Far, far away are the days when John Deere was a small-time Illinois businessman who gained fame—as well as money, of course—for his skill at making steel plows. Today the company has little local business. And the diversity of its catalog would probably make the Deere that founded it back in 1837 jump. It is no longer just that the local workshop has become a multinational and from a multinational knew how to make the leap to a firm that, beyond its popular green tractors and bright yellow, has managed to become a true technological benchmark; is that it has directly expanded its offer to touch fields such as construction, communications or software.
In this effort to open the range, the company has started 2023 with several novelties in its catalogue. What’s new beyond their tractors. And even farmland to which the brand is usually associated.
One of the latest is the Z370R Electric ZTrack, an electric lawnmower for residential use that expands the range of models that it now has in its portfolio. Apart from its “Zero Turn Mower” system, which refers to the direction and ability to turn on itself, the Z370R incorporates a 3.2 kWh battery, reaches a length of almost two meters by 125 m in length between axles and weighs 222 kg.
Of course, if you are interested you will have to scratch your pocket. It costs almost $6,400, plus additional fees. The catalog of the Ztrack zero-turn radius mowers on the Spanish website includes six models, none of them the Z370R Electric, but their prices also require a well-balanced account: from 6,600 to 11,600 euros.
From the fields to the construction site… and the gardens
“The Z370R can be charged without removing the batteries using a standard outdoor extension cord and a 110V grounded outlet. This helps eliminate the need for external chargers and additional storage space,” they explain from the US company. . The mower incorporates an LCD screen to monitor the battery and integrates a Bluetooth system that allows remote control of charging and energy with the MowerPlus app.
The manufacturer claims that a single battery charge can mow across two acres, equivalent to about 8.100 m2. The design also allows it, Deere & Company claims, to reduce vibration and noise.
Although the Z370R is one of its most recent novelties, it is not the only one with which the multinational has wanted to start the year. During the CES in Las Vegas, it already presented two relevant additions: an intelligent seeding system, which, at least according to its calculations, would reduce the amount of fertilizer used during the initial seeding phase by more than 60%; and an electric excavator designed for construction. Since then, it has released a new baler, a management system or dump trucks, among other launches.
Beyond the specific novelties, what stands out is the growing Deere catalogue, focused on fields such as agriculture, gardening, construction or even military solutions and which over the last few years has diversified towards the software development or even the area of telecommunications.
The company has already acknowledged that it expects software usage fees to generate 10% of its revenue by the end of this decade and that by 2026 it would like to connect 1.5 million machines to its cloud-based Operations Center in service and 500 million acres, about 202 million hectares.
Images: John Deere
