Steiger 9390

[MossRoad]

<font color=blue>I had no idea how big of a rig he owned until he showed up yesterday and turned in my driveway</font color=blue>

I'm impressed. That's one large rig. Can't wait to see the during and after pictures. Thanks. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Taylortractornut]

Most folks here that get into earth moving say there cheaper to run but I dislike them from past experiences. We took 3 TS14B Terex pans to Oxford Mississippi and a little 10 to 12 yard JD paddle wheel and out paced 6 big Stiegers pulling 2 20 yard pans each. They haul more per trip but wed make several trips to there one. And when they got stuck or hung on a ridge they cant jack the pans down to lift the tractor and steer away from the craters. Ive seen them on a large hill and the ground give way under the back pan and drag the whole train down hill backwards. We finished our cut and fill about 2 months ahead of the tractors. They dont do very well in rocky soil either . A few advantages are alot of them are lower ground pressure, they can travel down the road without permits, dont need a push Cat to push load them. But they re a bugger to trailer I worked with a company that drove there tractor pans 700 miles at a time but over time they saw that tire wear on asphault was very costly. Plus they are hard to back in an area to top load, and hadr to get in to tight spots as a Motor scraper can turn within its own length. And a large motor scraper can have a push pull Bull ring to pair 2 motor scrapers. One scraper loads whilst the othe pushes then the front scraper thats loaded and has better traction pulls the rear not needing a push Cat. This is just my opinion as an operator of both types of scrapers. I like the dedicated motor scraper the best. Take care Taylor Lambert

 

[cstocks]

David,

I can't wait to see the during and after pictures myself!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I am really disappointed that it didn't all get done today. The weather is supposed to be in the 50s and 60s and sunny the next few days so hopefully the ground will dry out enough for him to proceed.

In case anyone is wondering why I went this route instead of the more conventional bulldozer the answer is this. I was quoted as high as $4,500 just to have a 1/4 acre pond built by conventional means and that does not include spreading the dirt around my property. This fella quoted me between $1,500 and $2,000 to dig the pond and do all the dirtwork. I anticipate having to do some finishing work myself with my tractor due to the lumpy, cloddy nature of the wet dirt. But the price is definitely right and for the price I am paying I won't mind coming behind him and smoothing things out!

 

[ScottAR]

As always, tool choice depends on the job. Around here, (AR) the big money in land leveling is mostly in leveling fields for irrigation purposes. So the tractor/pans has some advantages in lower ground pressure, 8wd, no pusher needed, and the towed pans are a little wider making finishing easier. They get drafted to do the other jobs where they may not be perfect, but they are the only thing around.

Btw, that purchase price means big dollars per hour. One outfit that comes out of MO pretty often down here runs 5-6 large Cases with tandem pans billed out at $100 per hour each. They run 24/7; the boss drives each rig while the regular driver eats lunch in the truck.

 

[Thomas]

She is a beast for sure,and I bet that beast would work even better hauling chopper & long high wagon for harvesting autumn corn in mid October when the fields become muddy.

 

[MossRoad]

Wow! That sounds like a pretty good price for a pond.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I am not positive but I think the 9390 had a scraper special model which would explain the price difference. I know the STX 425 and 450 have special scraper packages that consist of different drawbar, heavier axles and I think stronger hydraulics as well as a couple other things I probally forgot. Also, a lot of contractors are using the STX 425 and 450 Quad tracks for scraper tractors because of better traction and flotation as well as a narrower tractor. Here is the page on the NH TJ Sraper tractor. It is basicly the same as the STX but states the differences between the standard farm tractor and Sraper specials.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.newholland.com/na/Products/TJ_scraper.html>http://www.newholland.com/na/Products/TJ_scraper.html</A>

 

[MReeter]

There is a Construction Co. that has just finished the dirtwork on a 6 mile stretch of an additional two lanes of U.S. HWY 36 that had 9 of these same Tractors pulling tandum Reynolds Scrapers.

They moved over 1,000,000 yards of soil (2 lanes across a River bottom plus an access road) in a short amount of time.I would drive by every day,and I was amazed at how much work this set-up could perform.

 

[cstocks]

Here's another picture of the tractor... in action. My pond looks like a sink hole in this picture but it is actually eight feet deep.

 

[cstocks]

This view shows the depth of the pond a little better. Notice the water in the bottom... will give you an idea how wet the ground is.

The tractor and scraper were limited on what could be done on a pond this size. Basically the operator just scooped and scooped until he could go no deeper - in one side and out the other. We want to make the pond deeper and add a little more shape and contour to it so we will try to get a dozer out in the next week or so to finish up the job.