Eric says that the program has been real successful. The opportunity to get the truck on the road and deliver these new utility tractors to dealers around the country provided customers the chance to get on them which is what it’s all about. He says that one of the things that stood out for him was how the program got people into John Deere dealership who had never been there before. Attendance was way higher than they had hoped for overall. In fact, Eric says the program was expanded after the early success of the show stops.

When the show first started there was some limited availability on certain models so dealers were really happy to have some of these tractors on hand. The truck also provided a great promotional opportunity when it was parked outside dealerships.

Eric appreciates the staff and instructors who traveled along with the show around the country since it provided good consistency of information that was available at each stop. Looking ahead he says that they’re changing the tires on the truck and hope to have it back on the road again in the future.

You can listen to my interview with Eric here: Interview with Eric Hodson

Speaking of Gators, they are one of the types of equipment in use at the Fresno Unified School District. A number of their folks attended out show stop including Ernie Martin. He says they’re involved in the heavy equipment part of the school district which includes all their tractor work. He says the utility tractors are very handy for the type of work they do.

You can listen to my interview with Ernie here: Interview with Ernie Martin

In Lynden, WA last week that guy was Rich Hubbard. Rich says he’s got a pretty diverse territory with a lot of property owners and small ag operations. I thanked him for having us there on a beautiful sunny day. He says feedback on the new utility tractors has been good.

In fact, he says they quoted a number of new tractors during the show stop at North Washington Implement.

You can listen to my interview with Rich here: Interview with Rich Hubbard

North Washington Implement Photo Album

He came out to purchase some blades for his wife’s John Deere mower. Doug says he’s got a John Deere 720 which he uses in local parades. When it comes to the new utility tractors he’s impressed with their safety. He says they’re really good for people who don’t run them every day. He also likes the fact that they run so long without needing adjustments since so many people aren’t mechanically inclined. So he likes the safety and longevity of the new tractors.

You can listen to my interview with Doug here: Interview with Doug Smith

North Washington Implement Photo Album

I’m thinking that the Mayberry farm is very much a John Deere type of operation. And that’s what I found out when I interviewed Annette. She says they use all sizes of John Deere tractors including these utility tractors and lawn mowers.

You can listen to my interview with Annette here: Interview with Annette Maybeery

North Washington Implement Photo Album

Max says they’ve been doing business as a John Deere dealer in Lynden since 1916. He says their customer business is “dairy and berry.” Max says this is the raspberry and blueberry capital of the world. Since they have so many dairies in their area he says these new utility tractors really work well in their business.

You can listen to my interview with Max here: Interview with Max Smith

North Washington Implement Photo Album

In this one you can see Dick Bedlington (left) who is a local farmer. I got to speak with him after he enjoyed one of the hamburgers being served for lunch.

Dick says he farms about 2,200 acres that includes potatoes and grain. He came out to look at the new utility tractors. Dick has a lot of John Deere equipment on his farm. In fact, he says “We’re all John Deere. Our company swears by John Deere.” When it comes to the utility tractors he says they use them on a small farm for early germination seed which is a mostly two row application.

You can listen to my interview with Dick here: Interview with Dick Bedlington

All my photos from today’s event can be found here: North Washington Implement Photo Album

While I was at Fresno Equipment I found out that in their ride and drive lot they had a precision guided tractor demonstration being run by local AMS Consultant, Joey Todd, pictured here. So I climbed in the cab with Joey and had him explain what was on display. To start with we were in an 8230 wheel tractor running RTK using iTEC Pro. Joey set up a field with boundaries so that the tractor would turn at the appropriate spot and raise and lower the implement. He said we were getting sub 1 inch accuracy. In California Joey says the need for precision is “a must” especially because of water restrictions. He also says that he’s seen this equipment being put into Gators for applications like spraying.

You can listen to my interview with Joey here: Interview with Joey Todd

First in the interview is Allen Ewards pictured here. He says they’ve “seen a little bit of everything.” He talks about how the weather has played a big role in how many people attend at our show stops and like the weather he says, “You just never know.” The feedback from people he’s met has been very positive. He’s met a wide cross section of people from first time customers to existing customers who want to see the latest and greatest. He’s been able to help the dealers at our show stops since he’s got the factory training which allows him to answer their questions too. He says that in general all the people he’s met have had a very positive attitude. As he puts it, “Nobody is quitting in the farming business.”

Joining us in the interview was Jim Stoffregen. Jim has teamed up with Allen at several locations across the country. One of the questions he gets hit with most is to explain the new numbering sequence which he says makes it so easy for people to know what kind of tractor they’re looking at.

Even though the show has been put on in a variety of venues from dealer locations to large arenas he says they’ve all seemed to work well.

He’s also seen that sales are happening even with concerns about the economy. Part of that may be that these new utility tractors are so versatile and can work in so many applications.

You can listen to my interview with Allen and Jim here: Interview with Allen and Jim

Fresno Equipment Photo Album

We started out learning about his experience getting the truck stuck in some mud in Maryland. All went well even though Tim says it was kind of a nightmare for a while. He says he’s met a lot of people and had an opportunity to hand out a lot of business cards. Tim says that other than having some different accents the people he meets all have similar questions and issues.

You can listen to my interview with Tim here: Truck Driver Diary

Fresno Equipment Photo Album

One of the people attending the show stop was Jason Langstraat. He just ordered four 9770 combines which he’ll be putting to work in his custom combining business. He says they already had 2 combines but needed more as his business has expanded. Those machines are still in the process of being built but while he was at the event he showed off a display model to a couple of friends who were probably curious about what he had ordered.

You can listen to my interview with Jason here: Interview with Jason Langstraat

Fresno Equipment Photo Album

He says these new utility tractors work great for his type of operation and would love to see a custom cab for orchards. He’s been a customer of Fresno Equipment for all of his career so coming out to our event was a chance for him to catch up with people he’s been doing business with while seeing what’s new. Besides the new tractors he said he had a new Gator XUV demo and is very interested in it.

You can listen to my interview with Tony here: Interview with Tony Ramos

Fresno Equipment Photo Album

However, local folks weren’t the only ones who attended. I spoke to Jerry Jaeckels who said he drove 5 hours to get here since he missed a closer event to where he lives. He just felt like the opportunity to see the new equipment, get a chance to drive the tractors and talk with John Deere representatives was too important to pass up. He’s interested in the new 5 series tractors and I’m sure that by the end of the day he got all the information he needed. He’s getting ready to start a horse arena on his property so one other item that caught his eye was the Riata Rake we had out in the ride and drive area.

You can listen to my interview with Jerry here: Interview with Jerry Jaeckels

You can see a whole set of photos from today’s event here: Fresno Equipment Photo Album

We had the full line of utility tractors, mowers, implements and more on display and available for riding and driving. On hand when I arrived were Gregg Rebar and Mike Asche. They pretty much run the operation. I think these guys had one of the best displays for our show that I’ve seen.

They’ve got quite a few stores which Mike says allows them to have a very wide range of John Deere products immediately available to customers. They’re in a very diverse market which ranges from row crop farmers to large property owner, vegetable farms and even poultry. He says that the rural lifestyle market has become a significant part of their business.

Gregg and Mike are good examples of the great folks I’ve met working in John Deere dealerships around the country.

You can listen to my interview with Gregg and Mike here: Interview with Gregg and Mike

Or you can watch the interview here:

You can listen to them talk about the Model M and the Waterloo Boys. Harvey says the club was formed in 1991 as part of the National 2-Cylinder Club. He says they want to keep the heritage of the 2 cylinder tractor alive and likes the contrast of them displayed alongside new ones. He says the their raffle tractor is in high demand to be displayed at a variety of events.

I asked them what they think of the new tractors. They’ve looked at them and even have “some in the shed.” Harvey says they’re his “toys to play with.” He says his pride and joy though is being able to show people how farming has been done in the past.

You can listen to my interview with these Waterloo Boys here: Interview with Waterloo Boys

Or you can watch the interview here:

I interviewed Richard when we were in Murfreesboro, TN. He says they had people with everything from 1 acre up to hundreds of acres of land. He was surprised to see how many people came out who had never been up close and personal with a tractor.

You can listen to my interview with Richard here: Interview with Richard Miller

Or you can watch the interview here:

I spoke to him right after he got off a 5 Series tractor which he thinks is a nice handling smooth riding tractor with a nice turning radius. He especially appreciated the placement of the controls which make it easy for the operator to get to. He had some more looking around to do after I spoke with him but he thought this tractor would suit his needs just fine.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here: drive-green-oxford-hoffman.mp3

Or you can watch the interview here:

One of them is Scott Brotherton, Territory Manager for John Deere. Scott and I hid out from the rain in the trailer of the truck for a short interview. Scott’s territory includes the Delmarva Peninsula where the crops are very diverse, including row crops and specialty crops and of course horse farms. Scott’s been in the territory for over a year and he says these horse owners are very dedicated to their animals and farms and this show stop provides a great opportunity to showcase the new John Deere tractors and utility vehicles for them. The hay tools like the rotary cutter and square baler we had on display would be other good examples of equipment that’s available to large property owners, especially those who cut their own hay.

You can listen to my interview with Scott here: drive-green-monkton-brotherton.mp3

Don’t forget to visit our event photos: Drive Green Utility Tractor Show Event Sets.

He really likes the opportunity the show provides to test drive the new utility tractors. He likes the looks of the 5M Series and 6D Series tractors. He uses his tractors for raking hay and picking up bales as well as mowing. In fact, he says they’re handy for just about everything on the farm. He brought his boys out since they’ll be helping him out.

You can listen to my interview with Melvin here: drive-green-oxford-horst.mp3

Or you can watch the interview here:

It was a wet day at the My Lady’s Manor Steeplechase races but I found truck driver Tim high and dry in the trailer so I got an update from him on how things have been going on the road. He says that things have been going really good during his portion of the schedule. People have had lots of questions and seem very happy to have the opportunity to see the new utility tractors and get on them to test them out.

Tim says our “Kicker Gator” utility vehicle has really been getting a lot of attention. Here at this location there were a lot of Gators in use which was especially helpful in the rainy, muddy conditions. Tim says our show goes west next and I’ll be at a couple of those stops. Before then though I’ve got lots more interviews to post in coming days.

You can listen to my interview with Tim here: drive-green-monkton-driver.mp3

Don’t forget to visit our event photos: Drive Green Utility Tractor Show Event Sets.