Loading...Before his retirement, Jean-Luc was the last active production employee to have been involved in the construction of the first self-propelled forage harvester (SPFH) in Germany. Looking back, the trained heating and plumbing installer would only do one thing differently: “I would have liked to have started working at John Deere even earlier and done my apprenticeship there,” he says. In his many years at John Deere, Jean-Luc has been particularly impressed by the friendly co-operation and team spirit.
Love at second sight
He still remembers exactly how he started his job on 25 March 1985. It all happened pretty quickly: The then 25-year-old was looking for work and set off for Zweibrücken on Monday morning to talk to the personnel manager at John Deere. Just a few hours later, he began his career in the production department – and stayed until he retired.
Jean-Luc initially worked in the SPFH repair shop.
He then worked as a cutterhead repair man for a long time and, most recently, in the SPFH components department, as a member of staff in roller assembly and tilt frames.
The team behind the first SPFH design in Zweibrücken
In his many years at John Deere, Jean-Luc has been particularly impressed by the friendly cooperation and team spirit.
“I had the opportunity to start at John Deere seven years earlier,” recalls Jean-Luc. “Back then, the HR manager would come to the village inn on Sunday mornings and look for people. However, the 50-km commute from France was too far for me and I decided against it.“ At the time, he never thought that a few years later he would end up in Zweibrücken after all.
The 6,000-series comes to Zweibrücken
A few years after Jean-Luc started, production of SPFHs came to Zweibrücken in the early 90s. The reason for this was increased demand in Germany and Europe for large, high-performance forage harvesters. Previously, the machines – up to the 5000 series – were built in the US. After that, John Deere upgraded to larger machines – in Zweibrücken.
It was the start of an exciting time for Jean-Luc and the other employees working on the project. The team in Zweibrücken were to build prototypes for an initial series of 15 machines. This was quite a challenge for Jean-Luc, as he had previously worked in combine harvester assembly and had no experience with forage harvesters. It was only after combine harvester cab production was discontinued in 1991 that the fitters moved to the then newly established SPFH construction.
Since Jean-Luc and his colleagues had to start from scratch, and many parts initially did not fit, the design team worked hand-in-hand with the testing and assembly team. “I learnt a lot there, not least because I was very interested in forage harvesters, he recalls. “In the first year, we built around 400 choppers. Production increased continuously.” The switch to the 8000 model in particular boosted unit numbers and led to record production figures.
A pioneer in customer demonstrations
Initially, challenges arose with the harvester’s cutting blade; it did not cut as intended. Transmissions and castings also broke on the first series’ prototypes, requiring modifications or retrofitting. After the first harvesters were completed, Jean-Luc and the team from Zweibrücken went abroad to demonstrate the harvesters in the field and win customers. The Frenchman travelled a lot: “We were on the road in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and many other countries with our forage harvesters,” he recalls fondly.
It was great to see that our customers were just as satisfied as they were when they bought the choppers.
Jean-Luc Resnik
During the demonstrations, Jean-Luc prepared the machines for dealer and customer demonstrations, taking particular care to ensure that the choppers’ blades were sharp. He also did some forage harvesting in the field to demonstrate the machines’ functions. “It was great to see that our customers were just as satisfied when I visited two years later as they were when they bought the choppers.”
After the first forage harvesters were completed, Jean-Luc and the team from Zweibrücken went abroad to demonstrate the choppers in the field.
The forage harvesters can be seen in action in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Jean-Luc prepared the machines for dealer and customer demonstrations.
The evolution of forage harvesters
After this exciting early period, Jean-Luc personally witnessed the development of forage harvesters over the next few decades. He worked for a long time as a cutterhead repair man and most recently as a member of the roller assembly and tilt frame staff. He experienced firsthand how, in addition to performance, ease of use has also improved significantly. “Thanks to technical advances in newer forage harvesters, things like knife sharpening and counter-blade adjustment no longer have to be done by hand,” he says. “This makes the work much easier. The machines have also changed in terms of their appearance. Over the past 30 years, the initially square design has developed into a more rounded body.”
The technician’s working day was filled with a variety of challenging tasks. “I’ve always liked to try a lot of things and often found creative solutions. If I could start over again at John Deere, I’d do it exactly the same way.” What a wonderful result after almost 40 years of working for the same employer.