Little Kids And Big Kids At Farm Toy Show

Washington Daily News

If the Beaufort County FFA Alumni Association’s 11th annual farm toy show is any indication, the future is bright for the agricultural association.

Farm-raised children were just as excited as their elders to display their miniature farm displays, including tractors, combines and big rigs, and to pick up new pieces.

Brian Edwards, of Chocowinity, joined his grandfather, Gordon, behind a display table at the show forhis sixth straight year. The elder Edwards, who’s been showcasing and selling his farm toys at the show for 10 years, said his grandson has a “nice collection at the house.”

The elder Edwards has been collecting farm toys since he was 8 years old, and passed on the hobby to his grandson.

Cousins Dawson and Garret Boyd of Pinetown showed off an impressive miniture replica of 3B Farms in Pinetown. The cousins said they worked about an hour each night for three weeks to put the display of their family’s farm together.

James McCollum’s stepson, Hunter Taylor, 5, of Washington, was awe struck by the model of 3B Farms.

McCollum said his stepson’s bedroom is lined with farm toys. Taylor is especially fond of John Deere memorabilia, McCollum said.

“He’s a John Deere man,” McCollum said in regards to his step-son. “Some are John Deere Toys, but some he doesn't play with because they are serious John Deere collectables.”

Local farm children weren’t the only ones satisfied with the show.

“All the vendors have been pretty happy,” said David Jackson, co-coordinator of the show.

He said about 350 enthusiasts attended the show, which was held from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Red Men’s Lodge on Third Street.

“It went pretty good considering the economy,” Jackson said.

The show featured door prizes, a raffle and a Future Farmers of America-sponsored food stand. Admission was $2 for adults and free for children under 10, with proceeds from the show going towards scholarships for area agricultural students.

ActiveCommand Steering Wins German Award

Irish Independent

John Deere's new ActiveCommand Steering concept has won a gold medal which was awarded at last week's Agritechnica in Germany.

The new concept is a steer-by-wire design, combining a gyroscope and sensors on a smaller steering wheel to a set of electro-hydraulic actuators. Both the manual force and the number of steering wheel turns required when driving will automatically adjust to the tractor's actual speed.

The driver benefits from the reduced effort required during field, front loader and transport operations, and from a more stable ride at high road speeds (up to 50kph).

In addition to the gold medal, Deere scooped five DLG silver medals for several innovative solutions for tractors, harvesting equipment and crop-care solutions.

Exchange

First up is a system which enables two-way ISOBUS data exchange between the tractor and more complex implements. During operation, the system allows the implement to take command of certain pre-assigned tractor parameters. For example, a round baler can tell the tractor when bale formation is nearly complete and will then make the tractor slow down to release the bale.

The extension of iSolutions from self-propelled sprayers to 700i and 800i Series trailed sprayers also nabbed a silver medal. This facility includes the integration of a tank fill calculator, an advanced SprayerPro boom control package and an AutoDilute function to handle the appropriate dilution of residual liquid in the sprayer.

Also among the prize-winning innovations was the newly designed Condition Monitoring System (CMS), which will be optionally available on the new 7950i self-propelled harvester.

This system continuously monitors the bearing vibrations of key components, such as compaction rollers, drum, kernel processor and accelerator fan. If these bearings begin to change their vibration frequency, the driver or fleet owner is alerted via a signal in the cab or remotely via JDLink.

Local Man Turns Old Sewing Machines Into New Toy Tractors

Herald-Review

Roy Gaunt holds one of the model tractors he made out of 

an old sewing machine at his home in Shelbyville.

The Bible says, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks."

There's some dispute among scholars about this, but the passage from Isaiah is widely interpreted to mean the sword and spear bashing will coincide with the establishment of a future Messianic Kingdom of God on Earth.

That could take awhile. In the meantime, we can enjoy the handiwork of Shelbyville's Roy Gaunt, who is busy in his basement workshop beating antique sewing machines into models of vintage farm tractors.

Well, it's not so much beating as it is a careful laying of hands to remove bits and add bits, rounded off by skillful painting in authentic factory colors. The results are a major transfiguration: sewing machine bodies morphed into John Deere, Farmall and Allis-Chalmers tractors from the nostalgic heyday of the American family farm.

Gaunt explains that the bodies of old Singer machines and others from the 1800s and first third of the 20th century do actually look remarkably like the chasses of old farm tractors. His art is to heighten the visual tromp l'oeil effect with skilled tweaking here and there. Wheels from a push lawnmower become the big back tires, while front wheels, attached to adapted needle shafts, are the same ones found on Ertl-brand farm toys.

A particularly effective touch is the vertical mufflers above the engine canopy. "I use pieces of vacuum hose slipped over a little piece of round metal rod that I cut to length and paint," he said.

His tractor seats are liberated from the cutlery drawer in the shape of soup spoons bent to the correct angle, the bowl of the spoon a perfect miniature butt-shape. "And the older seats had holes bored in them, so I do that, too," said Gaunt, 71.

Wife Eleanor Gaunt says her husband is blessed with mechanical acumen and an eye for understanding what works visually. "Just always a very observant person," she says. "He sees things most people would not see. He's very good at noticing details."

Gaunt used to get detailed knowledge of real tractors every day as a farm boy growing up in Iowa, who first drove the family's 1930s F-20 Farmall when he was 7. Gaunt stayed down on the farm into the turbulent 1980s, when staggering interest rates ripped a hole in the fabric of American rural life and, as singer John Mellencamp put it, there was "blood on the plow."

Separated from the land, he needed a job and moved with his wife and two sons to Central Illinois, where he worked for a farm supply company. He stayed there until retirement in 2002 and worked part time in another job for five years until some creeping health problems demanded retirement take a more comprehensive form.

The old farmer had seen a magazine story about a guy who did the sewing machine-tractor thing and decided it sounded fun and doable now that he had the time. "I kept the idea in the back of my mind for three or four months and then just thought, 'Well, I really could do that,' " he recalls. "And so I made one."

That stitch in time occurred about a year ago, and he's been on a roll ever since, cranking out  John Deere toy tractors that sell for prices starting at $60 and do a good job of cultivating their own word of mouth advertising. "They are conversation pieces, and no two are exactly the same," he says. His wife even managed to sell one just chatting to her hairdresser about them.

"The lady needed one for a birthday present for her husband," recalls Eleanor Gaunt, 69. "You guys are hard to buy for."

Gaunt usually builds to order and, pedal to the metal, he can piece together a sewing machine tractor in about two weeks. He's constantly on the lookout for vintage sewing machine raw materials but says the golden thread of prosperity sometimes loops right around tractor conversions and ends up back at the machine itself.

"I run ads seeking sewing machines and think I bought about a dozen this one time, and I noticed a machine in there that had a kind of a unique cover over it," he says. "I didn't tear it down right away but did some research and ended up selling it to a private party for more than I could have received if I'd made it into a tractor. I guess I'm learning."

GET YOUR OWN

If you would like Roy Gaunt to create a sewing machine tractor for you, call 774-3377.

Scotsturf '09 Show Preview

from Horticulture Week

The show involves over 80 exhibitors, educational presentations, live product demonstrations and award ceremonies for the grounds care, golf course, local authority and arboriculture industries.

Show Manager Roy Daniels said this year's agenda would be dominated by pesticide approvals, weed control, integrated turf management and health and safety.

As well as the presentations there are awards for innovative and new products, IOG awards, the Scottish Groundsman of the Year award and presentations to the land based colleges.

Many companies will be launching new products at the show, which promises to offer something for every aspect of the Scottish sports turf, amenity and leisure sectors.

The companies exhibiting include:

Bernhard and Company will display the Express Dual and Anglemaster 3000MC range of cylinder and bottom blade grinders along with blade thinning attachment for the Express Dual cylinder grinder.

New this year from Broadwood International is the SnowEx TLR-275 mount, which opens up the world of salt and grit spreading to users of quad bikes, ATVs and UTVs as well as functioning perfectly with any vehicle fitted with a standard 50mm ball hitch.

Dennis will be showing, among other things, the S500 PLUS, which takes the effort out of surface spiking, slotting and overseeding. The 500mm operating width, Honda-powered unit has simple changeover between applications with an optional overseeding box mechanism.

The Double A Trading Company will launch the new Gianni Ferrari ML360 Turbo Loader, a 36 HP diesel pivot steer multi-purpose compact wheeled loader capable of operating a wide range of attachments including buckets, pallet forks, trenchers, brushes, post hole borers and excavators.

Pride of place on the Fairways Group stand (Wiedenmann UK) will be the Terra Spike GXi8 - Wiedenmann's latest deep fast aerator which, with a working width of 1.8m, is40 cm wider than the GXi6 (which was designed for fine turf areas and compact tractors) and fits tractors from 30 HP. Coverage is 5,800sq m/ hour at 110mm square hole spacing (based on a crank speed of 485revs/min and assumes the pulling tractor is moving at 3.2km/hour). Also debuting is Wiedenmann's trio of surface conditioning equipment — the Terra Float, Terra Slit and Terra Seed.

IPU Group will showcase a selection of new models from Ferris Industries' ride-on mower range, including the new-to-the-UK Ferris Evolution - a ride-on mower with a seating position allowing the operator to take the ‘ideal' ergonomical position for comfort and all-round visibility.

GreenMech will show the new six inch capacity turntable Quad Chip 150 woodchipper that was launched at IOG SALTEX show. The turntable allows ultimate positioning of the in-feed chute for convenience of access in limited space and more importantly safer use when working from the road side - when the chute is moved to 90° of the drawbar the rear of the machine stays within the width of the axle and does not protrude.

Green-tech will be on hand to explain the success of its innovative Mona Plant System irrigation system which offers significant saving in time and water efficiency. They will also be displaying the gt composphere, an environmentally friendly composter alongside some of its best-sellers - gt Gree-tree topsoil, the 100% sustainable, recycled topsoil; and gt GRB, the 100% recycled ground reinforcement block.

From GroundsCare Products, the Turf Teq brush cutter features a variable angle cutting head that allows the operator to cut under hedges, fences and trees; a deck that pivots incrementally to the left by up to 300 mm beyond the handle bars; a 711 mm wide deck with 660 mm cutting blade; and adjustable mowing heights of 70 mm and 95 mm.

Showcased at IOG SALTEX, the Orbs prototype from Inclusive Play (UK) will be on show. Despite being only 45 cm high and 35 cm diameter, the eye-catching items are designed for their sensory appeal. The Orb is manufactured from high density polyethylene which is durable and impact-resistant, but the product becomes more tactile when a ‘smiley' is machined into the top.

Irrigation Supplies will be showing for the first time the new range of K-Rain sprinklers and providing details of the new Kasco water treatment fountains. The company manufactures pop up impact golf sprinklers that are interchangeable with Logic/ Watermation GN / GR sprinklers, and is the distributor of HIT solenoid valves, Perrot sprinklers  Nelson, Hunter, K-Rain Weathermatic and Tonick.

Machines from John Deere's new golf and sports turf maintenance product range will be featured. The 220e E-Cut walk-behind greens reel mowers with hybrid electric drive, and the 7200 PrecisionCut trim and surrounds mower, with the patented Width on Demand cutting system, both have Quick Adjust cutting cylinders featuring a Speed Link system for extremely quick height of cut adjustment.

Additional new machines on show will include the 8400 Commercial triple reel lawn mowers which features high capacity 10 inch Jumbo cutting units, an intelligent all-wheel drive traction system and a Cross Cut function for increased productivity; the HD200 SelectSpray amenity turf sprayer, fitted to a John Deere Pro Gator utility vehicle; and the X749 lawn tractor, an all-wheel steer version of the 4WD X748 model, also designed for demanding commercial applications.

JSM Distribution will be launching the Sweep N Fill system, a trailed twin-brush system providing superb topdressing performance, filling aeration holes with topdressing in two passes, with no damage to the plant.

Lloyds will be exhibiting the Buffalo turbine blowers at Scotsturf for the first time, including the Cyclone PTO and the Cyclone KB3 Debris Blower in engine and PTO version.

Symbio will display the new Symbio TraceOlite highly porous zeolite that is impregnated with essential trace elements and holds 30-40 per cent of its weight in water. Also new nd on show will be Symbio Liquid Aeration, which releases oxygen molecules into the thatch layer and rootzone for thatch degradation. This helps oxidise nutrients and can oxidise black layer.

Symbio also launches its new range of Early Start Fertilisers to help overcome the problems of a late start to the growing season and Compost Tea Brewers that help increase soil biology for healthy perennial grasses.

Spray Techniques plan to stage a sprayer nozzle display, demonstrating a range of nozzles that can be used in pesticide, herbicide and liquid feed application. Various nozzle sizes and designs will show how there are always options as the conditions of weather, growth stage and amount of diseases etc change. The display will also feature new drift reduction air inclusion nozzle the Bubble Jet.

As local dealer for Massey Ferguson Groundcare equipment, SGM (UK) will display a selection of models from the newly extended range which now covers from 19.5 to 91 DIN HP.

Scotbark provides innovative solutions for erosion, flood and sediment control, and its expanding ‘tool box' of products includes the use of filter and growing media that is custom-installed to suit individual applications. The products are used in conjunction with the Express blower system.

The Scottish Golf Environment Group (SGEG), a subsidiary of the Scottish Golf Union (SGU), can help address environmental issues by:

• Giving free best practice and legislation advice on managing and creating habitats and landscape features such as coastal links, grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, ponds and heathland

• Providing free advice on nature surveys and protecting and providing habitats for flora and fauna species, environmental training and integrated management planning.

• Giving free advice on water management, waste reduction and energy efficiency - helping clubs obtain specialist audits (some free of charge) and promoting green technologies such as recycled products and renewable energy sources.

• Assisting in developing practical projects, plus providing information on grants and sources of project funding along with advice for new golf developments and course extensions.

Adopting green mowing technology such as the Scotts Classic reel mowers, or the German-designed Brill reel mowers.

Shelton Sportsturf Drainage Solutions LLP's Supertrencher + range has many new features, including a twin-speed digging wheel to suit dry, hard soils or wetter conditions. The digging wheel is in line with the centre of the tractor, with twin cylinders adjusting the digging depth either manually or by laser. Excavated soil is thrown into a large aperture at the front of the machine, then elevated via two conveyors into a trailer running alongside. The newly designed conveyor is hinged so that it can be turned through 90 deg to lay alongside the body of the machine for transport purposes.

This is Simon Tullett Machinery's first full season with the RoboFlail zero-turn remote controlled mower which won the New Product and Innovation Award at Scotsturf 2008, and is available with either standard rotary or open-front rotary deck. STM took the machine on a successful roadshow in Scotland - for example, Dundee City Council had a demonstration then placed an order.

One Man's Pursuit Of All Things 'Tractor'

from The Fence Post

This display of John Deere pedal tractors depict the preference of the equipment used on the Oatts Farm. The Ford pedal tractors reflect the preferred brand in the Oatts Farm Antique Tractor Museum.

Photo: Fred Hendricks

What do you call a person who lives in the south, farms several thousand acres for grain production, has a bunch of antique tractors displayed in museums in two states, collects farm toys, including pedal tractors and owns a farm toy store? Some would call him a Southern Gentleman.

Charles Oatts is a true Southern Gentleman but he does not take all the credit for the aforementioned family enterprises. “While each family member has varied interests, we're all involved. My wife, Shirley, is very supportive and as active as any wife could be. Our son, Brian and his wife, Carla and their two children are involved with all facets of our family farm. And a 36-year loyal employee, Tommy Johnson, helps manage the farm toy store and restores the antique tractors. In addition, numerous other employees make untold contributions to the farm business,” Charles shared.

The Oatts Family farm business is located in Hopkinsville, a community in the fertile Pennyrile region of southwestern Kentucky. Charles grew up on the family farm helping with the tobacco, hay and grain cropping. Their livestock included; beef, hogs and a small herd of milk cows. He attended a one-room school for grades one through seven with the same teacher all seven grades.

After high school graduation, Charles began his college studies. Charles farmed part time during college. With a degree in hand, Charles taught school and served as a school administrator. After a short stint in the classroom, he started farming full time. His management and farming skills were honed as the family developed their many enterprises.

Collection Hobby — Toy Show

Charles developed a farm related hobby collecting antique tractors. “The collection has grown with five brands represented. Although we farm primarily with John Deere equipment, I was intrigued with Ford and Ferguson tractors. And now with Tommy's help, we have more of those than any other make. All told, we have about 40 tractors fully restored. The majority of the tractors are displayed in our home farm tractor museum. We also have a number of antique tractors on permanent display in the Ford Tractor and Toy Building at the Florida Flywheeler Show grounds located in Ft Meade, Fla. This show is a very large event with tractors on display during their November, January and February shows. Shirley and I spend several months in Florida during the winter so we're able to maintain those tractors while taking in the Flywheeler Shows,” Charles stated.

With farming activities moving at a slower pace during the winter season, the Oatts Family hosts the annual Western Kentucky Farm Toy Show the first Saturday in December. Charles talked about the show, saying “We open our museum for visitors to view the antique tractors while attending the toy show. We also use a portion of the warehouse adjacent to the toy store for other venders to display. Toy collectors attend the show from across Kentucky and the surrounding states. This activity is a real family affair with all the Oatts clan involved.”

Toys Spring from the Earth
The bug to collect farm toys caught Charles in 1977. “We were excavating a sight for a tool shed and came across two childhood John Deere toy tractors buried under a tree. They were in remarkably good shape. This spiked my interest so I started going to farm toy shows to collect other desired toys. Today, the collection consists of all brands and has grown to several hundred. Two of the prized pieces in the collection include; a 1:16 scale die-cast John Deere model A with the high post and a 1:16 scale die-cast John Deere model A with a man on the seat, both made by Ertl. We also have the 1:16 scale die-cast John Deere models 14 and 17 made by Wagner. Our farm operation uses all John Deere equipment so we try to focus on those,” Charles said.

Charles soon learned that farm toy collecting had wide and diversified interest. “Invariably, the collection became a discussion point when friends came by to visit. These friends began asking that we purchase toys for them while at toy shows,” Charles remarked. With this interest in farm toys by friends and neighbors, a retail business evolved. He went on to say, “We realized there was a market for farm toys. So we made the decision to start the toy business. I contacted the toy manufactures and we were soon off and running with the Oatts Farm Toy business.

Expanding the toy collection to include pedal tractors was quite by chance, as with unearthing the toy tractors. “The pedal tractor collection began when we discovered a John Deere model 130 made by Eska in a farm building we had purchased. We soon started adding pedal tractors to our toy collection. We have a few antique versions but most are new versions as they became available through the years. We probably have about 150 pedal tractors with nearly every brand name represented. We also offer all the commercially made pedal tractors through our toy store,” Charles commented.

Unique Pedal Tractors

Rare antique pedal tractors continue to hold their value. If you are among the collectors with any of the old gems, consider yourself fortunate. “We do not have many of the antique pedal tractor versions, but we're fortunate to have a few. Among the more prized ones is the 1958 John Deere model 130 by Eska. This pedal tractor was the one that came with the farm we purchased,” Charles recounted.

Charles went on to comment about additional features of their pedal collection, “Harold Sherron of Boaz, Kentucky is an avid collector of antique Gibson tractors. In fact, he may have the most complete set of anyone in America. Harold had a set of three Gibson pedal tractors made for resale. They include: Gibson model H-Jr row-crop, Gibson model H-Jr standard and Gibson model D-Jr standard. All three are nice quality. We're fortunate to have them in our collection.”

Another very rare pedal tractor in the Oatts hoard is the John Deere model 8310T track version. This custom model 8310T features continues rubber tracks along with front-end weights. Wayne Samuelson of Dyersville, Iowa customized this tractor. “Another favorite pedal tractor is our custom John Deere model 430. We don't know who built it, but we think it is quite special. We enjoy the pedal tractor additions in our collection. They are more out in the open and certainly add color. They also spur a lot of reminiscing along with interesting discussions when customers and friends come by,” he noted.

Twists and Turns of Toy Collecting 

When reflecting on how the farm toy hobby evolved, we are often reminded of someone or a special event that influenced us. Charles noted earlier that they came on two toy tractors and the one pedal tractor by chance. “No one really influenced me as I launched the collection. I remember the many fine individuals who were serious toy and pedal collectors that Shirley and I have met over the years. We have been so impressed by them and their collections. It really made us want to continue in the hobby. I would love to name them, but they are too numerous to mention,” he reflected.

The never-ending enhancements to toy tractors and pedal tractors make the collecting hobby more intriguing. Charles recalled, “Details of toys have improved significantly. Plastic is being used more all the time. There are many more models available. And there are more sizes, including 1:32 and 1:50 scale offerings. The higher cost of today's toys makes it more difficult especially with the Key and Precision Series.” He commented further, “I really like the 1:16 scale construction equipment, but we don't see many of them anymore. Having that larger scale made the equipment seem more realistic.”

The average age of the collector suggests that younger people may not be as interested in farm toys or John Deere collectibles. No doubt the cost for high detail toys plays into the age of the collector. There are young collectors with a keen interest in toy replicas, however. “When attending farm toy shows, I am concerned that there are fewer young people who will become dealers. This may become a problem when older dealers stop going to the toy shows. The economy is a problem for many families. It is causing many of them to reconsider how much they should be investing in toys verses necessities,” Charles lamented.

The beginner can certainly find his niche when interested in collecting. “I would advise those who are beginning to collect to consider the space available for their toys. The available space will determine the scale to start collecting. It will also provide direction regarding the availability of numbers of toys available in that scale and chosen brand. I would encourage the starter to pick a brand and stick with that brand. And then, go with a selected series, be it shelf models or high detail,” he advised.

There are numerous avenues to stay informed when collecting. “I get my best information from publications like Toy Farmer. Talking with collector friends, visiting farm toy stores and auction sales are all good sources of information. We also attend 10 or more toy shows each year,” Charles explained.

Friends and Future
The farm toy hobby is people sharing their past, developing friendships and looking toward an optimistic future. “We feel the collection hobby involves some of the best people in the world. And, we are proud to be a part of it. Whether we're assisting a customer in our store or hosting the Western Kentucky Farm Toy Show, we get to see the customers smile when buying or as they admire our collections. It may be a smile of reflection back to a piece of equipment they operated or the purchase of that sought after replica. All of this makes it worth more to us than the actual value of the collections,” Charles expressed. He went on to note, “Through our collections, we feel that we are preserving our agriculture heritage. It also encourages other individuals to preserve their past through collecting farm toys, pedal tractors or antique tractors.”

If you would like to learn more about Oatts Farm Toys, you may contact the friendly folks at (270) 885-8175. Reminder, the store and museum are open by chance or by appointment.

Fred Hendricks owns SunShower Acres, Ltd., of Bucyrus, Ohio, a dairy cattle consulting business. Mr. Hendricks is an avid farm toy collector and a freelance writer.

About the author
Fred Hendricks owns SunShower Acres, Ltd., of Bucyrus, Ohio, a dairy cattle consulting business. Mr. Hendricks is an avid farm toy collector and a freelance writer.

Deere Studies Russian Production Options

from Lesprom

Moscow -- /Lesprom Network/  Deere&Company studies possibility of production at Severstal units, as Kommersant newspaper reported.

Voronezh and Nizhniy Novgorod regions now have at least two competitors for an investment agreement with American Deere & Company, the paper reports. The company started negotiations with administrations of Oryol and Lipetsk regions regarding construction of plant producing John Deere combine harvesters. Experts find that irrespective of what Russian region Deere & Company will choose for placing its production lines, construction of the facility will start in three years at the earliest.

Oryol region confirmed that Deere & Company regards the possibility of placing John Deere agricultural equipment plant in the region. A source close to the negotiation process told the paper that Oryol administration proposed the company a site at Oryol steel-rolling plant belonging to Severstal Group having an area of 7,000 to 8,000 sq m. The enterprise is located in Severniy district of the town of Oryol. Region governor Aleksandr Kozlov participated in the negotiation process with Deere & Company, newspaper’s source said. ‘American company is gradually building up its industrial complexes in Russia. They have decided upon assembling sites in Orenburg and Moscow region’s Domodedovo. At the same time, they are looking for a full production site’.

However, he said that the administration did not manage to get an answer from Deere & Company. ‘As in other regions, Americans listened to the proposal and announced that the decision will be taken by the board of directors, though the site in Oryol is ideal. Directly speaking, you just have to wash the floors and move in the machinery’. The source added that, according to his information, Deere & Company regards also a possibility of such production in Lipetsk. ‘Not a single region which is of interest to the company will get precise answer for one more year. It will depend not only on their wishes but also on where the Russian authorities will tell them to locate production’.

This spring Deere and Company showed interest in placing production in Voronezh region. At that time, Voronezh governor Alexei Gordeev met the head of Deere & Company Robert Lane. Mr Lane underlined that their relations with Mr Gordeev, a former agriculture minister, are long and well-established and the company is glad to continue cooperation with him in his new post. The regional government, in turn, expressed confidence that the company will most probably choose Voronezh. Experts said that if the plant in Voronezh was going to be as large as in Kaluga, its construction would cost around $80-100 million. However, soon Deere & Company started talks with Nizhniy Novgorod regional government concerning possible establishment of production there.

Nevertheless, Deputy Chairman of Voronezh government Aleksandr Gusev who is responsible for industry matters said that the company did not lose its interest in the region. Moreover, he announced that the region picked three facilities with an area of 35,000 sq m, though he did not specify what particular facilities they are. A source in regional administration has recently informed that since Mr. Gordeev’s meeting with Robert Lane no progress was reached.

Experts find that irrespective of what Russian region Deere & Company will choose for placing its production lines, construction of the facility will start in three years at the earliest. ‘In such large companies just taking a decision may take several years’, Director of agricultural equipment producers union (Soyuzagromash) Evgeniy Korchevoy commented. Representatives of Deere & Company also said earlier that they will start new facility construction only after they commission their new production and logistics centre in Kaluga.

The board of the company, however, has recently approved construction of a production centre and spare parts storage in Moscow region’s Domodedovo. Deere&Company is going to produce a wide range of John Deere machinery there, including tractors, agricultural and forest harvesting and construction machines. The new project will complement planned investments in a complex in Kaluga region and production facility in Orenburg. It is known that Deere & Company will place a 45,000 sq m site in Giffels Management Russia Yuzhnye Vrata industrial park (Moscow region). Rent fee is estimated by experts in $100-105 per square meter annually. Generally, by 2015 the company is going to invest around $500 million in its Russian projects, namely in Kaluga and Moscow region ones and a joint venture with Russian agricultural machinery producers.

Deere & Co. Recalls 452 Workers

AG Weekly Online

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) _ Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. says it will recall most of the workers it laid off earlier this year at an Iowa plant.

The Moline, Ill.-based company says the 452 manufacturing employees will be recalled to its John Deere Ottumwa Works starting Nov. 30 as it begins production of its 2010 models.

But Deere says 78 other workers will remain laid off until market conditions improve enough to warrant their return.

In June, Deere said it would temporarily lay off 494 of the factory's workers due to weak demand amid the economic slowdown. That followed a layoff of 40 employees in April.

The Ottumwa Works employed about 260 salaried employees and 720 wage employees, including those who remain laid off.

The plant makes equipment such as balers and pull-type forage harvesters used by hay and livestock producers.

A Faster Way To Move A Lot Of Snow

SB2176 Snow Blower for all John Deere 400 Series Loaders
from Construction News

John Deere's Frontier Products has introduced an easier, more powerful way to quickly move snow: the hydraulically driven and loader-mounted SB2176 Snow Blower for all John Deere 400 Series Loaders. Designed to save time and energy, the SB2176's quick-attach feature allows operators to mount the blower without removing the loader. The blower is driven by an independent, hydraulic three-point hydraulic power pack that attaches to the rear of the tractor. Self-contained and driven by the tractor's rear PTO, it is also Category 1- and iMatch -compatible.

"The SB2176 increases tractor versatility and ease of use, both of which are necessities for operators with a long list of duties, such as those at schools or municipalities," said Tom Elliott, division sales & marketing manager for Frontier. "But clearing snow will become every operator's favorite task with the help of the hydraulic controls and the ability to drive the blower facing forward. The ability to quickly disconnect the snow blower and begin using the loader again means more versatility."

Able to face the toughest snowfalls, the SB2176 features a 76-inch working width and automatic auger speed control to prevent clogs. In addition to hydraulic loader control of height and pitch, the chute rotation and optional chute angle adjustment is powered by the rear power pack and controlled with rocker switches installed in the tractor operator station. The cutting edge is replaceable while the steel skid shoes are adjustable and replaceable.

For additional winter needs, John Deere also offers two commercial-mount three-point snow blowers, the 1274 and 1280. These 540 PTO snow blowers feature a 74-inch and 80-inch width, respectively.