability in there as well. So the way that that looks is through Operation Center, we actually send a request. The operator has to accept it before we can remote into the machine. But now if I need to change a setting, maybe there's an operator with a language barrier, for example, or an operator who has that do it for me mentality. 

00:02:09:22 - 00:02:32:26 

Justin Steger 

I can actually do the control of remote display access. I can change that setting and get that machine up and running for that customer as well. Where this really comes into play is a lot of our standard technology, not only just having a new hydraulic system, giving us faster cycle times, better fuel efficiency. We're going to have a lot more in every single mid-size picture model. 

00:02:32:29 - 00:02:53:25 

Justin Steger 

So we're going to have things like 2D grade control that can be easily upgraded down the road. We're going to have virtual fences. We're going to have machine damage avoidance. We can actually predict the cab front, the cab roof as well as the boom, let's say in a transport position when we start adding couplers and buckets or longer attachments. 

00:02:53:28 - 00:03:16:09 

Justin Steger 

It's very easy to contact the machine when you're operating with those. So you can turn on machine damage avoidance and it's adjustable. You can set that and anywhere from 0 to 39in whatever the operator prefers. Or if you're in a situation where you don't want to go back in and adjust that. We have programable buttons on our joysticks to override, say, a virtual fence. 

00:03:16:09 - 00:03:38:24 

Justin Steger 

I need to swing a little bit further, or a machine damage avoidance. I need to get a little bit closer to load that truck. But there's more than that too. We'll have Smart Way, which is a deer designed payload weighing system on our excavators. It's super simple to use. We'll also have a deer exclusive feature called Easy Control that's targeted at the lifting and creating applications. 

00:03:38:24 - 00:04:08:24 

Justin Steger 

So what easy control does is it eliminates the need for the operator multifunction. It's basically parallel lift vertically as well as horizontally. So one joystick is up and down. The other joystick is in and out. A lot of times you'll see when you're lifting a structure down into a trench box down in a hole, you kind of see an operator grab their mike or their walkie talkie, and they they're communicating with the labor that they can't see down in there, or when the machine can lift straight up and down or straight in and out. 

00:04:08:25 - 00:04:37:17 

Justin Steger 

When you see just a little bit more, just a little bit more easy, control literally makes it easier for the operator to keep that machine running efficiently and keep the labor down in the whole set. Those are just some of the features that we have available, kind of on every midsize model. But when we get to full 3D smart grade, another thing that we've expanded is now we have the ability to not only get top content, but like ecosystems all into the primary display of the machine. 

00:04:37:20 - 00:04:58:26 

Justin Steger 

If you don't get it from the factory, you can easily upgrade that in the field afterwards as well. The operator experience huge focus on that, and we've got a completely redesigned cab that's the same cab, same control layout, same features available on every mid-size machine. So when operators jump from one machine to another, they can rely on that muscle memory. 

00:04:59:03 - 00:05:25:20 

Justin Steger 

They are familiar with the controls of that machine. It's going to help them be productive versus having to go back and relearn some of that. When it comes to kind of that durability. Undercarriage is an area where the longer we can make that live, the happier a customer is going to be. So we've done some things for convenience, such as larger steps or easy to access the grease or for track tensioning, because track tensioning is really important when it comes to the longevity of an undercarriage. 

00:05:25:23 - 00:05:43:21 

Justin Steger 

So we look at the undercarriage as a system down to the individual components as well. Take the upper roller, for example. The way that mounts. It wasn't very easy to service in the field. Typically, we had to split the tracks and creates a lot of time, and the customer is waiting to get their machine back up and running. 

00:05:43:23 - 00:06:07:10 

Justin Steger 

So the way that upper roller mounts now, those bolts are now horizontal, eliminating the need to split those tracks or spend any more time than we need to to service that component. Think of the track chain, the links and the bushings, the links. We've added more material for longer life. We've made the pins in those bushings harder, giving it better wear properties so we don't wear through the hard material on the outside. 

00:06:07:12 - 00:06:28:24 

Justin Steger 

And once that goes away we see accelerated undercarriage wear. But we've done a lot of things with the components to make this undercarriage live as long as possible. Even from just the way you scrape the tracks, we've increased the angle of the track frame rails. So not only does it shed material better, but when it does stick, it's easier to scrape off. 

00:06:28:26 - 00:06:46:18 

Justin Steger 

There's less pockets in the undercarriage for that dirt to get trapped off once we scrape it back towards the back, and that's going to make things better as we take that machine and transport it down the road so that we don't have any rocks or debris falling off the machines. That all factors in to the durability of the undercarriage. 

00:06:46:20 - 00:07:11:12 

Justin Steger 

Same goes with some of the arm tip durability. That pin and bushing that's in there. An excavator is digging day in and day out. And that is down in the dirt with highly abrasive materials creating where well, when that wears out, a lot of times we see if it gets too far. We have to go in the costly line boring procedure to build it back up, tighten everything back up and extend the life of that. 

00:07:11:15 - 00:07:31:27 

Justin Steger 

With our new design, we've got a serviceable bushing with a nice thick flange with plenty of wear surface to it, and there's better grease distribution around that pin. The bushing has been hardness matched to that pin to make that joint live as long as possible. And we're testing all this in the field with real customers. And that is where we're getting the confidence. 

00:07:32:04 - 00:07:43:00 

Justin Steger 

These machines are dependable and durable. And we're hitting that mark. We cannot wait to go into more detail at our booth and Con Expo here in March, and hopefully we'll see you there. 

00:07:43:02 - 00:07:46:10 

Jordanne Waldschmidt 

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