MOLINE, Ill. - Equipment manufacturer Deere & Co. recently signed a technology sharing agreement with Andreas Stihl AG & Co., licensing Stihl to design, develop and manufacture engines using a reduced-emission, two-stroke engine fuel handling technology developed by John Deere.
Waiblingen, Germany-based Stihl, a producer of commercial-grade engine products such as chain saws and cutoff machines, will utilize the fuel handling technology in some of its products as one means of satisfying emissions standards. Emission standards include CARB (California Air Resources Board) Tier II, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Phase II and future European regulations, which are expected to mirror those of the EPA. The standards are aimed at reducing emissions from outdoor power equipment, and they continue to become stricter with California usually leading the way on reduced emission legislation. For instance CARB Tier I initially reduced emissions by 30 percent for all model year 1996 gas-powered, hand-held power equipment below 25 horsepower. CARB Tier II later added an additional 70 percent reduction in emissions for the same equipment category beginning with model year 2000.
"The breadth of our product line demands the investigation and development of multiple technologies, allowing us to provide the optimum solution for each product and application," said Hans Peter Stihl, chairman of Andreas Stihl. "Along with several other available technologies, we have chosen to pursue Deere's fuel handling technology as a means of reducing emissions in some of our products."
Deere is offering its fuel handling technology, which it jointly developed with Design & Manufacturing Solutions Inc., to other companies under license agreements. The technology may have applications beyond hand-held equipment, including walk-behind products, marine products, utility engines, snowmobiles and motor scooters.
"The signing of the Stihl agreement represents a breakthrough in Deere's efforts to spread the use of this technology. We are confident that the advances made by Stihl's world-class engineering organization will further our combined efforts to improve the state of this technology and to extend its application to a wider array of products," said Dan Reilly, vice president of manufacturing and product development for the John Deere Worldwide Commercial and Consumer Equipment Division.