1. Where is your dealer at? I know there is Steiner in Johnson City TN.... Ventrac in Huntington WV... Both seem closer to you than 280 miles each way....
2. YES Have rolled with duals.... Join the Ventrac group on FB I want a Ventrac one day Seems like I saw 2 pictures of upside down Steiners with duals.... To me, you have to be REALLY stupid to roll one with duals... My Ventrac is stable until long after my ***** says steep enough... and I'd guess I'm over 30 degrees. Best way to tackle steep is to go straight up and straight down it....
3. I see you are set on Steiner.... I was too until I used my brothers new (3 year old now) 440... Not too impressed... Paid the extra for Ventrac, really happy, no real service issues (clogged hydro filter when I got the new FINE filter and the old change at 1000 hours sticker (mine should have been change at 100 or 250 and every 500 after that). The belt tension adjuster loosened up some at 450 hours...(5 minute fix).
You may want to look at the comparison I wrote... My brothers attitude is that Steiner needs a lot of constant fiddling, adjusting, etc and he's happy with that Every time I've ran it (his has under 200 hours now)... Something has loosened up and fell off or came out of adjustment. Control layout on Steiner is difficult to use with 3 levers... To me foot controls for the hydro would be a problem with steep hills ... Going down hill you need to put your feet on the pegs and push back into the seat so you are not hanging off the belt. Easier to use a hand to control the tractor.... Several other things I brought up...
Found it and copied here.... Good luck with your new tractor...
My brother has a Steiner 440, I've got a Ventrac 4500Y. Both diesels, his is 3 years old, mine is 2 years old....
If you don't want to read farther, they are at best COUSINS. The Ventrac although it costs more is a much better machine...
So far on the Ventrac I've had no mechanical issues... Steiner got center universal joint (the one that holds the front and back halves of the tractor together) replaced at 75 hours under warranty. I asked the Ventrac dealer and he said they may get loose after 5000 hours, they have never replaced one... Steiner's mower "shook" loose and was pretty much falling apart. Resulting in taking it apart and putting it back together with locktight. Ventrac mowers (I have 3 of them too Rough Cut, Flex, and convential) not a problem... Steiner had gas cap problems. Too much powder coating or paint on the threads of the tank, cap doesn't fit and leaks. Ventrac has plastic tank cap fits...
Hooking drive belt to mower... Ventrac put belt on pulley and push rod in. Steiner has some adjustments on it, brother is always fiddling with it to keep tension correct, I've never done that on Ventrac. Brother also complains that pulleys are out of alignment and belts wear fast (30 to 40 hours per belt) and come off on occasion... Ventrac same belt on lawn finishing mower for 200 hours, never came off. Belt came off rough cut once when LOTS of debris fouled it. I've never bought a belt for the Ventrac... Brother also adjusts the front hitch on the Steiner a lot. I've never adjusted the hitch on the Ventrac .... HOWEVER to make hooking up easier I lightly grease the arms on the tractor so it slides easier (I'd so the same on the Steiner).
Because the Ventrac is larger, there is some room to get at the radiator to clean grass off it after taking debris screen out Steiner has 1 to 2" less space to work in.....
I'm fairly sure the Steiner is painted (I could well be wrong). Ventrac and attachments are POWDER COATED.... Amazing ... That stuff is tough. We had a creek overflow. I spent 60 hours hauling 2 dumptruck loads of material (mostly gravel) out of the yard with the scoop... Bottom of scoop was strarting to show some wear on the powder coat. Inside is was scuffed some, but still Powder Coat wasn't damaged....
I understand that there are SOME differences in attachments. I've read that the pulley size on the Steiners and Ventracs are different and there are "gearing" problems if you use the attachments on the other brands. I'd assume they work, maybe not work as well...
Ergonomics... No comparison. ventrac is a bit larger and controls better laid out. Foot hydro control on Steiner isn't as easy to use as hand control on Ventrac. Hand control on Steiner gives it way too many levers to be searching for.... Ventrac has front fenders which keep crap off you in wet weather, Steiner does not. Ventrac has foot pegs on front fenders (Steiner does not)... Pegs come in handy coming down hill, so you can stand on them and not be hanging off the seatbelt... Also you can stretch out some mowing straight lines...
Weight transfer... Ventrac STD, Steiner Option.... I see no reason to have it as an option.... Its something I didn't understand until I forgot to engage it when I took the mower off once.... Machine really slides down hill sideways with weight transfer off... I was using Steiner to cut around buildings at Mom's farm... I slid into a garage and couldn't hardly "crab" the tractor to get away from the side of the building. Never would have happened on Ventrac... If you choose Steiner, GET WEIGHT TRANSFER....
Mower roller.... Both have a metal roller on the back of the finishing lawn mowers..... BUT Ventrac has hard plastic rollers on the ends. Steiner has no plastic, but metal straight to the end of the roll. When you get mower at an angle with part of mower over a concrete driveway or sidewalk, the Steiner cuts in to the concrete marking it. The Ventrac doesn't hurt it at all. Plastic hits the concrete and doesn't mark it...
Generally the way the Steiner is laid out is haphazard, you need to look under the hoods of both to see how the wiring and hoses are routed and front hydraulics are set up. Ventrac has more thought in them..... Mower height adjustment is better on Ventrac. Just look at the mowers, Ventrac grab an arm and put it in a slot. Steiner is a bit more, but has square tubing on the top of the mower to transfer the adjustment to the right side. Tubing that collects debris, can get bent, has bolts to loosen (locktite them)... The design under the mower is another thing. Steiner really collects grass clippings, its pretty much a scrape it every 8 hours or so... I scrape the Ventrac for 2 minutes every 50 hours or so... Different design...
Engine.. We both bought diesels.... kubota 902 is used in about everything... Very good engine. It only needs fuel and air to run, so no spark plugs, no ignition parts of real "tuning"... Change the oil and it works. They have less power than the air cooled engines or gas engines. Difference is marginal. I've never ran out of power, sometimes mowing up a steep slope, I ave to pull the hydro back a bit to keep the RPMs up (I live in WV and everything here has hill, some is really steep)... I don't run it wide open (3400RPM) I run at about 3000 RPM.... Maybe it may cut a bit better at a higher speed, but it has to extend engine life out.. I would get another diesel and recommend to anyone to get one....
HINTS...
SAFETY...... KEEP Weight on FRONT OF TRACTOR.... (applies to both). Its not an ATV, DO NOT GO UP HILL WITHOUT A MOWER OR BLADE ON IT. It can easily flip over backwards... I had the seeder on the back of mine with no mower and going up a slope it was balanced on the rear wheels.... KEEP WEIGHT ON THE FRONT, a mower is 500 pounds and worth having on at all times... WEAR THE SEATBELT and keep the ROLL BAR UP...
If you use the VENTRAC seeder, its LOW to the ground... I have one of those hitches that raises the receiver about 2 inches (Dual Hitch extender from Harbor Freight)... Helps a lot keeping it from hitting the ground....
Dual Hitch Extender
On a Ventrac if you don't use it for about 2 weeks, the computer goes to sleep. Engine is dead... Before you test interlocks, you simply turn the battery off with a the switch by your left shin under the seat and give it 30 seconds and turn it back on.
Bottom line, they are similar. There is a $4000 or so price difference. If you are going to keep it for many years, get the Ventrac.... Much better made and thought out.... If you want to save some money, get the Steiner, but be prepared to be disappointed sometimes....
Any questions, ask me...
Mark H
