A Product Manager’s View of the New Generation of John Deere Excavators
By Drew Miller, Global Product Manager, Mid/Large Excavators
When we began developing the New Generation of John Deere Designed excavators, I knew one thing for certain: if we were going to take the next leap, we needed to listen harder than ever before. And for me, that meant spending time directly with customers and operators — hearing what worked, what didn’t, and what they needed from us next.
A very recent conversation sure hits home.
A customer told me how quickly his operators heard back from us — how people showed up onsite when needed, and how their feedback resulted in changes they could see. To him, that was proof that his team had a real hand in shaping this machine. That’s exactly what we set out to do.
What This New Generation Is All About
If someone asked me to explain the new excavator in under a minute, I’d start with the four pillars that guided every decision:
- Dependability & durability — We’ve logged more than 165,000 hours of field testing to make sure these machines deliver day after day.
- Proven performance — Operator driven test pilot feedback and competitive comparisons give us the confidence to know the machines will deliver on your jobsites.
- Operator focus — Comfort and intuitiveness aren’t extras; they’re core to making sure operators can get the job done in any environment.
- Upgradable technology — Whether a customer wants every tech feature day one or plans to add capability later, these machines are built to grow with them.
At the end of the day, these excavators are designed to fit a customer’s journey — not the other way around.
Tech That Works the Way Operators Work
An element of our new excavators that I’m pumped to see in the field is the single, all-in-one, display. Instead of scattering features across multiple screens, every tool an operator needs lives in one place.
And more importantly: if it isn’t quick and easy to use, operators won’t use it. That’s why our engineers and user experience teams focused heavily on making the G5 display intuitive and customizable, so operators can tailor their view and workflow based on how they prefer to run a machine. There’s also remote display access to provide operator support when they need it through John Deere Operations Center allowing the customer or dealer to provide live support from their smartphone or laptop.
A Milestone Worth the Wait
What excites me most is getting this machine into customers’ hands. John Deere was founded in 1837 and for decades our construction equipment has helped customers shape the earth — literally putting food on the table through the work they do. They’ve asked us to bring that same Deere commitment to excavators, and our test pilots made it clear: it’s time.
Hundreds of Deere employees and customers pushed these test machines to their limits — trying to break things, wear things out, press every button and icon — all to ensure customers never have to experience issues on the job.
This truly is the beginning of our New Generation of John Deere excavators. Let’s leap!