Innovative Iron Awards: John Deere’s E-Series skid steers
The heart and soul of a good company is the creativity it brings to a marketplace. Innovation (as we’ll call it) is both the knowledge a business bestows to an industry and also the imagination in which it approaches its products and customers. In many ways, 2014 has been a tough year for contractors and manufacturers, so now it seems like an appropriate time to celebrate some of the big success stories — contractors who have become leaner and more agile, companies that have diversified and gained market share and manufacturers who have kept trailblazing with ever more efficient and innovative equipment. With this article we salute the companies (from Cat to Kubota) that have changed the commercial equipment market over the last 12 months with their unique, interesting and innovative machines, engines and technologies.
John Deere’s E-Series Skid Steers Can Switch to Any Control Pattern
There are plenty of bright ideas in John Deere’s E-Series skid steers. The E-Series medium size models provide enhanced uptime, productivity and low daily operating cost features for Deere customers. First off, Deere is the only manufacturer that offers an option that allows an operator to switch between all three industry control patterns of operation in one machine. With the EH Switchable Controls option, operators can choose from using foot pedals to control loader and bucket operations, or switch to ISO pattern controls (drive with left joystick, loader/bucket with right joystick) or choose H pattern mode (drive with right and left joysticks fore/aft and loader control with left joysticks/bucket with the right joystick in and out).
The exclusive EH Joystick Performance package option allows the operator to adjust loader and bucket speeds, adjust propel speeds for drive sensitivity, set creeper mode to match maximum travel speed to the production of an attachment. New standard equipment courtesy lighting features an illuminated cab entrance/exit in dark environments that automatically shuts off after up to 90 seconds; this feature is programable for alternate shut off time periods. An exclusive reversing engine and hydraulic cooling fan will automatically reverse to clean out debris from the radiator at periodic intervals; this feature can be programed to reverse at intervals determined by the operator. And let us not forget about the keyless start, anti-theft and integrated operator memory preference settings that remembers up to six different operator settings for all features listed above. For more info, visit deere.com.
Keith Gribbins is associate publisher with Compact Equipment, based in Brecksville, Ohio.
