Revolutionizing Snow Removal with John Deere’s Latest Technology

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Tony: Hi, I'm Tony Kramer, your host of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, and I'm sitting down with agriculture technology and equipment experts to help you enhance your operation for today, tomorrow, and into the future. In this episode, I sit down with Scott Schumacher as we discuss John Deere Path for Construction Equipment. With that, let's dive into the show. Really excited to bring Scott on to the show. Now, Scott, yes, like I said in the intro, the Agriculture Technology Podcast, but you actually come from our construction side of the business, so before we get started, tell our listeners a little bit about who you are, what you do, and how you got to where you are today.

Scott: Perfect. Thanks, Tony. I was going to say, long-time listener, first-time caller, so appreciate you having me on the podcast. I'm Scott Schumacher. I've been with RDO for 15 years. Currently, I sit as the general manager of our construction technology group, overseeing all four regions inside of RDO, so doing all things, machine control, GPS, smart grade, anything construction technology, myself and my team oversee that.

I started with RDO as a sales coordinator. Back in 2009, we started our technology group. I had the opportunity to go to Billings, Montana, where we first started it, and that's when I was exposed to what construction technology is and what it does. From that day on, it was like, "This is what I want to do. This is where I want to spend my time and help RDO grow."

I did a sales job, moved into some management, then had an opportunity to run one of our John Deere construction stores to help try to grow and have that field technology leadership initiative and really start to see what that can do when you have someone in the store leading that technology, and then most recent, like I said, oversee all four regions for the construction technology for RDO Equipment.

Tony: Let's dive a little bit more into that because the technology on the construction side of our business has been unique. In terms of John Deere, it's been unique and different, whereas on the ag side, since the mid to late '90s, John Deere started producing the GreenStar line of technology, GreenStar and StarFire solutions, and really kept everything in-house, and that's not the case on the construction side. It was a little bit different. Why don't you just give us a little bit of background on what technology is being used on the construction side of the business?

Scott: John Deere had this open architecture platform. They came to market with, "Hey, if you run Topcon, if you run Trimble, or you run Leica, we're going to have an option available for you to buy a John Deere machine and then move into that technology." As that's continued to evolve over the past 10 years, now we're starting to see John Deere look similar to what the ag side's doing and bringing a few more things in-house.

With the sensors, displays, things they're learning from the ag side that they have mastered, they want to bring those in, but then still partner with the other big three in the machine control world to make sure that the GNSS and the radio technology, having all that still be coming from them. Deere's taken this path of now you're starting to see John Deere with their smart grades and their next-gen systems are more and more of its coming John Deere technology. A lot of that's getting pulled from the agriculture side, obviously with a few tweaks and changes, but a lot of that stuff has been tried and true on the ag side, and now it's making its way into the construction market.

Tony: Like you said, not closing the door on the original solutions that they've had, but this is opening the door to that next level, using some of those in-house components and taking what they've perfected on the ag side and bringing it over to the construction side. It's really neat to hear that. With an ag background, not having a whole lot of knowledge or experience on the CE side, it always made me scratch my head going, we have all these solutions on the ag side, but why doesn't CE utilize that same path?

Obviously, there were reasons behind it because of what was already established in the industry, but it's really cool to hear that John Deere is opening up this next door to give your CE customers even more solutions and more options.

Scott: It's really about making sure that the customer solution, they can go down this road or they can go down that road. If they're heavily invested. A lot of our customers are heavily invested in the Topcon name or the brand. That's what we sell and support at RDO. Now it opens the door to have those conversations with the new next-gen smart-grade stuff and making sure that it plug and plays with all their current GPS equipment. It's pretty cool and it's exciting, especially with the JD Paths coming down the road. It's some really cool stuff coming.

Tony: Absolutely. That brings me right into it. The next question I want to ask, some very exciting things coming, but John Deere Path, you said it. What is John Deere Path and what is this going to bring to the construction industry?

Scott: We actually started working with John Deere about three years ago with a customer up in North Dakota. We had some conversations and what they're trying to solve for is, when we go out and we plow snow in a blizzard, we need to know where the road is. It sounds like, yes, that makes sense. There was really no solutions out there that were A, cost-effective, and did what they needed it to do. We worked with John Deere. We did a couple of prototypes. We did a couple of betas. Then just a few months ago, John Deere announced and released JD Path, which we were, helping them along the way with some customers in our footprint.

Basically, what JD Path is it's really a G5 display, an SF7500 receiver that's mounted on the cab, and then some harnesses and some software that's needed. Basically, what it is it's the first time the ag technology is being implemented on a John Deere construction piece of equipment. Now it's designed for motor graders. They also have a universal kit that can go on. Snow plow trucks, which are actually working with a couple of customers in Minnesota on, and really about any machine that needs to go out when the roads are not good, there's blizzards, where they need to know where they are at in relation to the road when you can't see when you're trying to open up these roads.

Really that's what JD Path is designed for. Now we found some other unique things that we can do with JD Path through some of these testings. That's really where we see the benefit is keeping those graders in those situations where they can't see the road, having them have a visual that's easy to read, easy to understand, and they know exactly where that machine is in relation to the road is a game changer for our customers.

Tony: You and I obviously know it growing up in northern states here, Minnesota, North Dakota. We know what it's like to deal with a road you can't see when, whether it's blizzard or hasn't been plowed yet. Maybe it's a township gravel road or whatever it may be. We've got all our stores in the mountain region. You're talking impassable mountain roads that the grader operator or plow truck operator for that matter, they need to know where the edge of the road is.

Being able to take, like you said, the first time using AG components on the CE side, being able to take that G5 display, the StarFire receiver, and being able to record or document the boundaries of that road or the edge of the road and show where that machine is in correlation, I think is huge for what these customers are going to be able to do. You talked about also not only the John Deere motor graders but universal platforms as well.

Scott: When John Deere released it, they have, obviously the John Deere version that goes on the GP motor graders or the G motor graders or the G series motor graders, as well as even back further in if they're running Ds or anything before that. Then they have the universal, which really was, as we started having these conversations with counties and state-- A majority of the road cleaning is done with a motor grader.

Now there's certain areas in certain cities, most of that's done with a plow truck. That's where that conversation turned where it's like, "Hey, this is really great technology. We have a hundred motor graders, but we have 500 plow trucks." That's where Deere listened and said, "Okay, we'll make a universal kit that we can then mount to those units and use this technology on those machines, not just the motor graders."

Tony: There you go. That brings in a whole another market to be able to utilize it in a plow truck, or I suppose you could probably in a skid steer or anything that you're moving snow with, being able to have that StarFire receiver, that G5 display and do what you need to do. No matter what platform you're using this in, the process likely starts before the snow falls. Yes. Why don't you walk us through just a little bit about, what the process is or how an operator would truly use this.

Scott: There's two ways that we can basically do the boundary mapping per se. The most effective and common way is they mounted on a pickup. They put the StarFire receiver, the display inside, they power it, they turn it on, and then they just drive the roads that they want to have mapped in the county or city or state or wherever they're doing it. That's one way.

The other way that some customers have tried to do it is they've just installed it on the machine and as they're doing their summer maintenance and things like that, they'll map the road since they're already going to be out there. There's two ways to do it. Really up to the customer and where they see fit and how accurate they want it to be. A lot of the times we're seeing, done in the fall, they're going out, they're putting it on their pickup truck and they're driving the roads that they want to get done and then bringing it in and creating the boundaries and then sending that to the machine.

Tony: If we tie it into the ag side of the world, essentially, they're creating field boundaries out there and that's what we are doing. We have customers that maybe they do it in season while they're out there with the field cultivator or the planter, they're creating that field boundary. Similar, if they put it on the grater when they're out there doing maintenance, they're documenting those boundaries or on the ag side, a lot of times a customer will put it on a UTV similar to obviously on the construction side or how they're utilizing JD Path for snow removal, you're going to be traveling a lot more miles, a lot more distance.

Rather than putting it on a Gator or some sort of a UTV, you're putting it on a pickup, a car, whatever it may be, and doing the same thing. To connect those dots between our ag and our construction customers, they're essentially creating field boundaries for a road is what it is and giving them that visual aspect of it. From what you've seen and the customers that we've gotten to test this with or work with this, how do they see this helping them big picture? Obviously, we've already talked about, hey, I can see the edge of the road in my cab now, but what does that do for the counties, the townships, the states, what does it do for their operation and efficiency?

Scott: It does quite a few things. The first one is the operator. The operator has to be the one out there at 1:00, 2:00 in the morning when you can't see, and it's 30 mile an hour winds and snow is going across the road. It's a safety aspect for them because they actually know this is where I am and here's the edge of the road. From the other side, every time a machine goes into the ditch, which happens quite a bit, A, there's damages involved, there's costs to remove that machine, downtime, all those other things that you might not think about when something goes in the ditch.

For these counties and for these customers, that is a big thing. Because now they have to send someone else out there to try help them get that. Those are the big ones that we see. Then through the testing, we always thought this was maybe just a winter thing. What we've started to see is they're actually using it in the summer too, because of the features of dropping a waypoint, setting something. If they're blading a road and they're like, "Hey, I'm short gravel here," they can actually get those distances, they can get volumes, so they know, "Hey, I need to send two gravel trucks out here. Just one or whatever."

They've started not just use it in the winter. They're starting to see the benefits of just having that display and the receiver up top of all the other things they can do in their day-to-day operation. That before was, "Hey, Tony, you're going to have to come drop a load of gravel over here, put it between here and here." Now they can press the button, get the exact location and where they want them to stop and all that information then goes into the op center and they can get shared with the customer.

Tony: That was the next thing I was going to ask. I'm glad you bring that up, Scott. Like we would use on the ag side, they're using the flag feature to be able to mark, like you said, a load of gravel or a manhole cover or a mailbox or whatever it may be. That information is then going into the Operation Center. Of course, today with a connected grader, they're going to get their machine metrics, things like that.

Now they're going to get even more information from that grader that's out doing the work. They're going to be able to visualize that on the Operation Center mobile. Talk a little bit about how they're able to use that, the other features they're able to get out of the Operation Center data.

Scott: Obviously you got all the JDLink data running, you can dive deep into what's actually happening with that machine; how much time is it spent in low load, high load, medium load? What speeds are they going at? Just for the fact of, hey, did I cover all the roads, having the waypoints behind it and the track behind it. Like you said, now with this JD Path, just inventory of what's out there. The railroad tracks here, or like you said, a manuals here, or there's a washout here, or I need gravel here and here.

They're starting to continually use that where they can then get that information back to the office faster and then get those either A, if it needs to get fixed, they can go fix it or now it comes winter and they know there's a washout here and they didn't have a chance to get a fix. They know they're coming up to that when they're trying to plow snow at 20, 25 miles an hour. They know something's here so they can make adjustments.

Tony: That opens up. That's one thing prior to recording here, I didn't even think about all the data, the information, and dropping the flags, the waypoints, whatever it may be. That just adds a whole another layer to how the customers can utilize this solution going forward. Now, you mentioned at the beginning of the show that RDO got the opportunity to partner with John Deere and some of our customers to help test this solution and really bring this to market.

Then we've also sold a couple of these solutions already now, coming into this winter season or now we're in it, not coming. We are in the winter season. Do you have any sort of a success story that you'd like to share with us about-- maybe it was during the testing period or maybe it's working with one of the customers that we sold it to, just one of those stories that puts a smile on your face when you walk out of the door.

Scott: We were dealing with a customer in North Dakota that was, like I said, at the beginning of the beta and the pilot projects, and they were the ones that were really instrumental on explaining the why they need this. Then what John Deere did far exceeded what they were expectations of how simple it was, how easy it is. When you look at the screen, it's literally two lines in the motor grader and you see you got four more feet or you're, two inches over. It was so easy to understand and use, that the customers were extremely satisfied with what they saw.

They bought two units and how they're going to utilize them is have them on their emergency graders. When there's a fire or an ambulance needs to go out in the storm to go help someone that these will be the motor graders that go out because they have this technology and they can now clear that road for the fire truck or ambulance or police, whoever needs to get there. It was one of those things where we didn't even think about that as we were talking about it. Then it was like, no, this is how we're going to use this is because we need to open these roads and we need to get people where they need to get to. This technology plays a critical factor in getting that done.

Tony: Absolutely. Like you said, in emergency situations, whether it's a fire or EMS or whatever it may be, and there is zero visibility out there, similar to a pilot flying through clouds with zero visibility, these motor grader or plow truck operators are essentially able to see the road without actually seeing it. Now, you did bring up something that I think we should mention here is the motor graders and the universal solution.

Now we're not using AutoTrac. This is not a steering solution by any means. From an ag standpoint, we go back to parallel tracking where we're watching the light bar side to side. It's telling us, you've got six inches to the edge of the road, or you've got whatever it may be. It has the boundary of the road. It creates that offset guidance line, but it is not steering the motor grader or the tool.

Scott: Correct. It's just the visual. Now I think I've heard some stuff coming down the road in the future about maybe doing some of that, but as it sits today, it is just an indicate. It's a visual on the screen giving you those steer to use.

Tony: Like you said, though, even though it's not a full auto steer solution, just the benefits that the operators can get out of it, getting that information and data back to the Operation Center, all of that stuff. Huge benefits to the customer, great solution that John Deere has come out with. Great to hear about all the information, what is being used, and how it's being used.

Now, if someone would like to learn more about John Deere Path, maybe the components that are being utilized, or if they can utilize the solution in their operation, where can they go? Who can they talk to?

Scott: Any of the local RDO stores. Obviously all the account managers and sales professionals have had some sort of training or exposure to it, so they'll be able to get you that information. My contact will be available if there's something that somebody wants to reach out to. Really we're driving this into the construction sales team of owning this technology and making sure that they understand the success it can have and what it can provide to the customer. Any local John Deere construction sales professional will have the right information or at least know where to go to get the information to answer those questions.

Tony: Absolutely. Like you said, whether you're in RDO's area or you're outside of RDO, a local John Deere construction stores. Awesome. Thank you very much, Scott, for taking the time out of your day to sit down and talk about this new solution that John Deere is bringing to the market. Great to hear things are connecting. We're connecting that ag and construction side where we're getting some of those ag components into construction equipment. It's really cool to hear. I know not all of our listeners live in areas with snow, but you could about imagine if you've got zero visibility, how much of a benefit this solution could give an operator. Thanks again for doing this, Scott.

Scott: Thank you, Tony.

Tony: Please take a moment to subscribe to this podcast if you haven't already. You can subscribe to the show on the many different podcasting apps that we're streaming this out to, such as Apple, Google, Spotify, as well as many others. While you're out there, drop us a review. We'd love to hear what you think about the show. Lastly, make sure to follow RDO Equipment company on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Also catch our latest videos on YouTube. You can also follow me on X @RDOTonyK.