fWell today was finally J-Hour! After turning my cell phone alarm off I was out of bed and getting ready for a big day! I had a rather large room at our Gästhaus in Viernheim (the next town from Manheim, Germany). I met Marcus, Klaus and his son Class, and Wilfried (Marcus brother-in-law) downstairs for breakfast. We all ate our fill of the wonderful German breakfast and made our way out on the Autobahn. Following typical German fashion of modern technology, we used a Pocked PC GPS navigational aide to find the John Deere Manheim Werks. Unfortunately we were led in the wrong direction (later determined that the cause was operator error) and were forced to turn around. We made it through the gate just in time to meet our JD contact, Dr. Jörg. (JD engineer in Manheim). Jan Schulz was also there to greet us, the nephew of one of our JD hosts. After greeting us, Jörg left to get back to work and Jan led us on to the JD Mensa (cafeteria) for coffee and a short introduction video. I was immediately taken back upon entering the greeting center as there in the front corner stood an unstyled JD “B” on full steel wheels. It was restored quite nicely, however there were several noticeably different features such as a heat shield on top of the exhaust/intake manifold and a very unique fuel valve near the magneto. I regret that at this point that I didn’t have my camera, but quickly ran across several acres of JD factory to the car to get it. The uncle of our tour guide also greeted us. On a side note, he was the manager of marketing for Manheim operations. He took a real interest in a 22 yr old American kid that could speak German fluently (maybe Ill find a new job there?). After a short historical video we departed the Mensa for our first look inside the factory. The first thing that we saw was the freezer, where tractors are cooled down to -30 degrees Celsius and then tested for cold weather performance. We then were shown a small area where two engineers were working diligently on the suggestions of employees to improve product quality and production efficiency. I was glad to see such an effort by John Deere to really hear out their employee suggestions as I’ve noticed that some large companies too often overlook the ideas of the “little man.” Jan led us further on into the heart of the factory. We passed many chassis components and were informed about why JD chooses to use the steel frame chassis, rather than using the engine block as part of the frame, to reduce overall tractor weight. When I think about how much precision goes into these new tractors as compared to those Johnny-Poppers I’m left in awe at modern technology.

            Another JD employee joined us soon after entering the plant. He worked for JD Mannheim Werks for over 35 years and insisted that he will not retire…so they let him have his daily exercise as a technical expert for tours. He was the director of sales for the whole Mannheim Werks for over 10 years before becoming “semi-retired.” I was quite surprised how many differences I found in the factory as compared to JD factories in America. We were walking past a work station and I suddenly smelled cigarette smoke. I quickly asked if this was allowed and I came to find that it’s allowed in almost all parts of the factory except the painting areas. Another thing that seemed quite different is the use of steel-toed shoes was not mandatory and not once all day did I spot an employee wearing them. Some time later on in the tour, Wilfried noted that there were cacti growing on top of an assembly work station! Apparently the workers are allowed to bring any plant into the factory that they like. This was allowed in conjunction with the coloring of the work environment in lighter colors to promote positive worker morale. We also found many sunroofs throughout the fabrik (German for factory).

            One particularly interesting part of the factory is a very large area where many of the gears and shafts are finished. In contrast to many of the JD operations in the US that I’ve seen, most of the gearing and high grade metal components are machined in house. We were able to see the machining of a ring gear –part of a sun gear planetary unit (approx. 20” dia). To spleen (or put the “teeth”) the inside of this ring gear a large 80 ton press is used. A shaft of about 12 ft. long with a certain alloy coating and progressively sharper spleens is pressed down into the ring gear cutting the gear tooth grooves. This process was absolutely amazing and produced a lot of heat thus oil cooling was used. After pressing out the ring gear they went in a machine immediately for heat treatment hardening.

            We finally came to the end assembly of the factory. This was the first part of the tour where we were officially allowed to take photos. A conveyor of hydraulically activated platforms carries the tractors in a very similar fashion as is in Waterloo Works, IA. 62 of the 68 platforms are always occupied with a chassis. We watched from an elevated platform as the engines, transmissions, radiators, cabs, axles, differentials, and finally wheels were added piece by piece. There was a large rack of wheels the looked obviously used. I asked what they are used for and was instructed that customers wanting Michelin tires often have a longer wait time due to the French rubber workers frequently striking and/or lack of materials. We were quite lucky to be on the assembly while the workers took a short break. I was able to look at the destination sheets of the tractors and physically walk onto the line. I found several destined for Prague, Auckland New Zealand, Athens Greece, and finally one for a JD dealer in Hillsboro, Kentucky. There were several tractors of completely different colors on the production line. Several of these creamy/orange models were destined for work in the public works in Germany. For an extra 1000 €uro your tractor can be painted any color that you like. Jan told us that a few weeks earlier there were 2 6020 series tractors for a farm in Oklahoma that were painted IH red!! Wow…maybe he was a “red” man and didn’t want the neighbors to know that he had “crossed” over ;)!

            We were led directly into the visitor’s center and gift shop. I have to admit that I spent more than I normally would, but it’s not exactly easy to get a model Lanz-Deere tractor in the USA. I got a strange look from the sales clerk when I requested 5 JD Mannheim Werks tee-shirts…all XL! She must have though wow…those fat Americans.  Marcus picked up a 630 precision as a gift to Wilfried for helping him with his restoration. (Marcus has a 1959 model 630 that he imported to Germany and restored). After filling our hands with JD merchandise, we proceeded to have a video depicting the “Autopower” transmission. This transmission is named IVT (Infinitely Variable Transmission) as it it’s marketed in the USA because just try to say it…and it sounds like “out of power” in English….the marketing guys were right on this one. After the video the director of Marketing treated us to a real “how to” of the infinitely variable transmission. As the windows curtains opened up in the background, we saw a real live 6420 tractor chained down to a platform and on a wheel dynometer. He ran through several scenarios while at the same time the tractor in the background was really running and responding to his commands. The demonstration was probably the best tractor demo and for sure the most unique that I’d ever had. It was obvious to see why he had become head of marketing for the Mannheim Werks; he was very convincing and I was ready to buy a tractor right there on the spot!

After seeing the factory and asking many questions we were fed a good German lunch. We met up with the director of sales for Germany and several Americans, whom were also visiting. I had a nice chat with one of the gentlemen and it turned out that he had restored a Case tractor back in the states. I told him that he needs to have a “blood transfusion” (from case orange to JD green) and we both had a chuckle.

            Jörg, our engineer friend, led us out to a large parking lot with about 10 JD tractors of various sizes parked outside. This was our “red carpet” treatment part of the tour. Normal visitors are not allowed to test drive the new models and we were very excited about the opportunity. He chose a 6920 (which is equivalent to a 7820 US made model) on which to demonstrate the IVT to us. I had driven a Fendt Vario tractor only 2 days earlier so I had a fresh comparison in my mind. I found the IVT extremely simple and much easier to learn as compared to the Fendt Vario, although the Fendt had more futuristic styling and a lot more gadgets and displays. I truly think that the IVT concept will eventually take over as efficiency is more of an important issue with farmers.

            After our fun with the test drive, we were able to tour the museum on the factory grounds. We were greeted by a JD model R, which was originally exported to Europe as part of the reconstruction after WWII. The museum had many good examples of the Lanz tractors, which were produced on the present day factory grounds until John Deere purchased the factory in the 1950’s. Several models of 2 cylinder Deere’s were there as well: unstyled A, GP (1931) model, and unstyled B. Along with the old tractors, we found a neat cutaway example of a model 3350, basically equivalent of our US 4040 tractor.

            We said our goodbyes and a big THANK YOU to our friend Jörg and our tour guide Jan. This day was one of the most exciting days that I’ve had in Germany and it certainly helped this old farm boy with homesickness. German hospitality is overall excellent and I hope that I’ll have the fortune of returning it back to them in the future. I’ve found that “country” folks here in Germany are just as nice and very similar to those back home! I can’t wait until I’ll be able to drive my Green Machines back in the good ole’ USA.