Deere enters small diesel business: Home grown 2.4 and 3.0 L diesels to enter the market in 2003; From-scratch, clean ProE screen new designs; Outputs from 35 to 99 hp - Industry News - John Deere Power Systems to unveil liquid-cooled direct injection diesel engines - Statistical Data Included

Diesel Progress North American Edition, March, 2002 by Mike Osenga

John Deere is getting into the small diesel engine business. This month at the ConExpo/Con-Agg show, John Deere Power Systems (JDPS) will unveil an all-new line of four- and five-cylinder, liquid-cooled direct injection diesel engines, with outputs from 35 to 99 hp.

Due for commercial release in 2003, these new 2.4 L and 3.0 L engines are the smallest modern diesels ever designed by Deere & Co.'s Waterloo, Ia., engine group and are among the smallest engines produced by a North American diesel engine manufacturer in recent years. It is also, arguably, the first completely new diesel engine range to be introduced by a North American manufacturer in a number of years.

These engines did not exist before May 1999, nor are they smaller versions of existing Deere engine platforms. There is no corporate alliance or joint development partner. This is a from-scratch, clean ProE screen, new engine program from a single manufacturer.

Interestingly, the engines are being introduced first for stationary and off-highway applications outside of Deere. Use in John Deere agricultural and construction equipment is expected in 2004. This is according to plan, said Deere Senior Vice President James White. "It underscores John Deere's commitment to the external engine markets," he said. "From day one, these engines were targeted for outside use. Deere is in the engine business. With a strong, and now expanded, line."

The specifics are as follows. There are six new John Deere PowerTech diesels; three versions each of the 2.4 L 4024 and 3.0 L 5030 models. All are 0.61 L/cyl engines, thus the line is made up of three, four-cylinder engines and three, five-cylinder engines. All are direct injected, inline designs, with one naturally aspirated model, two turbocharged units, two wastegated turbo engines and one turbo air-to-air-cooled diesel. More complete specifications and performance curves accompany this article.

The new engines will be manufactured at Motores John Deere, the recently expanded facility in Torreon, Mexico. Motores John Deere began commercial production in 1999 of Deere's 2.9, 4.5 and 6.8 L diesels, heretofore the smallest engines in the PowerTech line. Now Torreon has added 250,000 sq.ft., for engine block and cylinder head machining and assembly operations for the new engines, said Jim Olson, operations and project manager for the new engines. The Torreon plant is now 740,000 sq.ft.

A small number of prototype engines are expected to enter the market in mid-2002, with commercial production expected by mid-2003.

That means the new PowerTech diesels will hit the market in advance of the 2004 Tier 2 exhaust emissions regulations for engines of this size, and thus obviously are Tier 2/Stage 2 compliant. And, according to Garry Luterek, engineering program manager, the design also lays the groundwork for Deere's Tier 3 engines, as the new family will not have to undergo major design modifications to meet those standards when implemented, probably in 2008.

Perhaps the biggest question about the new engines is "Why?" Why did Deere decide to go into the small diesel business, a market where most American manufacturers have feared to tread? Why now? What about Deere's relationship with Yanmar, which has supplied Deere with small engines for external sale as well as for use in Deere equipment?

The Yanmar question first. White said that Deere's relationship with Yanmar, which was recently expanded with a new transaxle joint venture with Kanzaki, Yanmar's powertrain group, remains strong. Yanmar will continue to supply diesel engines for some Deere tractors and lawn and garden equipment. But in Deere's mind, it was time to do some things itself.

"If you go back a few years, it became obvious that our three-cylinder, 3029 engines with a big bore, short stroke design was beginning to near the end of its useful life, especially with Tier 3 ahead of us," White said. "When we started looking at options to replace that engine, there were people within Deere that felt with a clean sheet of paper, using some existing technology and some new innovations, that we could design and produce an engine that is very cost effective, very quiet, with low vibration, and with life and reliability that better matches the products it would be installed in, both internally and externally.

"After a major benchmarking effort, we determined we could produce a lower cost engine in this range, with the features we wanted, ourselves."

The 3029 engine however, will not completely disappear. It will continue to be manufactured by Deere in India for use in nonregulated markets.

"Typically, Deere has produced heavy, structural engines that could be overhauled in the frame, which are still legitimate for many of our agricultural applications," White said. "These new engines are however a departure from that. It was time for Deere to produce an engine that's more contemporary. There are better solutions available today Some of those have found their way into these engines."