Legendary Green Steigers?

The old Steigers seem to have somehow got a good reputation.

I am wondering how they got the reputation?

Take for example the popular "Series III" from the early 80's. The final drives need rebuilding every 4,000 to 5,000 hours. The transmissions need the bearings replaced every 4,000 to 5,000 hours.

Sure, they have a big fuel tank, a good strong frame, and most of the engines used in them were good. But that hardly makes them a good tractor.

The "Safari Cab" is like sitting in a house of mirrors when the sun is low. When driving away from the sun, the sun shines in the rear window and reflects off the windscreen and straight into your eyes. When driving towards the sun, there is no sun-visor, and then when you turn around to look at your implement, the sun reflects off the rear window and straight into your eyes. The side windows also show a reflection of the front and rear windows, so then you have another sun dazzling you from a side window as well. Sometimes if all the angles are right you can have 3 reflections of the sun, plus the real sun, all shining into your eyes. You have to put up with this for at least an hour after sunrise and at least an hour before sunset. Then there is the noise issue.

They don't even have a hi/lo powershift. Choose a gear and you are stuck with it, if there is a hill in the paddock, bad luck you can't drop back a gear.

The hydraulic system gives priority to the steering, which is understandable, but try running an air-seeder fan at a constant speed using the oil flow that is left after the steering takes what it wants first. Surely it wouldn't have been so hard to realise that a separate system would have been better.

They have 17 grease nipples that have to be greased every 10 hours.

Does this mean that the John Deeres and Versatiles of the same era were just as bad or worse?

Has anybody else spent any amount of time in one and decided that they are not as good as their reputation would have you think?

I think you have to put it into context. 4WD's in general weren't that advanced in the 80's as they were generally made from components designed for other uses. Engines and transmission were often out of semi tractors, axles from large loaders, etc. Cabs were very basic with no curved glass and sound deadening was crude. Hydraulic systems were generally only used to raise and lower the implement as air seeders had a pony engine to power the fan. I'm not aware of a good hi/lo transmission that would stay together until late 1990's. Every maker had an Achilles heal.

The Cummins 555 used by Versatile is generally regarded as a bad engine. Deere also had lots of engine issues. The AC 8550/4W305 had a 20 speed transmission with a power hi/lo, but they weren't the most durable and the engine is thirsty and costly to rebuild. White didn't make anything over 300hp until late 1990's.

ISZ

If you have ever dealt with any of the other 4WD tractors of the era, you'd appreciate the Steiger. I have a rebranded Case IH (really just a 1000 series Cougar painted red), and it is world's better than some of the other tractors of the time.

JD did not make a decent 4WD until they came out with the 9400. They tried to use their 466 row crop engines in some, and those were terribly, terribly underpowered. The bigger JD engines absolutely guzzled fuel. The radiator was behind the fuel tank, and fuel lines had to be replaced fairly often. Overheating during hot summer days was very, very problematic. The cabs were cramped and noisy, visibility was poor, the tractors were just never the equivalent in power to the Steigers or Versatiles at the time. Nearly everything was borrowed technology from the row crop tractors, and most components were underbuilt. Serviceability was absolutely terrible. Power loss to the PTO and drawbar seemed much higher than competition. A Steiger Bearcat III or IV, or an 875 Versatile with around 235 HP would absolutely outpull a 8630 or 8650.

Versatile made a good tractor, most components were similar, but they were never as balanced or as refined as the Steigers, especially with the Safari cab. The Safari cab was mounted on rubber grommets, so the cab absorbs more shock and noise than the Versatile of the same time. Also, the mounting of the fuel tank on the Steiger helped balance the machine, achieving a 55-45 weight spit which helps smooth the ride. Versatiles required ballasting to achieve maximum potential, as they had a natural 60-40 weight split. Even with properly inflated radials, the tractors wanted to power hop without some suitcase weights added to the rear. Serviceablity on both tractors wasn't bad, and large front radiators generally kept the tractor running even as daytime temps approach 120 degrees.

Caterpillar was like riding a dozer. Exactly like riding a dozer. No suspension or tires to absorb the shock. I have never had back problems, but plowing back over ground that had already been plowed and produced large clods because of dryness was absolutely miserable. A couple trips to the chiropractor, and I had enough.

Those tractors were built before the advent of air seeders, and I don't think any of them had the hydraulic capacity to run an air seeder with their hydraulics. None had a hi/lo powershift. The Versatiles just had a regular truck transmission and were standard stick shift. Clutch needed replacement fairly often. The JD I ran had quad range. I liked the Steiger powershift much better. No clutching, just shifting.

I've had several and the OP is right in every way but I still regard them as good ole tractors lol, cheap horsepower that's for sure, we have drug pans thousands of miles with them with minimal problems and if there was a problem any shade tree mechanic could repair them, the uniball was a bit of a bitch at times but just a nature of the beast I suppose........ Sure beats the hell outta a 20series deere that's for all wheel steer case that's for sure lol

Pj

Thanks for the replies,

That's what I am trying to do, to put it into context with what the other tractors were like in the similar era.

I thought the old quad range John Deeres had hi/lo powershift?

The Steiger 1000 series were probably a big improvement over the series III, I have never seen a 1000 series so I don't know.

Does anybody else know what I mean about the terrible sunglare in the Safari Cab? At least all the other brands had the sense to slope the glass the other way so that it doesn't reflect the sun.

Do the Case IH Steigers have any sunglare problems? I notice the windscreen on them, although curved, is still angled similar to the old ones that I dislike.

The quad range had two shifters. The one on the outside had Park, A range, B range, C range and D range. On the inside was R1 and R2 at the bottom, then F1 and F2 a level up, neutral, then F3 and F4 up top. Basically you picked a range, and then you picked a level. You could shift on each level (for example F1 to F2 or F3 to F4) without having to clutch. Any other time, you had to use the clutch. If you aren't plowing, you can clutch and shift. If you are pulling a plow, you cannot. Why? Because the plow acts like a giant brake. As soon as you hit the clutch, the tractor comes to a screeching halt.

JD's first powershift was 8 speed. It was a better transmission, but really only F3 and F4 were plowing speeds, so it didn't have many options. And it had some pretty big skips in speed, so it didn't shift terribly smooth. If it wasn't under load, it would lurch from F2 to F3 and F4 to F5. Then although it technically wasn't required, you had to clutch to shift down from F8-F5 because the acceleration was smooth, but deceleration was not.

The 90 series Case (before J.I. Case acquired Steiger) had the same type of thing, but the inside was a mini-powershift with Reverse, F1, F2, and F3 all in line. It was a better arrangement, but I had all kinds of problems with it. The powershift used a combination of cylinders that engaged the different speeds in the transmission. The cylinders were not sealed, and would get dirt in them as you plow. Gradually, they would quit engaging. The tractor I was on would lose reverse first, then F1, then F2 until it was finally just hung in F3. Then you had to take the thing apart and clean it thoroughly. Basically the predecessor to power-sync, but poorly executed. The electronically engaged clutch was also problematic. It was either engaged or it wasn't. No easing in or out of anything.

Steiger always called their cabs "safari" cabs to stick with their big cat theme, but they came out with the newer, more famous deluxe Safari Cab in the 1000 series. The deluxe Safari cab is very comfortable and has kind of a wrap-around style glass, but with corners. Way ahead of anything else at the time in comfort and quiet. The JD had round glass on the front door to the left and the front right of the tractor, and it always carried a glare to it at any time of the day, because there was no cab over the top of it to ever shade it. That's the reason Steiger had the outstretched top (plus adds some shade to help keep cab cooler). Also, some had black on the hood to help minimize glare. The Case cab wasn't bad, but Case didn't have an air ride seat, and it bounced uncomfortably on all but the smoothest ground.

I read an interesting article one time where the brothers lived up the road from a rock quarry that had ordered a 55gal drum of green paint that the quarry refused because it was the wrong color of green to match their Euclid trucks.....well they took it and painted Steiger number one and the color stuck

They wasn't nothing special but damn it I love them ole green bastards, I've owned 5-6 of theme the automatics was a big thing but looking back they was pretty under developed


Pm