John Deere Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers

Trivia quiz with answers about the John Deere Tractor Company

John Deere Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers

What is John Deere?
A: John Deere is the brand name of Deere & Company, an American corporation that manufactures agricultural, construction, and forestry machinery, diesel engines, drive trains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, and lawn care equipment.

In 2018, it was listed as 102nd in the Fortune 500 America's ranking and was ranked where in the global ranking?
A: 394th.

Deere & Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under what symbol?
A: The symbol DE.

What is the company's slogan?
A: "Nothing Runs Like a Deere".

What is its logo?
A: A leaping deer, with the words 'JOHN DEERE' under it.

The logo has been used by the company for how many years?
A: Over 155 years.

Deere & Company began when John Deere, born in Rutland, Vermont, USA on February 7, 1804, moved to Grand Detour, Illinois in 1836 to do what?
A: To escape bankruptcy in Vermont.

Already an established blacksmith, Deere opened a 1,378-square-foot (128 m2) shop in Grand Detour in 1837, which allowed him to serve as a what?
A: A general repairman in the village, as well as a manufacturer of large tools such as pitchforks and shovels.

Small tools production was just a start; what was the item that set him apart?
A: It was the self-scouring steel plow, which was pioneered in 1837 when John Deere fashioned a Scottish steel saw blade into a plow.

Prior to Deere's steel plow, most farmers used what kind of plows?
A: Iron or wooden plows to which the rich Midwestern soil stuck, so they had to be cleaned frequently.

The smooth-sided steel plow solved this problem, and greatly aided what?
A: Migration into the American Great Plains in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

What was the traditional way of doing business?
A: To make the product as and when it was ordered.

This style was very slow, As Deere realized that this was not going to be a viable business model, he increased the rate of production by doing what?
A: By manufacturing plows before putting them up for sale; this allowed customers to not only see what they were buying beforehand, but also allowed his customers to purchase his products straight away.

Word of his products began to what?
A: Spread quickly.

In 1842, Deere entered a business partnership with whom?
A: Leonard Andrus and purchased land for the construction of a new, two-story factory along the Rock River in Illinois.

This factory, named the "L. Andrus Plough Manufacturer", produced about 100 plows in 1842 and around how many plows during the next year?
A: 400.

Deere's partnership with Andrus ended in 1848, and Deere relocated to where?
A: Moline, Illinois, to have access to the railroad and the Mississippi River.

There, Deere formed a partnership with whom?
A: Robert Tate and John Gould and built a 1,440-square-foot (134 m2) factory the same year.

Production rose quickly, and by 1849, the Deere, Tate & Gould Company was producing how many plows a month?
A: Over 200.

When did Deere buy out Tate and Gould's interests in the company?
A: In 1853, and was joined in the business by his son Charles Deere.

At that time, the company was manufacturing a variety of farm equipment products in addition to plows, including what?
A: Wagons, corn planters, and cultivators.

In 1857, the company's production totals reached almost how many implements per month?
A: 1,120.

In 1858 what took a toll on the company?
A: A nationwide financial recession.

To prevent bankruptcy, the company was reorganized and Deere sold his interests in the business to whom?
A: His son-in-law, Christopher Webber, and his son, Charles Deere, who would take on most of his father's managerial roles.

John Deere served as president of the company until what year?
A: 1886.

The company was reorganized again in 1868, when it was incorporated as what?
A: Deere & Company.

While the company's original stockholders were Charles Deere, Stephen Velie, George Vinton, and John Deere, who effectively ran the company?
A: Charles.

In 1869, Charles began to introduce marketing centers and independent retail dealers to do what?
A: To advance the company's sales nationwide.

This same year, Deere & Company won "Best and Greatest Display of Plows in Variety" at the 17th Annual Illinois State Fair, for which it won what?
A: $10 and a Silver Medal.

The core focus remained on the agricultural implements, but John Deere also made a few what in the 1890s?
A: Bicycles.

In 1912, Deere & Company president William Butterworth (Charles' son-in-law), who had replaced Charles Deere after his death in 1907, began the company's expansion into what?
A: The farm tractor business.

Deere & Company briefly experimented with its own tractor models, the most successful of which was what?
A: The Dain All-Wheel-Drive.

In the end, Deere decided to continue its foray into the tractor business by purchasing what?
A: The Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company in 1918, which manufactured the popular Waterloo Boy tractor at its facilities in Waterloo, Iowa.

Deere & Company continued to sell tractors under the Waterloo Boy name until when?
A: 1923, when the John Deere Model D was introduced.

The company continues to manufacture a large percentage of its tractors in Waterloo, Iowa, namely what series?
A: The 7R, 8R, and 9R series.

When did the company produce its first combine harvester, the John Deere No. 2?
A: In 1927.

A year later, this innovation was followed up by the introduction of what?
A: The John Deere No. 1, a smaller machine that was more popular with customers.

By 1929, the No. 1 and No. 2 were replaced by what?
A: Newer, lighter-weight harvesters.

In the 1930s, John Deere and other farm equipment manufacturers began developing what?
A: Hillside harvesting technology.

Harvesters now had the ability to effectively use their combines to harvest grain on hillsides with up to what grade?
A: Up to a 50% slope gradient.

On an episode of the Travel Channel series Made in America that profiled Deere & Company, host John Ratzenberger stated that the company never repossessed any equipment from American farmers during what?
A: The Great Depression.

During World War II, the great-grandson of John Deere, Charles Deere Wiman, was president of the company, but he accepted a commission as a what?
A: A colonel in the U.S. Army.

A replacement was hired and before returning to work at the company in late 1944, Wiman directed the farm machinery and equipment division of what?
A: The War Production Board.

In addition to farm machinery, John Deere manufactured military what?
A: Tractors, and transmissions for the M3 tank.

They also made aircraft parts, ammunition, and mobile what?
A: Mobile laundry units.

In 1947, John Deere introduced its first what?
A: Self-propelled combine, the model 55.

It was soon followed by what?
A: The smaller models 40 and 45, the larger model 95, and an even larger model 105 was introduced in the 1960s.

In the mid-1950s, Deere introduced what?
A: Attachable corn heads, allowing crop producers to cut, shell, and clean corn in one smooth operation.

In 1956, Deere & Company bought-out what German tractor manufacturer?
A: Heinrich Lanz AG.

On August 30, 1960, John Deere dealers from around the world converged on Dallas, Texas, for a what?
A: An unprecedented product showcase.

Deere Day in Dallas, as the event was called, introduced the world to what?
A: The "New Generation of Power", the company’s first modern four-cylinder and six-cylinder tractors.

The line of tractors introduced that day was how many years in the making?
A: Five.

Deere chose Dallas to host the event partly because it was home to what?
A: Facilities large enough to accommodate the 6,000 guests and the equipment they were all there to see.

The Dallas Memorial Auditorium, the Texas State Fairgrounds Coliseum, the Cotton Bowl, and the Cotton Bowl parking lot were each what?
A: The site of part of the event.

During the event, a new John Deere tractor with a diamond-covered nameplate was displayed for all to see inside what?
A: Neiman-Marcus, a popular Dallas-based department store.