Norman has designed tractors for production as well as a wide range of experimental machines to test and evaluate advanced concepts.

In the chassis group, his design projects included cooling, hitch, frame, fuel, operator station, controls, wheels, sheet metal and styling problems. In the production area, he designed and developed a system to run final tests on the vehicle while still on the production line. Then, as part of the Advanced Tractor group, he worked on electric drives and other advanced concepts. He contributes significantly to the analysis of new and unusual problems.

Background

Norman grew up on a farm in Minnesota, earned a B.S. and M.S. in agricultural engineering specializing in farmstead mechanization and advanced conveyor system design. After serving for a period in the U.S. Coast Guard, he began working for John Deere. He participated in technical and professional societies as a member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, ASABE, and the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE. He also passed the exam as a professional licensed engineer.

After two years training in different design and manufacturing areas, he spent much of his career in the chassis group. At one time or another, he was involved with design and analysis of cooling systems, engine fuel and air intake systems, frame, main castings, operator station and controls, hitch design, wheels, steering geometry, sheet metal and styling. He worked on a wide range of tractor designs and was the Design Work Director for the 77 row crop tractor.

For a period of time, he transferred to the manufacturing area where he designed and installed systems for running final tests while the vehicle was still on the assembly line. This avoided off-line testing so the vehicle could be driven from the assembly line directly to the shipping area.

Later, in the Advanced Tractor group, he worked on a number of research and advanced design studies.

At Diedrichs & Associates, he has continued to work as a consultant on special problems and as project leader for investigation and study of various advanced concepts.  Over the course of his career, Norman has been involved with many aspects of tractor design. Some examples of past work include:

• Cooling System Design
   - Designed and tested cooling systems for all sizes of agricultural tractors
   - Designed and tested cooling systems for construction vehicles

• Hitch Design
   - Designed and tested three point hitch systems for utility, row crop and large agricultural      tractors
   - Designed attachment systems for a wide variety of implements utilizing, hitch, drawbar or      frame mounting
   - Prepared and presented a paper on three point hitch systems
   
• Belted Tractor
   - Design studies and analysis leading to development of a belted traction drive
   - Prepared and presented a paper on belted tractor (crawler track) drives
   
• Electric Drive Systems
   - Team Coordinator for design studies and analysis leading to design, prototype build and      test of an electric drive system for agricultural tractor
   - Revised steering geometry and speed of front wheel drive to accommodate difference in      turning radius between front and rear axles
   - Team Coordinator for development of turbo compounded tractor. Design, build and test of      a large row crop tractor using turbo compounding to capture up to 50 hp of energy from      the exhaust system

• Experimental Vehicle Design and Prototype Build
   - Design and build of experimental tractors to test and analyze new or improved concepts
   - Designed experimental vehicles with transducers and instrumentation in place and ready      to be used when prototype build was completed
   
• Patents
   - Holds patents in _____________

Additional Information

Mr. Lemmon has completed a Master Gardener program and does volunteer work helping answer gardening questions