Results from some emission standard restrictions will take time, others are immediate

Newly manufactured John Deere tractors are equipped with engines that comply with emission restriction standards.
Newly manufactured John Deere tractors are equipped with engines that comply with emission restriction standards.
New tractors manufactured by John Deere are so good about complying with new emission restrictions they literally pass one industry insider's sniff test.

"I've been around the new tractors, and quite honestly, you can barely detect a hint of diesel exhaust in an enclosed building," Kevin Schafer, sales manager of Tractor Central in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, told WQOW TV, an ABC affiliate. "It's quite amazing."

As directed by the Environmental Protection Agency, emission standards were implemented to reduce diesel engines' pollution. The Department of Natural Resources endorses the measures but cautions that results will come in gradually.

"This is just like any other new regulatory program," said Mike Friedlander of DNR's air management unit. "It takes time for the fleet to turn over, so there is going to take this time until we really receive the whole benefits of this program."

The sales manager said he could see some immediate results.

"There's no puff of smoke at all that comes out," Schaefer said. "It's very clean, it sounds just like a good old diesel tractor sounds, but not the big puff of smoke like the old tractors."