Steiger Tractors are made in Fargo, ND. Nice to see farm equipment still being shipped by rail.
Good prototype load to model.
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I wish I still lived in Cary, IL. I would have liked to have seen that consist. I also always assumed that brand was a foreign manufacture. Thank-you for correcting me.
Yes, pleased to report that they are still of USA manufacture. Although owned by Case IH Corporation (old JI Case), which is owned by Fiat, now-a-days. Case adopted IH's red after acquiring International Harvester's bankruptcy assets, replacing it's former orange and tan colors - - - quite visually appealing !
Great catch! I wonder if they are still building them at the old Harvester plant in Melrose Park, IL?
@mark s posted:Yes, pleased to report that they are still of USA manufacture. Although owned by Case IH Corporation (old JI Case), which is owned by Fiat, now-a-days. Case adopted IH's red after acquiring International Harvester's bankruptcy assets, replacing it's former orange and tan colors - - - quite visually appealing !
Maybe now thinking, I could have been thinking of those monster Deutz Tractors (green). I see a great deal of those on the farms south of Rochester. Yes, I miss the Case "Orange". There was a farmer near us in Caledonia that ran Minneapolis-Moline, and they were a similar color to the Case if I remember correctly. Enough of reminiscing of my farm days. Back to running my toy trains.
Always got a kick out of the Minneapolis-Moline nick-name - - - "Minni-Mo" !
Minneaplis-Moline was bought by White Motor Corp in the '60's and became a component of White Farm Equipment Co.
Frank T - The Melrose Park faciity is a Navistar truck engine mfg and parts depot. Sadly, see they're closing the facility in Nov, a victim of changing market trends away from diesel trucks to electric. Or so they say.....
Cool pic! 
They are nice tractors!
ripping a hay field for crop rotation I love when I get to be on a tractor I like Deere first but these case steigers are a real close 2nd
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Sparty - I know the wheeled tractor's function, but what is the tractor with treads used for?
Here’s something heading to a different type of farm. I caught this on the CN line near Crest Hill, IL?. Back in December 2020. Sorry it’s through my car window.
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Frank T - Yes, a different form of farming ! Wind farming. My gosh, those propellers are enormous, looks like something from a science fiction film. Good catch. Presume these will be located out in the ocean? Spotted in Crest Hill (near Joliet); will keep an eye out for them. Would they also be on the old EJ&E line to Leithton/Mundelein from Joliet? Where did they originate?
Yes thats the old EJ&E line heads through Plainfield. Not sure who makes them, will have to do some research. Thanks for the heads up on the Navistar plant.
@mark s posted:Sparty - I know the wheeled tractor's function, but what is the tractor with treads used for?
Tractors with treads are used for the same function as tractors with wheels. Just different method of traction. I believe that some think the treads produce better traction than wheels, especially in muddy conditions, but I am not a farmer and am not sure. I know that one can also find treads on bobcat type loaders.
@mark s posted:Sparty - I know the wheeled tractor's function, but what is the tractor with treads used for?
@Nation Wide Lines posted:Tractors with treads are used for the same function as tractors with wheels. Just different method of traction. I believe that some think the treads produce better traction than wheels, especially in muddy conditions, but I am not a farmer and am not sure. I know that one can also find treads on bobcat type loaders.
It does produce better traction. The big thing, though, is that the contact patch of the tread is significantly larger than that of the tire so soil compaction is reduced. Also, they are more maneuverable and provide better stability.
CC Guy and NW Lines: Thank you for the thoughtful responses to my question! Stability is a major issue I would imagine, as safety on the farm is a problem. Farming is a high injury work-place, statistically.
Well, I was going to say:
In the OP's picture, the machinery on the right (with wheels) is not a tractor; it is a front-end loader (absent the front-end part which might be on another car). Now, you might be able to attach something to it in the rear and pull it, but that doesn't make it a tractor. The machine on the left also does not appear to be a tractor in the sense that it would have to make very wide turns in a field or yard due to the nature of its propulsion, making it nearly useless for planting or reaping. I would guess that the machine on the left is some type of special-purpose equipment.
Then I went and looked at the company's website. There, both pieces of equipment are labeled as tractors and appear to be used in farming, much to my surprise. Amazing what you can learn on the internet. I do believe, though, that Caterpillar and others market similar equipment with the wheels as front-end loaders.
Chuck
@PRR1950 posted:Well, I was going to say:
In the OP's picture, the machinery on the right (with wheels) is not a tractor; it is a front-end loader (absent the front-end part which might be on another car). Now, you might be able to attach something to it in the rear and pull it, but that doesn't make it a tractor. The machine on the left also does not appear to be a tractor in the sense that it would have to make very wide turns in a field or yard due to the nature of its propulsion, making it nearly useless for planting or reaping. I would guess that the machine on the left is some type of special-purpose equipment.
Then I went and looked at the company's website. There, both pieces of equipment are labeled as tractors and appear to be used in farming, much to my surprise. Amazing what you can learn on the internet. I do believe, though, that Caterpillar and others market similar equipment with the wheels as front-end loaders.
Chuck
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you’re looking at them incorrectly. The rear ends are facing each other. Also, both of them articulate in the center and make very tight turns.
Check this out: https://youtu.be/0Zh3OBxh8Po
Coca cola Guy is right about the soil compaction issue, plus better flotation over wetter soils and, believe it or not, a smoother ride.
I had a Steiger many years ago before being sold to Case. You had the option of Cummins or Cat power and auto or standard transmission. They came in three models, the cougar, the panther and the Tiger. The one I had was powered by a Cummins and had either a 20 speed or 16 speed transmission - it's been a few years so I'm not sure about which is right. They were a very comfortable machine, which is important when you spend 10 to 12 hours a day in them, and had plenty of power. Unfortunately, the planetary gears and wheels were of a poor design and I kept loosing the outside duals. I'm sure that problem has been corrected many years ago.
I went from Steigers to Versatiles, which were owned by Ford at the time, and never looked back. I was running Versatiles when I retired and sold things off 11 years ago.
As an aside, the John Deere dealer in Akron was one of their largest volume sellers of air seeders and they would often come in on flatcars - quite a sight.
Those wind turbine blades are manufactured south of Brighton, Colorado and you can get a very good view of them loaded and ready to roll from highway 85.
Coca Cola Guy is right, they're loaded butt to butt. The outside duals for the wheeled tractor will be installed after it's off loaded.
@mark s posted:Sparty - I know the wheeled tractor's function, but what is the tractor with treads used for?
As others have said tracks offer better floatation and less compaction. However tires typically give better traction and more power to ground. Ride typically can be smoother on tracks.
a 38’ kraus disc with dual rolling baskets. This rig can cover some acres. About 26 acres an hour, more like 20 though with turning around and headland
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Pulling with Case Steiger 485 HP
Mark S,
International Harvester never went bankrupt,after they divested all the division except truck and engine they changed the name to Navistar. They will soon be bought by Volkswagen.
Gunny
I've been watch the Virtual Railfan channel on Youtube. There is just something relaxing about watching trains roll through places I've never been. You also get to see some really cool stuff. Those turbine blades are a pretty cool catch!
Gunny - You're right, IH never went bankrupt, but only by the skin of their teeth. A long UAW strike left them with no cash. Then the mgrs sold off chunks of the business - before the barbarians crashed through the gates. The early 1980's was a tough time for farm equipment manufacturers. White Farm Eqpt went bankrupt in '82, Massey Ferguson and Allis Chalmers struggled to survive, as well as IH.
the tractor on the right is not a front end loader. It is simply an articulated 4wd tractor of considerable horsepower. Last couple of years, UP hauled a ton of those big blades, turbines, and support poles into the yard in Norfolk Ne. The offshoot of UP there is the Nebraska Central RR. A branch line taken over from UP. Comes up out of Columbus Ne. Neb. Central has quite a bit of traffic to feed into the UP main. Scrap metal to Nucor steel, Lumber. Ethanol, steel and unit grain trains coming back to the main. The wind turbines being a bonus. It repaints its power units from the UP fleet. From the flat cars, two huge cranes are used to unload and move parts to lines of storage. Then reload onto long trucks with steerable rear axles to the fields for set up. Try getting those around a roundabout or to make a turn. Ties up traffic pretty good. Takes a flat and a half to haul one.
@mark s posted:Steiger Tractors are made in Fargo, ND. Nice to see farm equipment still being shipped by rail.
Good prototype load to model.
Nice to see that.
I've seen pretty sizable consists of both Deere and CNH equipment heading south to, I believe, the Port of Wilmington or the Port of Baltimore for export.
Last one was both large row crop tractors and combines of both mfrs in the same train; the equipment with duals had the outside duals strapped to the flat cars.
Have to dig up the photos.
@Nation Wide Lines posted:Tractors with treads are used for the same function as tractors with wheels. Just different method of traction. I believe that some think the treads produce better traction than wheels, especially in muddy conditions, but I am not a farmer and am not sure. I know that one can also find treads on bobcat type loaders.
And on tanks. That's because they produce more traction, in all ground conditions.
I saw several flatcars carrying John Deere tractors a couple months ago. It was indeed nice to see these loads still shipping.
Speaking of older tractors, I have some acquaintances who operate a sizable dairy farm operation in northern Wisconsin, and they have 4 old Oliver tractors. They maintain and repair the tractors themselves, and told me they still perform very well.
Oliver was acquired by White Motor Corporation, as a component of White Farm Equipment Co. The other components were Minneapolis-Moline and Cockshutt of Canada. Great old names in the farm equipment industry - an industry that participated in making America.
Only tractor l have driven was my grandfather's orange Case, hauling a manure spreader over a field on his dairy farm. Before gas tractors Case had built steam tractors and automobiles. Not thrilled to learn they will be sold out of country. Never had heard of Steiger, and have attended farm tractor shows, always interested in less known brands: Cockshutt and others more obscure. I have a model ranch supply, that is a Case dealer.
my buddy last week on a Steiger. The originals before case bought them
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On YouTube search for "Welker Farms". They are in Montana with three "Big Buds".
Dan Weinhold
Sparty - Cool footage of the big Steiger at work. Not only powerful enough to pull the tillage implement, but could have pulled the farm house down, simultaneously! Loved the articulation at work!
Sleep - Welker Farms has enough monster equipment to cultivate most of the State of Montana! Hard to imagine doing same with a horse and a plow. Most impressive!
