The First Class Is Over

It doesn't seem possible but Fundamentals and Safety class finished on Tuesday. We have successfully turned a 9600 and a 7720 into a pile of parts. We have discovered that you can use these precision "C" clamps in our toolboxes to actually measure things very accurately and averaged 90% on the final micrometer test. We can look at cap screws and identify their size by sight. We can recognize many TLA (Three Letter Acronyms) and we even know how to turn on Service ADVISOR. Thirty nine students come back every day! Sounds like success to me!
 Now it’s time to start Implement class.

Welcome To A New Instructor

We would like to welcome Matt Johnson as a new instructor to the John Deere Tech program. He graduated from the John Deere Tech program in 2000 and has been working as a technician at Decorah Implement since 1998. He has worked with several students at the dealership and has achieved the John Deere Master Technician Certification. We welcome his current product knowledge and enthusiasm. If you get a chance stop in and welcome him to the team.

Let The Fun Begin

We finally got to lab and started taking apart the combines. We are also working with the new tractors and learning about safety. Service ADVISOR is becoming our new best friend!

The Combines Have Arrived

We unloaded the combines for disassembly on Friday. Now if we get them cleaned up a little we can start tearing them down. It shouldn't take too long with 40 students working on them. We will also be working on wheel moves and and predelivery of new tractors.

Hydraulics II

From slippery door knobs to oily floors and tractors we have managed to spread hydraulic oil around the entire shop. Fortunately it has just been a little at a time. We will finish Hydraulics II on Monday with the John Deere Hydraulic Certification online test. I'm sure everyone is spending the weekend studying. Here are a few pics.

 

 

JD Tech Hosts NE District FFA Contest

The John Deere Tech students hosted the NE District FFA Ag Mechanics Contest on May 17th. We had a combine project, small engine projects, a conservation project, an electrical controls project, a concrete project and a written test. Over 50 students from NE Iowa competed in the 3 hour contest. A special thanks goes out to Eileen, Kristi, Kevin and Dean. Here are some pictures.

AMS Field Day

We had an opportunity to drive around an open field with the new toys. The 7200R has a CommandQuad, the 4440 has Auto Trac Universal and the 8235Rs have 2630 displays and Integrated Auto Trac. While they were driving around we were monitoring the location of the 8235R with JDLink and doing recordings with Service Advisor Remote. We even found an App to do JDLink location on Android or Windows Mobile.

Save the Best Until Last

After some extensive manual research and a few lessons in wiring Ryan and Brian ran the 9.0L Tier 3 engine today. A this point we are unable to get more than idle speed because of  some software availibility issues. Here are some videos and pics.

Josh and Ryan

Josh and Ryan were assigned a 10.5L this year. It had not been apart before and it is a big beast. After a few wiring difficulties it ran pretty well but I think we have a couple injector issues that we will deal with after break.

Mitch and Tyler

We gave Mitch and Tyler a little challenge with a 8.1 L that needed a wiring harness to run so when they thought they were done they had to spend a few days with an electrical nightmare. Well it all worked out in the end and I think today was the first time I saw  Mitch smile in 2 weeks.