World Dairy Expo: John Deere Gators are customizable, versatile for all your farm needs
These crossovers are impressive - get ready to do more in your Gator than you've ever done before
17 March 2025
3 minute read
By: John Deere’s Eric Halfman spoke to The Cattle Site’s Sarah Mikesell at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, USA in October 2024.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Eric, what’s new at John Deere?
We're standing in front of our new full-size crossover Gator utility vehicles. Our models are the 845 and 875. Our cargo box is very customizable. We have technology on top of this Gator that is integrated with the machine.
Our StarFire receiver is an option along with a display inside the machine that allows our producers and customers that are row cropping to produce feed for their animals to be able to utilize mapping technologies as well as AutoTrac technologies.
What's in the bed of this Gator?
Our engineers did an impressive job with this cargo box. It's a composite material that allows you to utilize dimensional lumber to customize it for the job at hand. This model is set up with a sprayer configuration with the sprayer being isolated, so if we have other materials that we need to put in the cargo box, there is plenty of room.
In this cargo box with the sprayer configuration, we still have space for five-gallon buckets on the other side. We also have cargo boxes that can mount different accessories. This cargo box has a chainsaw holder. For those users that are out on the back 40 or cutting wood, they will typically throw their chainsaw on the back of the cargo box along with that wood. This helps isolate the chain saw and keep it in good condition.
With the sprayer that's in the back, we have a 12-volt SAE outlet with a power switch inside the cab on the dash for the cargo box that powers the sprayer. It gives the user the ability to turn that sprayer on and off from inside the cab.
Tell us about the new John Deere Gator XUV.
We know our customers like to do different jobs with their utility vehicles. When we designed our new XUV, we wanted to make it easy for them to change configurations to allow them to do just that. What you see in the bed of this Gator is some dimensional lumber. We know our customers have lumber easily accessible on their farms, and they can customize the use of the lumber to fit their jobs. We put this customization together as an example just to show some of the things that folks can do to compartmentalize the cargo box.
The tailgate is also new, and it’s made from composite material. The tailgate itself can be used in several ways. The tailgate can be used as a workbench. You can see we have cutouts for clamping points and on the other side of the tailgate we have spots to clamp a piece of pipe down if you are working on sizing pipe. If a customer is cutting a piece of lumber, there's a bump stop that holds that tight for you as well as a nice flat working surface. Plus, there's a ruler on the tailgate just to make measuring easier.
Fencing is an important task, so we looked at what you can do with this cargo box when you are fixing fence. We added a second dimension for additional storage. There's a lip all the way around the outside or edge of this cargo box, which creates a second level or deck so you can organize it and really make it easy for a user to grab the tools or supplies he or she needs. This new cargo box is customizable for any job you have.
Where can customers and producers go to learn more?
Go to www.deere.com to access all the information about our John Deere products. Customers and producers could also visit their local John Deere store to speak to our team and get more information in person.
Sarah Mikesell
Sarah Mikesell grew up on a five-generation family farming operation in Ohio, USA, where her family still farms. She feels extraordinarily lucky to get to do what she loves - write about livestock and crop agriculture. You can find her on LinkedIn.
