Gary has extensive experience working with experimental tractors and transmissions.  He has worked with engineers to resolve problems in the U.S and Europe.

Background

At John Deere, he began in manufacturing on the assembly line, then subassembly operations and continued to move to the foundry.  

He joined the U.S. Navy during the Korean conflict where he was an Aviation Machinist Mate assembling aircraft engines, providing maintenance on aircraft and performed some flight assignments.

He returned to Deere and participated in assembly assignments and the build of about 100 experimental 8010 tractors.  Later, he assembled industrial loaders on to industrial tractors. He moved to the engine assembly area where the chassis was fitted with axles, engine, transmission, etc. He also worked on the repair floor to resolve issues or finish tractors needing special parts.

He transferred to PEC where he worked as a mechanic assembling experimental tractors, running tests and assisting with problem resolution. At various times he was sent to Germany, England and Austria to assist in resolving problems.

At Diedrichs & Associates, Inc. Gary has worked on a wide variety off new product development and experimental machine projects. Some examples are:

Small Tractor Development
• Gary was part of the team that built experimental tractors for a specified overseas market.    This involved changes or revisions to the entire vehicle including changes to accommodate    local cultural and physical requirements. This project continued for several years and the    tractor is now in production overseas.

Development and Testing
• Team member working with engineers to build an experimental tractor using turbo-    compounding to increase fuel efficiency
• Team member building a machine to demonstrate the    performance of the Active Seat as compared to a standard    air suspension seat (photo link)
• Team member working with engineers to build special    equipment to test the performance of a tractor hitch    system
• Testing hydraulic system to resolve problems on 70 hp series tractor
• Assembly, test, tear down and inspect a wide variety of transmissions, gear boxes and    related drive train components.

Additional Information