Driven by innovative and ongoing customer input, John Deere commemorates its 75th year as a leader in the dozer market. Since entering the business, John Deere has focused on meeting customer needs to improve job site efficiencies. Beginning production in 1949 in Dubuque, Iowa, the John Deere line-up of dozers has evolved through the years with innovation that has solved industry-wide challenges.
“This important 75-year milestone of dozer manufacturing recognizes the tremendous teamwork of everyone involved, including our factory teams, engineers, and our dealers that support our customers every day,” said Matt Costello, product marketing manager, dozers John Deere. “We’re incredibly proud that this lineup has continued to provide the durability and performance that our customers rely on to work smarter and more efficiently, getting the job done right the first time.”
Looking back at key milestones for its dozer family, John Deere debuted various industry-leading solutions and breakthrough designs that paved the way for today’s reliable, powerful, and tech-packed models.
1949 – John Deere began manufacturing MC Dozers in Dubuque, Iowa.
1958—The 440 Crawler Dozer entered the market as the first all-yellow machine built specifically for industrial applications. This model stood out as the industry’s first all-hydraulic bulldozer with a 6-way power-angle-tilt blade, leading the charge with its ground-breaking design.
1965—John Deere introduced dozer T-Bar blade controls and the first integral machines with the new industrial model numbers. These models included the JD350 and JD450 crawlers, configured distinctly as dozers or loaders.
1976 – John Deere became the first North American manufacturer to utilize a dual-path hydrostatic drive on its dozer line-up.
1988—New full powershift transmission models were introduced, including the 400G, 450G, 550G, and 650G models. These models offered four forward and four reverse speeds, expanding capability on the job site.
1999—Dual-path hydrostatic drive was introduced on the 450H, 550H, and 650H models and continues to be used in the full John Deere dozer lineup.
2001—John Deere introduced its largest dozer ever with the rollout of the 1050C. The 1050C led the way for the updates and innovations in the 1050 P-Tier today.
2010 – John Deere unveiled the industry’s first 764 High-Speed Dozer, the first new machine form in decades, featuring travel speeds up to 16 mph.
The past decade – technology innovations
In the last decade, John Deere has elevated its line-up with innovations that have helped shape the construction industry’s current state. Through its investments and developments in productivity-enhancing technologies, job site safety solutions, and operator comfort improvements, the current state of the dozer market has been strongly influenced by the milestones met in recent years.
2016—John Deere introduced a factory-integrated 3D grade control, SmartGrade, on the 700K model. Today, this solution is equipped on more than 20 models in the Deere lineup.
2017 – The 950K with SmartGrade became the industry’s largest power-angle tilt (PAT) blade configuration.
2020 – John Deere introduced its Slope Control feature to assist operators in maintaining the main fall and cross slope while grading.
2021—The new suspended double-bogie undercarriage debuted on the 1050K, reducing peak vibrations in the cab by up to 75 percent.
2023—John Deere rolled out its innovative EZGrade feature, which aids operators in manually grading smooth finish passes by automatically making small blade corrections.
2024—The 1050 P-Tier model was upgraded to feature the new JD14 (13.6L) engine, which enables enhanced power and operation on the job.
2024—John Deere expands its Dozer SmartGrade offerings with the Next Generation of SmartGrade into the 450 P-Tier and 550 P-Tier and updates the 650 P-Tier. This will provide SmartGrade offerings in the future, such as 450-950-size dozers. The Next Generation of SmartGrade is John Deere designed and supported and can soon be equipped with either Topcon or Leica.
In recognition of its 75th year in the dozer market, John Deere will begin decaling its dozer line-up with a commemorative badge. This badge will be available on all Dozers built for 2024 and 2025. To learn more about the current line-up of John Deere dozers, please visit www.JohnDeere.com or contact your local dealer.
