[noacres]

Last friday I was able to get over to tour the Harvester Works plant in Moline IL. I took a bunch of pictures and made a couple pages on my blog about it.

http://www.daronspicher.com/php/image/display.php?pid=2009061193032

http://www.daronspicher.com/php/image/display.php?pid=2009061193005

To do a short introduction, I grew up on a farm and then went into the computer job market. I still love farming but am not a farmer these days. It's fun to follow you guys on here so I thought I'd share my plant tour pictures.

-Daron

 

[collegeboy]

Cool photos. I've been through there a couple of times and once on the Gold Key tour. 2 things, the first "funny" looking silage cutter is not for silage, it's a sugar cane harvester. On the other silage cutter, the rotary head is for corn, it just pulls everything into the throat, regardless of row spacing. At some point, I'll get my photos of our tour up. However, they pretty much look the same!

 

[placeholder]

That is actually a sugar cane harvester

 

[ninety420]

Those cane harvestors have to be one of the wildest looking things built by deere!

It probably even scares the snakes hiding in the cane.

 

[2366man]

Thanks for posting, great pics
Eric

 

[gibbons025]

Nice Pictures, thanks for posting.

 

[combiness]

I knew what it was, before scrolling all the way down, but I like to think the machine looks like a mechanical dragon.

 

[jkane]

Nice pics and well narrated. The cane harvesters are built about 2 hrs south of me in Thibodeaux, LA. The one in the pic is the machine for Florida or areas that plant cane flat or harvest only on dry ground. Our machines are on full length tracks and are set up about a foot higher with a longer elevator. They were yellow until about 4 yrs ago. Deere bought Cameco Ind in about 2000 and changed some stuff up about 5 yrs ago. Used to be able to drive up, walk in the plant and talk to somebody. Now that is gone. Also, that plant was building all the SP sprayers and scrapers. The sprayers are gone now to Akeny, IA?

 

[olblue]

I'm surprised you can take pictures. I've toured the Harvester Works before (in 89) and they were still building parts for the TITAN IIs as well as the new Maximizers. But photos were a no-no.
Even last year when I managed to get a private tour of the Des Moines Works to see the sprayers it was a no camera zone.

 

[dragoguy]

olblue, is the sprayer tour pretty interesting? have been looking at them and thot it would be cool to go there.

 

[olblue]

I really enjoyed it. Enough that I've seen it twice.

Is any factory tour really bad?

 

[noacres]

For the Harvestworks plant they won't let you take any video, but Still photos are fine.

Kids must be 13 or up to go in, and no open toed shoes.

The folks on the line are all really nice to the tourists, the whole place seems like we are doing a tour of a family.

 

[jdboy]

I took pictures of the tractor and engine works in 83, I had the most fantastic 1 on 1 tour of the factorys and even got looked after over night at one of the emplyees homes before JD put me on a bus back to MN the following morning.
defo worth a visit.

 

[combiness]

Same rules applied, even back in 1983.

I never could see the logic in their no video policy. Back then, personal camcorders were rare, but I can still remember being told that even local news crews could not just walk in, either. Yet John Deere does allow plenty of their own footage and there are NO places on the line, that snapshots can't be taken, so just what IS the big deal?

 

[noacres]

The no video thing seems to be on some kind of honor system these days. Half the video able cameras on the market don't look a whole lot different than a still camera. You just follow along and there is no one really keeping tabs on your camera or what you're taking pictures of or if your camera is taking stills or video.

If you really wanted to take video in there, it would be a matter of buying a camera that doesn't scream "video camera" then just keep a bit of a subdued profile and you'd be able to capture it all.

Hopefully no one does that and causes a clamp down on the entire tour, but it's certainly able to be done.

 

[deerefarm]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

 

[combiness]

Noacres, I don't know what their policy is, concerning cell phones. Many of them now take short video clips, but really, the quality is poor by standards. Maybe they just watch those taking cell phone pics.

 

[caseihaxialflow]

Thanks for posting noacres.

 

[oater]

Just toured the Waterloo works (John Deere Tractor plant ) . NO cameras , cell phones ! You had to give them to the front desk !! I like the Harvester works better that the Waterloo works . later oater