John Deere Golf Products win AE50 Award

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) awarded John Deere’s 7400A TerrainCut Trim and Surrounds Mower and 8800A TerrainCut Rough Mower with an AE50 Award. AE50 is a celebration of the year’s most innovative designs in engineering products, as chosen by a panel of international engineering experts.

The A Model Fairway, Rough Trim and Surrounds mowers were introduced at the Golf Industry Show in February 2014 and represent one of the largest product launches in John Deere Golf’s history. All features were designed with customers in mind, including operator productivity, serviceability and innovations that meet best in class standards.

Each piece of equipment in the A Model line is assembled using an advanced assembly process at John Deere’s Turf Care facility in Fuquay Varina, N.C. The new production line incorporates advanced manufacturing technologies such as vision systems and digital torque tools to provide consistent quality during the build of each A Model mower.

The 7400A and 8800A TerrainCut mowers feature the new TechControl display to enable more precise control of results, LoadMatch to maintain cut quality in long, lush conditions, internal wet-disk brakes, and eHydro traction pumps for superior hill-climbing.

“When we designed the A Model line, we wanted to do more than just update the A models with a Final Tier 4 engine, we gathered extensive feedback from customers, drew on expertise from across the John Deere enterprise and evaluated where we could make improvements to our overall production process and machines,” said Tracy Lanier, product manager, John Deere Golf. “It’s this customer-driven approach to product design that inspired many of the advancements featured in the A Model line and we’re honored to be recognized.”

The AE50 awards program is sponsored by the ASABE’s magazine, Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World, to emphasize the role of new products and systems in bringing advanced technology to the marketplace. These engineering developments help farmers, food processors and equipment manufacturers cut costs, enhance quality and increase profits. 2015 marks the fourth time John Deere golf products have been recognized in the AE50. Additional details about the AE50 Awards can be found at www.asabe.org.