John Deere has a brand new species of Gator that is out to chomp the competition when it comes to speed, power and agility.

“It’s the Gator RSX850i, our first recreational utility vehicle,” said Product Line Marketing Manager Kevin Lund. “With 62 horsepower and 53 mile an hour top speed, four-wheel independent multi-link suspension, it delivers the performance that you need and still has the capability that you expect from a John Deere Gator.”

Lund says utility vehicles have been a part of John Deere’s 175 year history for the past 25 years. “John Deere really started the utility vehicle industry in 1987 with the AMT600,” he said. It evolved over the next few years into the Gator by 1993 and has continued to evolve with new models entering the line up.

Lund had the pleasure of introducing the new Gator at the 2012 Farm Progress Show last week, where he explained that it is not only powerful and fast, but safe as well. “John Deere focused very much on the stability of these vehicles and it currently exceeds all industry standards for stability,” he said. In addition, the Gator RSX850i features integrated doors and three point safety harnesses. “The integrated doors both improve the styling of the vehicle as well as make sure operators are contained in case of a roll over.”

The Gator RSX850i got a great reception at the Farm Progress Show because it’s good for both work and play. “It’s a 400 pound cargo box capacity, 1200 pounds of towing capacity with a standard two inch receiver hitch,” said Lund. “You can use if for a lot of chores on the farm and then when you’re done, you can take it out and have a lot of fun with it.”

Listen to my interview with Kevin here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps12-jd-gator.mp3″ text=”John Deere’s Kevin Lund”]

2012 Farm Progress Show Photo Album