Driven by innovative and ongoing customer input, John Deere commemorates its 75th year as a leader in the dozer market. Upon its entry into the dozer business, John Deere has focused on meeting customer needs to improve jobsite efficiencies. Beginning production in 1949 in Dubuque, Iowa, the John Deere line-up of dozers has evolved through the years with innovation that has been solving industry-wide challenges.
“This important 75-year milestone of dozer manufacturing recognizes the tremendous teamwork of everyone involved including our factory teams, engineers, and our dealers that support our customers every day,” said Matt Costello, product marketing manager, dozers, John Deere. “We’re incredibly proud that this lineup has continued to provide the durability and performance that our customers rely on to work smarter and more efficiently getting the job done right the first time.”
Looking back at key milestones for its dozer family, John Deere debuted various industry-leading solutions and breakthrough designs that paved the way for today’s reliable, powerful and tech-packed models.
1949 - John Deere began manufacturing MC Dozers in Dubuque, Iowa.
1958 - The 440 Crawler Dozer entered the market as the first all-yellow machine built specifically for industrial applications. This model stood out as the industry’s first all-hydraulic bulldozer with 6-way power-angle-tilt blade, leading the charge with its ground-breaking design.
1965 - John Deere introduced dozer T-Bar blade controls, as well as the first integral machines with the new industrial model numbers. These models included the JD350 and JD450 crawlers, which were configured distinctly as dozers or loaders.
1976 - John Deere became the first North American manufacturer to utilize dual-path hydrostatic drive on its dozer line-up.
1988 - New full powershift transmission models were introduced, including the 400G, 450G, 550G and 650G models, which offered four forward and four reverse speeds, expanding capability on the jobsite.
1999 - Dual path hydrostatic drive was introduced on the 450H, 550H, 650H models and continues to date in the full John Deere dozer lineup.
2001 - John Deere introduced its largest dozer ever with the roll-out of the 1050C. The 1050C led the way for the updates and innovations in the 1050 P-Tier today.
2010 – John Deere unveiled the industry’s first 764 High Speed Dozer, the first new machine form in decades, featuring travel speeds of up to 16 mph.
The past decade - technology innovations
In the last decade, John Deere has elevated its line-up with innovations that have helped shape the current state of the construction industry. Through its investments and developments in productivity-enhancing technologies, jobsite safety solutions and comfort improvements for operators, the current state of the dozer market has been strongly influenced by the milestones met in recent years.
2016 - John Deere introduced factory-integrated 3D grade control, SmartGrade on the 700K model. This factory integrated solution is equipped on more than 20 models in the Deere lineup today.
2017 - The 950K with SmartGrade became the industry’s largest power-angle tilt (PAT) blade configuration.
2020 - John Deere introduced its Slope Control feature to assist operators in maintaining the mainfall and cross slope while grading.
2021 - The new suspended double-bogie undercarriage made its debut on the 1050K, offering a reduction of peak vibrations in the cab by up to 75 percent.
2023 - John Deere rolled out its innovative EZGrade feature, which aids operators in manually grading smooth finish passes by making small blade corrections automatically.
2024 - The 1050 P-Tier model was upgraded to feature the new JD14 (13.6L) engine, enabling enhanced power and operation on the job.
2024 - John Deere expands its Dozer SmartGrade offerings with the Next Generation of SmartGrade into the 450 P-Tier and 550 P-Tier and updated on the 650 P-Tier. This will provide SmartGrade offerings on the 450-950 size Dozers going forward. The Next Generation of SmartGrade is John Deere designed and supported and can soon be equipped with either Topcon or Leica.
In recognition of its 75th year in the dozer market, John Deere will begin decaling its dozer line-up with a commemorative badge. This badge will be available on all Dozers built for the remainder of 2024 and 2025. To learn more about the current line-up of John Deere dozers, please visit www.JohnDeere.com/dozers or contact your local dealer.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.