John Deere celebrates 75 years of dozer manufacturing

John Deere is celebrating its 75th year since it entered the dozer business. It first began producing dozers in 1949 in Dubuque, Iowa, with its MC dozer line.

John Deere vintage crawler dozer. (Photo: John Deere)

“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.”

Just a few of the major milestones cited by John Deere across its 75-year history include:

• The 1958 introduction of the first all-yellow machine built specifically for industrial applications – the 440 crawler dozer. According to Deere, it was the first all-hydraulic bulldozer with six-way power-angle-tilt blade.
• Becoming the first North American manufacturer to utilize dual-path hydrostatic drive on its dozer lineup in 1976.
• The 2010 unveiling of the industry first 764 High Speed Dozer – a new machine form boasting travel speeds of up to 16 mph.

Throughout the lpast decade, the company has invested in and developed a broad range of productivity-enhancing technologies, including SmartGrade 3D grade control, EZGrade and Slope Control, as well jobsite safety solutions and operator comfort improvements.

John Deere 950 P-Tier dozer. (Photo: John Deere)

In 2024, John Deere has expanded its Dozer SmartGrade offerings by introducing the Next Generation of SmartGrade into the 450 P-Tier and 550 P-Tier and updating it on the 650 P-Tier. The Next Generation of SmartGrade is John Deere designed and supported and can soon be equipped with either Topcon or Leica systems.

In recognition of its 75th year in the dozer market, John Deere will begin decaling its dozer lineup with a commemorative badge. This badge will be available on all models built for the remainder of 2024 and 2025.