John Deere Is Moving Skid Steer and Track Loader Production to Mexico in 2026 — What It Means If You're Financing One Now

John Deere's Dubuque Works plant has built the company's backhoe loaders, compact track loaders, and skid steers since 1946, and we have covered that history on this blog before. What has not been covered yet is a real, dated change to that story: Deere is in the process of moving production of its midsize skid steer loaders and compact track loaders out of Dubuque and into a new plant it is building in Ramos, Mexico, with the transition expected to run through 2026.

This is not breaking news in the sense of a press release that dropped this week. Deere announced the move back in 2024, and it has been working through a multi-year timeline since. What makes it worth writing about now is that the timeline Deere laid out back then lands squarely in the current year. The new Ramos facility is slated to open in 2026, Dubuque production of the affected equipment is expected to start ramping down in early 2026, and the full transition is expected to be complete by the end of this year. If you are financing a Deere skid steer or compact track loader right now, this is the year the change actually happens on the factory floor.

What's Actually Moving, and What Isn't

Deere has been specific about scope, and it is narrower than a lot of secondhand summaries suggest. Midsize skid steer loaders and compact track loaders are the equipment categories moving to the new Ramos, Mexico facility. Deere's own statements have not published specific model numbers for exactly which SKUs fall inside that midsize band, and we are not going to guess at that line here, it would be easy to assume the current flagship 333 P-Tier compact track loader is affected simply because it anchors the CTL lineup, but Deere has not confirmed that specific model by name in any source we could verify, so we are disclosing that honestly rather than stating it as settled fact.

What Deere has been explicit about is what is staying in Dubuque: large-frame skid steer loaders and compact track loaders, backhoe loaders, utility, construction, and production-class crawler dozers, crawler loaders, and knuckle boom loaders. That is most of Dubuque's historic product range. The move affects one specific slice of the compact equipment lineup, not the plant's entire output, and not Deere's backhoe or dozer production at all.

The Timeline, in Plain Terms

Deere is acquiring land in Ramos, Mexico, for the new facility, which is expected to be operational sometime in 2026. Production of the affected skid steers and compact track loaders at Dubuque is expected to begin ramping down in early 2026, with the full transition to Ramos expected to be complete by the end of the year. Local reporting at the time of the announcement put the number of affected Dubuque employees at roughly 225, though Deere itself said the final workforce impact would depend on production levels, attrition over the following two years, and internal reassignment opportunities, so that figure should be read as an estimate from reporting, not a company-confirmed final number.

Why Deere Says It's Doing This, and Why Mexico Specifically

Deere's own stated reasoning centers on rising manufacturing costs and a goal to improve operational efficiencies. The company has also framed the move as adding manufacturing flexibility across its Construction & Forestry business and taking advantage of both U.S. and global manufacturing locations, including what it describes as a growing available labor force in the Ramos area. None of that is unusual language for a manufacturing relocation in this industry, CAT, Komatsu, and most other major equipment manufacturers have all shifted specific product lines across borders over the years for similar cost and efficiency reasons, so this is Deere following a well-established industry pattern rather than doing something unprecedented.

Mexico specifically, rather than a lower-cost manufacturing hub overseas, is also a predictable choice given the trade framework construction equipment manufacturers operate under. Equipment assembled in Mexico under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement generally still qualifies for preferential treatment crossing back into the U.S. market when it meets the agreement's rules of origin, which keeps logistics timelines and landed costs closer to a domestic plant than an overseas one would allow. That is a meaningfully different calculation than relocating final assembly to Asia or Europe, and it is consistent with the broader near-shoring trend that has pulled a lot of North American heavy-equipment and automotive-adjacent manufacturing toward Mexico over the past several years, rather than further offshore.

What This Actually Means If You're Financing a Deere Machine Right Now

A production-origin change like this does not affect emissions certification, warranty coverage, or parts compatibility. A Ramos-built machine carries the same PowerTech engine, the same Tier 4 Final certification, and the same John Deere warranty as a Dubuque-built one, Deere is not launching a new, lesser platform, it is relocating where an existing one gets assembled. Nothing about this should change how a contractor evaluates the machine itself on specs, capability, or fit for the job.

Where it is worth paying attention is dealer inventory timing. Dealers carrying current Dubuque-built stock through the ramp-down period will eventually transition to Ramos-built inventory as the new plant comes online. That is a normal supply-chain shift, not a quality concern, but if you are financing a new midsize skid steer or compact track loader this year specifically, it is reasonable to ask your dealer where a given unit was actually assembled, the same way you would ask about any other sourcing detail on a major purchase. It is a fair question, not a red flag either way.

It is also worth saying plainly what this is not: construction equipment does not carry the kind of plant-of-origin collectibility that shows up occasionally in the automotive world, where a buyer might pay a premium for a car built at a specific historic plant in its final production year. A Dubuque-built skid steer financed today will not appraise differently at resale five years from now simply because of which plant assembled it, assuming maintenance and hours are comparable. The production move is a real operational and workforce story, but it is not a resale-value story for the machine you finance this year.

It is also worth remembering what is staying put. If your job calls for a backhoe loader instead, Deere's 310 P-Tier keeps rolling off the Dubuque line unaffected by any of this, built at the same plant that has made Deere backhoes since 1946. The same goes for large-frame skid steers, crawler dozers, and knuckle boom loaders. This change is narrower than the headline makes it sound.

Financing a Deere Machine Through This Transition

BFC Equipment Loans finances construction equipment for startups and existing businesses nationwide, with good or bad credit, and a manufacturing-location change like this one does not change how we underwrite a John Deere skid steer or compact track loader. The machine's specs, condition, and your business's credit profile drive the financing decision, not which continent the final assembly line sat on. Our John Deere equipment financing page covers how that financing works across the current P-Tier lineup, whichever plant built the specific unit you choose.

For more on Dubuque's manufacturing history before this change, see our earlier piece on eighty years of Dubuque Works building the backhoes and excavators you finance, along with the correction we published on exactly what Dubuque Works opened to build back in 1946. Contractors who occasionally take on cross-border work should also see our guide to what changes when financed equipment crosses the US-Canada or US-Mexico line, since the same USMCA framework behind Deere's own Ramos decision governs how your financed machine moves across that same border.

The Bottom Line

Deere is moving midsize skid steer and compact track loader production from Dubuque, Iowa to a new plant in Ramos, Mexico, with the transition running through 2026, while backhoes, large-frame compact equipment, dozers, and crawler loaders stay exactly where they have always been built. It is a real, dated change worth knowing about, but it is not a reason to delay financing a machine you need this year, and it is not a resale-value concern for equipment built at either plant. Ask your dealer where a specific unit was assembled if you are curious, and otherwise evaluate the machine the same way you always would: on real specs, real fit for your work, and real financing terms.

Ready to finance your next skid steer or compact track loader? Visit our home page to learn more about BFC Equipment Loans, start your application today, browse our equipment for sale and financing marketplace, or subscribe to our newsletter for more equipment financing insights.