“Weight savings was a big goal, so we


were able to manage where we put the weight in the part, focusing on just


adding iron where we needed it and taking it out where we could.” —Pete Murfey, John Deere


but there’s only so much you can do with a cut and fold piece of steel,” said Pete Murfey, senior engineer. “Weight savings was a big goal, so we were able to manage where we put the weight in the part, focusing on just adding iron where we needed it and taking it out where we could. Te casting gave us the ability to put all the features


exactly where we wanted them.” Te component was eventually


cast in ductile iron via the green sand process, but getting there took teamwork.


Starting From Sketch In September 2010, Lubben went


to work on a simple piece of paper,


sketching concepts that were star- tlingly similar to what eventually was produced.


One of the goals of the casting


was for it to be relatively low mass. It also was intended to minimize the number of leak paths and share common geometry with Deere’s wheel tractors. Before the work could bear fruit,


teamwork was needed. A lot of teamwork. “It was from, literally, a sketch on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper when we started collaborating,” said Anthony Childers, foundry pattern develop- ment engineer, John Deere. “Tat’s about the right time to get a foundry involved. We’re very proud of that collaboration.”


The drive train is housed by the casting engineered and designed by John Deere, which helps allow the 9RX 4-Track offer less soil compaction, a better turning radius and no skidding.


26 | MODERN CASTING June 2016


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