Ventrac 4500 vs Steiner 440

[Bearsden]

Hi. First post here.

I'm a member of the Maintenance Committee in a gated community in West Virginia. We cover 2,700 acres with about 26 miles of roads, 500 acres of common conservancy areas and two good size lakes with dams.

We have an old Husqvarna riding mower which is sorely in need of replacement. In addition to simple grass mowing we would like a product that would be able to take on some chores that we have been contracting out, such as mowing the dams and parts of the conservancy areas. We also want to use it for mowing hiking trails and blowing ditches in the Fall.

Our Maintenance Staff has done the research and have come up with what they want which is the Ventrac, as follows:

• 4500K Tractor
• 4500K Accessories Kit
• Dual Wheel Kit with standard all terrain tires
• Slope Indicator
• Side Discharge Mower
• Tough Cut Mower
• Tough Cut Swivel Wheel Kit
• Turbine Blower
• Slope Indicator

Another member has popped out of the woodwork and wants us to also look at Steiner due to his supposedly bad experience with Ventrac while director of a nursing home complex.

We are being told that we would better off with an air cooled engine vs water cooled due to the frequency of the radiator being easily clogged from a lot of mowing. We are also being told that the available diesel is quite a bit underpowered.

Comparing the two, they are quite similar, but with subtle differences. One thing that really jumped out was the advertising or lack thereof when it came to slope mowing. Ventrac seems to have a ton of both text and videos on the subject with no real mention made by or about Steiner. Ventrac has a Slope Indicator as an option, but couldn't find such for Steiner. Ventrac seems to be about 7" wider with the dual wheels. Steiner is offering a bit more HP on their air cooled with the Kohler engines.

Any thoughts, experiences, comments or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To the forum from Alabama. I don't have any experience with these but I am sure the people who do will help you out.

 

[murphy1244]

I have the "under powered" Kubota Diesel and I have yet to find it lacking. I use the Snow Blower and shoot snow 30' easy. I cut 5 acres of grass weekly with the 60" side discharge mower. I have no complaints on this machine at all. I was lucky enough to test drive them both as my dealer sold both. Steiner was having control problems at that time. If I was to go gas I would go with the Kawasaki engine.

 

[dunebuggy55]

Welcome, I too have the kubota diesel. I cut around three acres weekly with a 72" side discharge deck,plow four drivewaysof snow , plow my garden, till my garden,move materials around my property with the slip scoop, and building a set of forks to move other things around.I tried the Steiner as my dealer sells both and like some of the features on the ventrac better. the belt tensioner is awesome as with the weight transfer lever. the Ventrac has SDLA controls that make it really fast as to moving the machine forward and backward and being able to raise the attachments up and down with out moving your hand from one lever to the other .I also have the 3pt hitch on mine that I use a lot for different things. The oil cooler is reversible by just flipping a switch and blows heat into my cab. This is all a personal preference of which machine you like.I have had mine a year and a half and have had Zero problems.

 

[Raw Dodge]

The Steiner 440 seems to be slightly longer than Ventrac ...not sure about the duals being available on it. I can tell you a steiner 420/430 with duals is just as capable as a ventrac on side hills ,I can't speak for the 440...I tend to agree about the liquid cooled engines especially when using mowing decks, the radiators tend to quickly draw in the grass especially dry grass on an afternoon cut...the other side is the air cooled engines will need there screens cleaned too and blown out often,either way neglected maintenance and daily cleanings will result in overheating and engine damage.This is more of an operator issue,and training issue. I think the kubota diesel is plenty powerful as long as your not trying to run the 84 inch deck and are willing to slow down a tad as needed.

 

[BKBrown]

I have had 2 4231 Gas Liquid Cooled Ventrac Tractors with zero real problems with over 1,500 hours - I would not worry about radiator clogging - there is a good screen that takes less than a minute to remove and shake out. The Ventrac is heavy duty commercial quality and I would go with the Kawasaki Gas if you are doing slopes (it is rated for continuous duty on 30 degree slopes) My neighbor has the 4500 P (Kawasaki) and loves it. I have heard that the older Steiners were built better and stronger than the new ones. I am partial, but would recommend the Ventrac. Attachments are great and I have never had problems with product support. Look in the other Ventrac Forum posts - I do not believe you will find many negative posts about Ventrac. :thumbsup:

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

I just recently acquired a Ventrac 4500Y. You can read why here. My main reasons for choosing the diesel were the greater weight, the greater dimensional stability of liquid-cooled engines, the longevity of diesel engines, and the lower fuel consumption. The heaviest load that I have placed on the tractor so far is using the rotary broom while moving uphill on a paved driveway with a 14° slope. The tractor fulfilled the task without hesitation or complaint. I am very pleased with my purchase.

I chose the Ventrac over the Steiner for the weight transfer and the SDLA control joysticks.

JJM

JJM

 

[DoubleDeere]

I have the 440 with the deisel. I would say that the power is adequate for it with the 60" finish mower and the Ventrac tough cut mower I use on mine. I also have very hilly terrain. I have the wheel spacers on mine but duals are also available for the Steiner as well. As Raw Dodge stated keep the radiators clean and you will have no problems with them. I bought mine the first year out for the new model and have had several problems. Steiner and my dealer have been excellent about fixing the problems and most of them were repaired with upgrades. I think both the Ventrac and Steiner models have been out long enough that they should have most of the new model bugs worked out ( I hope). JackIL recommended the weight transfer to me and I in turn recommend it also. It makes a big difference with the finish mower on the hills I mean night and day difference. It is an option on the Steiner that can easily be added by yourself later on. I love mine and would buy it again.

 

[Bearsden]

Thanks all for your comments. We'll take them into consideration during our decision making process.

Was hoping to hear more on why Steiner doesn't brag about slope mowing capability.

Another question that just came up was how do either do with the Tough Cut mower in wet conditions? The trails we have to mow do have wet spots.

 

[DoubleDeere]

It will cut wet material fine. I do not have wet spots that I mow with mine. I would think the lack of ground clearance can be an issue with them if the areas are fairly mushy or swampy. Don't know why Steiner does not brag about slope capabilities. They do not have a very informative website either. I did scan a couple pages out of my owners manual about slopes for you.