Interesting Facts

1. Since 1949, Deere has designed and manufactured diesel engines.

2. The first Deere diesel engine, found in the Model R, produced 51 horsepower and was the first to offer a live power take-off (PTO) with its own clutch.

3. The innovative design of the John Deere Model R tractor featured two engines—the 416-cubic inch diesel-fired engine along with a two-cylinder, gasoline-fired starter engine. The dual engines resolved two starting difficulties often seen in diesel engines; operators could start the engine with the pull of a lever, rather than manually turning the flywheel, and had the capacity to warm-up the engine quickly in cold temperatures.

4. In 1953, Deere launched the Model 70, the first John Deere diesel-powered row-crop tractor.

5. The model 8010 in 1959 marked the beginning of 4- or 6-cylinder diesel engines, as Deere moved away from 2-cylinder engines at the end of 1958.

6. In 1960, John Deere introduced the 300 and 400 Series engines—its first in-line 4- and 6-cylinder gasoline, LP gas, and diesel engines—in the model 1010, 2010, 3010, and 4010 tractors.

7. In 1969, Deere introduced its first turbocharged diesel engine in the 4520 row-crop tractor.

8. In 1996, Deere rolled out a new breed of engines, called PowerTech™, to comply with Tier 1 standards. In the years since, the company has followed a building-block approach to meeting each new regulatory Tier, systematically adopting technologies for the PowerTech platform.

9. John Deere diesel engines range from 49 to 600 HP.

10. John Deere has produced more than 5 million diesel engines.