About This Quiz
Can you tell a tiller from a baler, or a tractor from a tedder? Think you know the difference between a draper and a harvester, or a scraper and a sprayer? Take our quiz to see if you can match this John Deere equipment to its intended function!
John Deere was just a simple blacksmith in 1837 when he got word that local farmers were having trouble using equipment designed back east to work the land in the Midwest. The idea inspired him to start producing farm equipment, and within 5 years he was manufacturing more than 100 tractors a year. Since then, the company has introduced hundreds of pieces of agricultural equipment, allowing modern farmers to work huge parcels of land in a fraction of the time it took their ancestors.
Of course, that famous green and yellow machinery has also expanded well beyond the confines of the farm, and is now used in forestry, construction, lawn care and a host of other applications. In fact, Deere has expanded so much beyond the humble tractor that it can be hard to identify some of the specialized equipment the company manufactures. Think you're up to the challenge? Take our quiz to find out!
There's a reason lumberjacks are seen as strong and burly -- can you imagine moving felled trees without any heavy equipment or machinery? This John Deere Skidder is used in forestry and land clearing. It's designed to pull felled trees out of a wooded area and load them into a truck or pile.
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This John Deere Row Crop Tractor is primarily used by farmers cultivating crops. It's used to till the land as well as during harvest, and is designed to get the job done without damaging crops.
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The John Deere Scraper Special is a specialty earth-moving machine. It's equipped with a blade that slices into the soil like a planer on wood, then sends the dirt into a hopper so it can be moved or disposed of. While frequently used in farming, it may also be used in mining or construction.
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This John Deere Skid Steer is a small yet sturdy contraption that consists of a pair of lift arms supporting a wide bucket. It may be referred to as a Bobcat -- a popular brand name for a machine like this -- and is used to move earth, bales of hay or piles of grain.
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The John Deere Flail Mower uses spinning flails attached to a drum, which can tear through heavy brush or growth much more effectively than a standard mower. It can also be used to shred plant waste -- such as corn stalks.
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A Belt Pickup Platform is placed on the front of a tractor to collect wheat and other cut grains after harvest. It features a treadmill-like belt which collects the material, conveyor style, and transports it into a hopper for further processing or storage.
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The John Deere 744K-II is a Wheel Loader -- a heavy-duty machine used for hauling. The bucket is designed to carry a load of 5.5 cubic yards, making it ideal for moving materials like rocks and gravel from stockpiles to areas where they are needed on a construction site.
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This machine is known as a Corn Head. It attaches to a tractor, and the cone fingers on this piece of equipment are then used to harvest ears of corn. This John Deere 172FC model can grab 12 ears at a time.
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A wheeled harvester -- like this 1070G by John Deere -- is a machine used to fell, delimb and cut trees. Forestry workers use it when thinning out wooded areas or clearing the land. A boom arm on the equipment has a built-in chain saw, and can be used to grasp, measure, cut and move felled trees or logs.
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The WR12 Wheel Rake is a machine that is used to rake a large area with ease. It can capture cut grass after clearing to prepare the ground for planting or other needs.
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The John Deere 337E Knuckleboom Loader is a forestry machine with a large swing boom used to move logs. It can be used anywhere from a forest to a lumberyard, and has an arm that rotates to position a log correctly for piling, loading or unloading.
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This John Deere Auger Platform is used in conjunction with a tractor. The 20-foot-wide platform has a cutting bar that can be used to cut grains like wheat or rye for harvest.
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This 440E Baler forms loose hay into compact round bales once the hay has been properly dried. This makes it easier to stack and store the hay, and also makes it easy to transport on or off the farm.
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A Hay Tedder is used to aerate hay, helping it to dry more quickly and effectively than it would if left untended. It does this by picking the hay up and spreading it around so moisture can escape. Without tedding, hay would not only take longer to dry, but the finished product would be at greater risk of mildew or discoloration.
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A forwarder is a forestry machine that takes over where a harvester leaves off. After the harvester has been used to fell and stack the trees, the forwarder uses a boom to grab the logs and transport them to the road or another location.
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A combine is a piece of agricultural equipment that combines several different harvest functions into one machine. This S790, for instance, cuts and cleans grain, then stores it in a tank with a 14,100 L capacity. It is used to quickly harvest wheat, rye or other grains and grasses.
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This GM1060 Grooming Mower is designed to cut a wide swath of grass at once. This makes it useful for sports fields, golf courses and even larger private homes.
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This piece of equipment is a bale wrapper. By wrapping bales of hay in plastic, farmers create a moist, fermented hay called silage, which can then be used as animal feed.
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A draper platform is one type of machine used to cut and harvest wheat. Unlike a traditional auger platform, the draper platform is easier to use when the grains are wet, resulting in fewer clogs and less downtime.
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The 2154G Swing Machine is a heavy-duty piece of forestry equipment. It looks somewhat like a backhoe, but has a powerful claw-like attachment for grasping and moving logs. It rides on tracks rather than wheels, which means it can handle rugged terrain.
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This John Deere 12Row30 planter is a piece of equipment designed to plant seeds as it's pulled behind a tractor. This specific model places 12 rows of seeds at 30-inch intervals -- hence its name.
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This 730 Air Disk Drill is designed to be towed behind a tractor on the farm. It turns and breaks up the soil as it seeds -- way more effective than poking a hole with your finger and dropping a seed in.
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A backpack-style sprayer is a great choice for applying pesticides or weed killer in your garden, but what if you have to tend to an entire farm? The R4023 and similar sprayers attach to a tractor to spray large areas with ease.
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This machine may look like a medieval torture device, but it's actually a field cultivator used for tilling the earth. By breaking up the soil, this machine encourages seeds to grow and helps to maximize the harvest.
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This monster machine is a the 803M Tracked Feller Buncher. Used in the forestry industry, it has a boom designed to reach as far as 30 feet. The boom not only grabs trees or logs, but can also cut and stack them for transport.
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This Tractor Loader is essentially a scaled-down loader mounted on a tractor. The bucket you see is used to cart heavy loads of dirt, sand and gravel -- much easier than using a shovel, right?
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Golf courses and pro sports fields have a reputation for some of the greenest and best-maintained lawns in the business. This 1200A Bunker and Field Rake is a small, ride on machine that looks like a lawn mower, yet is designed for precise grass clipping and grooming.
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This John Deere Aercore 800 is a walk-behind aeration machine. By loosening and aerating the soil, you allow air, water and nutrients to reach the roots of grass and other plants.
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John Deere may be known for heavy equipment, but the company also makes some machines that are useful for homeowners. This Cut Hybrid Mower is a walk-behind lawnmower designed for easy, smooth lawn maintenance.
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This articulating dump truck is designed to haul heavy loads over rough terrain. Unlike traditional dump trucks, it hinges behind the cab, giving it a much tighter turning radius than other dump trucks you may have seen.
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John Deere makes some equipment, like this backhoe, that can be used on construction sites. It uses a hinged boom to draw a bucket toward the cab, making it effective at digging, hauling dirt or moving large rocks.
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This John Deere tractor has a special low-profile design. That makes it a solid option for fruit and nut orchards, where a standard tractor might damage crops or pose a safety risk.
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This 803MH Tracked Harvester is a heavy-duty forestry machine. Like other harvesters, it can be used to fell, delimb and cut trees. Because it's on tracks rather than wheels, it can travel over some pretty tough terrain without getting stuck.
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This 450K Crawler Dozer is an earthmoving machine built on heavy tracks for rough terrain. It uses a shovel at the front to push soil, sand, rocks and debris, and may be used in construction, mining or farming.
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This John Deere 5100MH may look like just any tractor, but it's got one special feature -- its high clearance. By riding higher than other tractors, it avoids damage to valuable crops like tobacco and berries while still getting important tasks done.
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This John Deere 455 Folding Grain Drill is used in the seeding process. It uses a spring and weight system to place seeds at the correct depth, then a dragging chain pulls dirt to cover each seed.
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The 17G Excavator is a heavy-duty digging machine. Built on tracks for stability, it has a large bucket for digging into the soil and moving dirt or rocks.
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The 620G Motor Grader has a long, flat blade used to flatten out various surfaces. It's used on the farm to smooth the earth, or used to create a level finished grade on construction sites or even golf courses and sports fields.
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This 643L Wheeled Feller Buncher is used in the logging and forestry industries. It's designed to grab, measure, cut and stack wood out in the forest to prepare the logs for transport.
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