Steiger Part 2
No. 3 in the "4WD Tractor Pioneers" series by Peter D Simpson and Toy Farmer magazine. DVD, approx 68 minutes. NOW IN STOCK at Old Pond Publishing, £16.95.
The programme interweaves two Steiger archive films of 1974 and 1977 with filming and interviews from 2008 to show the second half of Steiger's life. There's footage of a Tiger, claimed to be one of the oldest Steigers still at work. Farmer Roy Bultman talks about and demonstrates the Wildcat he has owned since 1981.
After more archive featuring Steigers at work with sugar cane and rice we move on to Series II machines, watching a Cougar and Wildcat working together with chisels and discs. Then a Panther goes through its paces rolling. This is big-field work with big implements.
North Dakota salesman Warren Rust tells us what it was like to sell these machines. Besides their power and good weight distribution, he valued their durability, good trade value, dependability and the ease with which you could get to the engine for repairs.
More Steigers in action: two 9180s, the last to be painted Steiger green, and a Puma, the smallest of the Steiger clan, introduced in 1986. Ben McIntyre of BTP (Big Tractor Parts) talks about the insatiable demand for Steiger parts worldwide and how his company reverse engineers to be able to supply them.
Some account is given of Steiger's many alliances, with footage of Ford FW-30s at work and stills of rare machines, including the one prototype of the high-horsepower two-wheel drive tractor. The mechanic cried when he took it apart.
More archive deals with Steiger's yellow days, with industrial machines pulling scrapers.
The programme brings the story up to date with a look at the STX range and the benefits of Quadtrac design.
"A farm boy - he wanted Steigers. That's all he wanted. Steigers."
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