Does anyone use or know of anyone that uses Case IH Steiger tractors to pull pans? Wondering what (if any) problems they have and at about how many hrs engines, transmission, rearends, pumps, etc?? Not the quad-trac tractors I'm wondering about the dual wheeled articulating tractors. Thanks in advance!
Is yours having issues? I haven't read or seen anything that these don't hold up like the Deere's or others. I don't know if they still do but at 1 time I read that they had a 10 year 10000 hour warranty on the Steigers. I don't know the details, but that would make me think they hold up well. Did anyone ever make any changes to it to improve the ride? If yes how did you make out?
:bash:bashKnock on wood:bashNo Issues on the Case except a couple A/C problems but our Deeres seem to always have something going on. 5 Deeres and the 5th or 6th front end, I lost count! I talked to a guy running a Case on another forum with 9000hrs and it was down getting a transmission and had another one with 6000hrs getting hyd pump only major issues so far and with that many hrs don't seem bad!! Of course our Deeres have 5500hrs. like I said all the rear ends, one transmission, one engine, 3 hyd pumps, i won't go on.
We didn't do anything to the Case for the ride. I think it's the tires at this point and am waiting on New Michelins. We've been in some soft material for a while now so I haven't noticed the ride much
I have no personal experience but the big Cases are all any pan pullers around here use. I saw LaGeorge out of south AR run two Deere tractors but the subcontractor they hired had 5-6 Case/Steigers. Seemed like the Cases pulled harder but they had duals and the Deeres had super singles.
Those BIG WHEELERS suck!! We HAD a couple key word was had:drinkup we didn't like em much!
The company i work for has 3,(1) 8950 with single 17yrd pan,(2)stx350 with double 17yrd pans on both,only problem we have is everything is electronic and it eats batteries,alternators,both big units have in upwards of 4000hrs,with no major problems.
Nice photos jgivens:drinkup Dare I ask what you guys didn't like about the super singles? One of my buddies had to run a rental with them one time, he didn't like them either, said he couldn't get on the edge of the fills and piles like he wanted.
TRACTION! While they do fine on solid ground in loose material and muddy soil (like we run in) they just don't get you around as good as duals! The ride was awful also!
Put a few thousand hours on Deere 9420's, Stx 500 quad. Stx 425HD wheeled, Stx 450 wheeled. The Deere active seat was by far and away the best ride. In my opinion the Deluxe cab in the Stx's has a more comfortable seat than the regular one. I liked the Deere engine a little better too. It didn't quit on you if suddenly it was worked down to 1200 rpm's or less unlike the Cummins QSX engine in the Stx's. My own personal opinion was that I liked the Stx's better. I liked their controls and their cab felt bigger an quieter. Once I got used to the Cummins I learned to like it alot. I've seldom run the Iveco engine that's in the new Stx's so no comment there.
We run STXs and they seem to be better then JD, but we trad them off before 5K hrs. We do have lots of little problem limp modes ETC the make you shutdown and restart the engine. We have lost a Hyd pump and a turbo that all I can think of in the past 1 I have have been here. We work them too pull 33&31yd pans on 480s and 1 430.
I'm currently running 8 case tractors for pull pans. 6 are 91 and 92 series wheel tractors and 2 are stx 450 quads for dealing with the mud and stubborn stuff. 450's have 3300 hours rubber tire tractors have 3000-9000 hours on em. only replaced 1 transmission a couple of hydraulic pumps. the wheeled tractors pull like demons. and are much cheaper to operate than the quads. quads do make more production, mainly because the operator has a better ride. He dont slow down as the day goes on. had a 9400 and a big bud, they couldnt keep up. here is a pic of the fleet http://i910.photobucket.com/albums/ac309/JohnBer_album/tractor005.jpg?t=1250037293
Nice fleet. Those Miskin scrapers are built just a couple miles from me.
John very nice fleet! I really like those 92** series Case IHs! I think we need some quads right now in the mess we're in but I can't talk the boss man into it. Could the Quads pull loaded 21yd pans through the mess in the video I posted?? http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20090813/NEWS01/908130327&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL Right now our pan fleet consists of 7x9520JDS 3x9530JDS 3x9630JDS a CaseIH 530 tired machine. Let me know what you think. Thanks
I am pulling 17 yard pans on em, looks like they would go right thru it from what i can see. We deal with wet soil here all the time. the quads will run and produce well when the the wheeled tractors cant move in the same material.
We are moving away from the Green things and going to these... [/ATTACH]
I have alway's heard that the Deere's are a little too short and get alot of wheel hop, but I have alway's had red(or bright green ) tractors so I have no first hand exp. Landworks: whats the deal with the extended hitch on the pan? Pj
Creates a little more room for turning the tractor w/o hitting the tires.
Single tyres like these (37.25x35 Michelin radials at 20psi) work in just about any conditions and the ride is far easier on the kidneys than all the ag tyres on tractors pulling scrapers I've ever driven over 25 years - duals or single.
I had issues trying to run singles also, just too wet around here most of the time for em. on the dry with no clay they were great............. western Washington......a very rare thing.
Nice setup! I bet they are at least $10k each tire! Michelin 29.5R25's cost ~$6,500 per tire in my area.
aglasergps, tell me about the tractor. At first glance I thought it was a Versatile(same paint colours), but I know nothing about Australian machinery.
jgivens, the STX has thicker axles and hubs than the JD, and Cat makes a 4wd tractor with thicker axles yet, (targeting the scraper market).
I see Cat getting more and more into the scraper tractors. They bought eject systems. Have to buy parts for my for Eject pans from them now. Which is no biggie I have been buyin the wear parts from cat from the beginning.
They're very nice tractors, but came in $30 000 higher than the STX.
How is reliability on the new Challenger 4wd's? If its like the Lexions when they first came out I wouldn't touch them with a long stick. An initial Lexion owner told my buddy that nothing combined like them but nothing broke down like them either. Not big stuff just a switch here and a sensor there and a little bearing etc all the time. I'd say give them a little time to get the bugs ironed out and the Challengers might be THE scraper tractor. Is the Deere 30 series 4wd alot better than the 20 series. Does the 30 series give the STX more of a run for its money?
hey stovepipe, Waltanna used to make tractors for some of the major companies earlier in the piece. They were originally blue like the Ford's but this one has had a face lift. This model was a dedicated scraper tractor. Simple, tough, heavy, smooth to sit in and easy to operate. You won't find many of them - but every one ever made is still working pulling scrapers. It may not be as fancy as a new machine but if it keeps working like it has for the past 25 years I'll be happy.
Sounds like a Versitile or a Steiger to me, I would say it's the Austrailian equal. Pj
Basically correct, but a lot heavier built than the ag tractors i,e, artic pins and bearings, hydraulics, cooling etc.
aglasergps, what does that Waltanna have for a power plant?
Wa who wow she still look tidey even after 30,000hrs.I remenber in my early operasting days working beside this machine which was owned by Rod Druit in Deni NSW(also had a JD and 623) . Must say that the Ca , CU and Tigers where my preference whilst constructing irragation Layouts in NSW and southern QLD.Even when the 9100 series came out on really hot days the new machines couldn't handle the heat and had to park up while the tigers and panthers kept rolling along.How does the trimble gear perform? Cant say i have used it in irragation layouts but roads and orther large mining appilication works a treat.Great to see good well looked after gear . Any more great pics on the horizon?
It's a Cat 3406C Industrial engine - 460hp. It is matched nicely with the Allison and hangs on pretty well to 1500 rpm before the converter kicks in. Only uses 50 litres (13 US gallons I think) / hour. A lot better than the STX working beside me at the moment, also pulling a scraper. I have been told that Cat traded a lot of these engines out for the newer C15 engines early on as they had problems with this particular model. This one is OK.
Hi BigJim - bought it off Craig last December. He still has 2 623G's that are gathering dust. Funny that I sat on this machine with Rod before it ever had too many loads of dirt in it many, many years ago. About the Trimble 3-D GNSS levelling system - ask anyone who uses it and you find you will NEVER, and I mean NEVER use a laser transmitter again, even for flat grade irrigation work. If you haven't ever been involved with 3-D ag levelling, you are in for a treat if you ever need to. It is different to the civil stuff in that it is sooooo easy to set up and use. The Autosteer and levelling is in the one screen too. Have a mate at Forbes using it for border check trimming this week past and he had 5 bays trimmed with the GPS compared to the same type of machine (1400 and HB) using a laser only doing 3. (time wasted setting grades, changing grades, stopping for dust etc). I've been around Spectra gear since 1979 and this stuff is the best yet! You doing any levelling down there?
Big Jim, check your e-mail. Cheers.
Great to here that you have some leveling work. My Uncle is Ian merrylees who set up CAG soft ware and was one of the pioneers in laser leveling with Frank rennick. I drove for Steve,Wally and (Cant remenber the other Brother)Shannon in the early 90's.Fixed and repaired a lot of gord hills( Camden Lanes ) Tigers for a number of years as i am also a qualified fitter and machinist.He has retired now but i think Frank Coates and Trevor War bought a couple of his old tigers and ran doubles for a while and they are still going i think.They didi some wok at Groongal acouple of years ago. I know Hugh Maslin from when he was in Hay driving for Clarke's and he has gone from strength to strength. I had a bit of a play in a DP 600 in st george it was quiet different to the 525 tigers i had been in . No lasering work where i am at as we have no allocation again. Whilst i was in the WA i did a large no of leach pads for a mining company .Just like a flood irragation bay daul cross fall and large banks.Dry Hired a machine from webbs and they couldn't believe what i did with it .Lets say the project ran a healthy 65% profit
aglasergps, what's the cost on the Trimble 3D GNSS levelling system? I was planning on going to a laser system, but I didn't know something better was available. What engine did your tractor have originally? A 3406C was Cat's first shot at electronics, so it must be a newer replacement. I'm not surprised to hear about the fuel consumption on the STX, they're thirsty. The tier III engines all suck eggs as far as I know. Rob