Westlund Excavating: SmartGrade Wins with John Deere 850 X

Steve Westlund, owner of Westlund Excavating, first learned his love of iron and building his community from his grandpa. He went to his trusted equipment expert at RDO when he turned 18 to acquire his first excavator. Now his team runs multiple machines and is putting the latest in construction equipment technology to the test on a 900-acre job site for a large data center project.

Midwest Contractor Snapshot 

• Customer:  Westlund Excavating
• Location: Western Minnesota/eastern North Dakota 
• Specialty: Westlund Excavating specializes in new construction, underground utility installation and earthmoving for commercial, industrial, and municipal projects 
• Fleet Highlights: John Deere 850 X Crawler Dozer equipped with SmartGrade™, John Deere’s 824-X Wheel Loader, 744 P Wheel Loader and John Deere’s 510 P Excavator equipped with 3D grade control

Why Site Prep Requires Grade Control 

Westlund Excavating sought a way to make every pass count — especially on tight‑tolerance subdivisions and commercial pads. John Deere SmartGrade fits perfectly because it’s fully integrated into the machine — no external masts or cables to install or remove. 

SmartGrade gives Westlund flexibility on any job: it’s compatible with Topcon Positioning Systems and supports 2D slope control, 2D laser, 3D GPS and 3D total station. Crews can choose the best guidance for the work at hand.

Beyond guidance, SmartGrade delivers the day‑to‑day wins crews feel in the seat: automatic blade adjustments reduce passes and rework; wireless data transfer and remote display access keep field and office aligned; and transferable licenses make it easier to scale across machines and projects. 

“It takes the guess work away from operaors,” Westlund said. “Every pass, they know exactly how much dirt they are moving with their dozer.” 

Watch Westlund describe how his dozer’s 3D machine control improves his job site efficiency.

The John Deere 850 X: Power, Control, and Efficiency 

To complement SmartGrade, Westlund ran the next‑generation John Deere 850 X—a crawler dozer designed for efficiency and smooth control. Its hybrid powertrain leverages an electric swing motor and energy recovery to improve fuel efficiency and responsiveness.

Operators noted independent track control from the dual‑path electric drive, enabling smoother cornering and confident full‑power turns. The 850 X also delivers more low‑end torque at lower RPMs (approximately 1,200 – 1,600 vs. 2,100 – 2,200), reducing fuel use and noise — while a simplified drivetrain with fewer moving parts can lower maintenance requirements over time. 

“The control is phenomenal. It reacts instantly and we’re burning less fuel while getting more done,” Westlund said.

On recent projects, Westlund’s crews hit grade with fewer corrections, completed finish work faster, and reduced material waste. The consistent guidance — and simple operator experience— helped maintain pace on deadline‑driven schedules while preserving quality on pads, utilities and roadbeds. 

Westlund reported these results from his operators running machines equipped with SmartGrade: 

• Less rework equals fewer passes and reaching the final grade faster 
• Flexible 2D or 3D options to adjust machine control calibrations when using a machine on multiple projects 
• Seamless data flow from office to machine for updates and revisions to deliver clear in-cab feedback that builds confidence 

See Westlund’s 850 X in action and discover how these X models perform in this episode of The Track.

John Deere’s X vs. P Machines

Westlund not only uses his machines on large earthmoving sites but also in his gravel pit to move materials where they need to go.

“Other than wages, fuel is one of the biggest costs of doing business,” Westlund said. “That’s why when RDO brought the X dozer to demo at one of my job sites, it became obvious that this investment in John Deere’s X wheel loader and dozers would help to manage building costs.”

Westlund points out that his John Deere 744 P often burns more fuel than his larger 824-X wheel loader. This reduction, plus the additional warranty production hours included with his John Deere X-Tier machines, results in a quicker return investment.

“On average, our X-Tier dozers and loaders burn about 50% less fuel than our other machines,” Westlund said. “In today’s fuel market, that’s a savings that can’t be ignored.”

Partnered with RDO for Deployment, Training, and Support 

RDO team members help e Westlund with machine control setup and calibration, , SmartGrade onboarding, and ongoing assistance through RDO Connected Support™. Westlund said RDO helps the team get value from day one and scale technology across the fleet. 

“It’s easy to grow as a business when you have a partner that you can count on to provide the equipment, training and field service if a machine goes down,,” Westlund said. “We want to have machines that operators say are comfortable and efficient, so they can do the job in less time.”