# What we use at work



## gtrzfan (Jun 19, 2008)

2010 F250 - 7.6 Western Ultramount - Pro Flo 2

2008 Steiner 430MAX w/ V plow, Straight plow, Bucket

Not too bad for a Nursing Home!


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## schmol (Nov 30, 2008)

That's a really sweet looking tractor! looks like a real brute wesport


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## CGM Inc. (Dec 15, 2008)

We run a Steiner too!


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## gtrzfan (Jun 19, 2008)

Yes it is!! Amazing what that thing can do. Never gets stuck either, at least for me it never has been.


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## STIHL GUY (Sep 22, 2009)

its good that the tractor has a cab on it too to keep the wind off you


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## gtrzfan (Jun 19, 2008)

Cedar, this is the third one the facility has owned. Thinking of trying out a Ventrac next year. All attachments swap over so it would only be the price of the tractor.


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## gtrzfan (Jun 19, 2008)

Stihl, I've worked here for 7 years and we have only had the cab for the last two. What an incredible difference with it on there.


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## CGM Inc. (Dec 15, 2008)

gtrzfan;1171934 said:


> Cedar, this is the third one the facility has owned. Thinking of trying out a Ventrac next year. All attachments swap over so it would only be the price of the tractor.


My buddy and I share a lot of the attachements year round. His dad has a Ventrac.....very big and bulky versus the steiner! Steiner is coming out with a new design as well.


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## wahlturfcare (Oct 24, 2005)

i have use a steiner before with a cab for plowing and love em. the v plow on them is the way to go.
The only thing i dont like is if you hit something like a buried fire hydrant, the seat belt sucks.


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## Dan85 (Oct 14, 2008)

gtrzfan;1171934 said:


> Cedar, this is the third one the facility has owned. Thinking of trying out a Ventrac next year. All attachments swap over so it would only be the price of the tractor.


Does the Steiner articulate?

We run two Ventracs, it's a nice advantage to have them articulate. However, as the above poster mentioned, they are pretty bulk for some sidewalks.

Also, the cabs on the Ventracs get exceptionally hot, even in the winter, since all the engine heat gets blown through the cab. We had quite a few bugs with our machines too, though we did buy them used. Most of the problems were electrical - the machine would just die in the middle of the walk or would not restart, even with a jump. Sometimes it eats attachment belts for seemingly no reason. Now one has developed a 'lurch' that when you have it in high or low gear at neutral, it will move. When you put it in park, you can hear the engine/transmission trying to push the machine. Oh yeah, bought a brand new brush and the hydo pump was no good, so the brush would spin but would stop anytime you put pressure on it, even in float.

Anyways, we had a few issues but you should check them out. I saw the new glass canopy they have come out with, looks nice, but I bet it will be a greenhouse in the winter sun!

Best of luck!


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## gtrzfan (Jun 19, 2008)

Cedar, I just checked out the website and boy have they dropped products. Only have the 430 and 235 now. Is the new design you mentioned the 235? Luckily the bulkier size of Ventrac won't affect us if we do go with them. 

Wahl, yeah that does suck. Problem we have is wearing the center shoe out constantly. We usually end up catching a manhole cover or the sewer cover. Changed the glass windshield to Lexan because we had a guy go head first into it and shatter it. Not cool!

Dan, yes the Steiner is articulating. Good to know about the cab, thanks! We are having some electric issues with our Steiner right now. Battery keeps dying, checked and tried everything. Ended up being the regulator. Changed it and was good for 5 months then once cab went back on for winter and amber light hooked up the trouble came back.


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## Cutter1 (Jul 28, 2000)

I'm dying for a ventrac. I ran one over the summer and love the idea of a year round machine. I was so impressed with the ability on hills. It will be nice in the winter also. I will have one!!! Missed a real nice one in the fall. Had everything on it. Dual wheels, cab, plow, mower, v blade. Low hours and a diesel. Missed it by a day!!


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## Dan85 (Oct 14, 2008)

I dug up a photo of ours, we use a blower and a broom. The Broom is absolutely fantastic, if you do go for this machine, definitely pick up a broom - you won't regret it.


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## gtrzfan (Jun 19, 2008)

That sucks! Hate when I miss out on deals too


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## gtrzfan (Jun 19, 2008)

Dan, that is a sweet macine! We talked about a broom but were undecided. Really think its worth it then? The snow blower would be a bad option for us. Way too many windows and cars within range of freak accidents. Lol


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## Dan85 (Oct 14, 2008)

If you are just using a plow blade to clear snow, then you will definitely love the broom! Anything like 2-3" and under, just hook the broom up and it will clear it down to bare pavement. Your salt usage should drop too. Obviously if people have been walking on the snow it won't clear 100%. 

One nice thing about the Ventrac is that you can take the control lever, kick it all the way out to the right and that will put the attachment in float position, so no need to constantly adjust. If you need a little more pressure, you use the control lever to put some down pressure on the attachment.

The only drawback is, if you angle the broom it wears on one side more than the other. Also, it will fling mud/dirt/grass if you get off the sidewalk. 

I would ask the dealer if you could demo a broom, If they're going to sell you this machine they should have no problem letting you demo a broom for a week. There are a few guys who run Ventracs on this site, one guy is head maintenance for casino/resort and he has several machines, so I would ask around here too. I think it's definitely worth the money for a broom.


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## Matson Snow (Oct 3, 2009)

Steiner/Ventrac are great little Machines Very Versitile...The Steiner Brothers sold out to then Ransomes in 1988...They had to wait 10 years then they formed Ventrac...A company i was with many years ago had 5 Steiners and they were Great.....


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## Matson Snow (Oct 3, 2009)

gtrzfan;1172249 said:


> Dan, that is a sweet macine! We talked about a broom but were undecided. Really think its worth it then? The snow blower would be a bad option for us. Way too many windows and cars within range of freak accidents. Lol


The Broom option works Great...The Light Fluffy Snow is No Problem.....The Heavyer Wet Snow you just Bust out the "V" or Straight Blade......This is a Great Sidewalk Machine


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## EXR (Apr 1, 2009)

We run a smaller 3000 series ventrac with a 42" blower and cab. 
We couldn't run our sidewalk crew without it.
21hp kawi does a great job.


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## gtrzfan (Jun 19, 2008)

Dan, just realized you are only in Buffalo! Lol Have to go to the airport on the 3rd. You deal with Messinger's? Just wondered if there were any closer dealers than an hour and a half away that might not be listed on Ventrac site.


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## afalk (Feb 18, 2008)

Dan85 is right ventrac is what we use here at Turning Stone Resort. Brooms, snowblowers, mowers, v-blades, stump grinders, trenchers, and a trunk pump are the attachments that we have and there are many more that I would like to get. Please feel free to PM me to get some more info on how they work for us. Also with the new cabs there is a heat control so you don't heat up as bad as the older style.


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## CGM Inc. (Dec 15, 2008)

gtrzfan;1172135 said:


> Cedar, I just checked out the website and boy have they dropped products. Only have the 430 and 235 now. Is the new design you mentioned the 235? Luckily the bulkier size of Ventrac won't affect us if we do go with them.
> 
> Wahl, yeah that does suck. Problem we have is wearing the center shoe out constantly. We usually end up catching a manhole cover or the sewer cover. Changed the glass windshield to Lexan because we had a guy go head first into it and shatter it. Not cool!
> 
> Dan, yes the Steiner is articulating. Good to know about the cab, thanks! We are having some electric issues with our Steiner right now. Battery keeps dying, checked and tried everything. Ended up being the regulator. Changed it and was good for 5 months then once cab went back on for winter and amber light hooked up the trouble came back.


Yep, 235 is the new "inverted" design motor is in the back now I believe.
My buddy runs a 430 like we do with a 5' deck and can get everywhere he needs to vs his father with the Ventrac and 5' deck is chopping up everything due to size and poor visibility out front. The hood is so high you don't see what you are doing.


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## gtrzfan (Jun 19, 2008)

Afalk, I will be taking you up on that shortly, thanks!

Cedar, I don't know if I like the new style or not. I understand what you mean about the hood. The one I saw up close looked like it was quite a bit higher.


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## shott8283 (Feb 17, 2008)

afalk;1172344 said:


> Dan85 is right ventrac is what we use here at Turning Stone Resort. Brooms, snowblowers, mowers, v-blades, stump grinders, trenchers, and a trunk pump are the attachments that we have and there are many more that I would like to get. Please feel free to PM me to get some more info on how they work for us. Also with the new cabs there is a heat control so you don't heat up as bad as the older style.


you work for turning stone? I was just out that this past summer for the chiefs show. really nice place!

when i worked for the hospital we had a kubota with a broom on the front of it, it was either that or a steiner , they went with the kubota b/c it had an AC and heated cab.

after a year using it with the broom the CEO said to stop using it b.c the wheels were wider then the sidewalks and was tearing up the land scaping.

now all they use it for is to load the salters with the bucket and mow in the summer.

idiots.


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## CGM Inc. (Dec 15, 2008)

to move trailers around


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## coldcoffee (Jul 17, 2008)

Those Steiners are great machines. Back in the mid 80's when I was in vocational school, doing landscape hort., we had an articulating hydrostatic machine w/ a huge mowing deck and a dump body. It was kinda boring to me, but no kidding...they let the dumbest of the dumb kids run it most of the time, mainly because the thing was bullet proof and it was hard for them to get hurt on it. Just one lever for forward and reverse. No matter what they did to it, it just kept on going. If I had a lot of walks to do, at least 4' wide...I'd probably be looking for one of these machines. I'm not sure why, but I hardly see them around anymore. Don't think I've seen Ventract either.


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## CGM Inc. (Dec 15, 2008)

coldcoffee;1174111 said:


> Those Steiners are great machines. Back in the mid 80's when I was in vocational school, doing landscape hort., we had an articulating hydrostatic machine w/ a huge mowing deck and a dump body. It was kinda boring to me, but no kidding...they let the dumbest of the dumb kids run it most of the time, mainly because the thing was bullet proof and it was hard for them to get hurt on it. Just one lever for forward and reverse. No matter what they did to it, it just kept on going. If I had a lot of walks to do, at least 4' wide...I'd probably be looking for one of these machines. I'm not sure why, but I hardly see them around anymore. Don't think I've seen Ventract either.


Steiner got bought by Ventrac a while back. Don't think Steiner has built machines past 2003 or 2004. Ventrac is higher end and more $$$ but everything is interchangable between the two. The name Steiner and the design/patents have been bought recently I believe by the steiner family and the start building Steiner machines again and come out with new designs. The 235 is only 2WD which sucks


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## coldcoffee (Jul 17, 2008)

I had no idea, thanks for the info.


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## goatboy1 (Nov 8, 2009)

and that little "thing" costs about 40K (hope you can make it to that old follks home).


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## goatboy1 (Nov 8, 2009)

Cedar Grounds;1174169 said:


> Steiner got bought by Ventrac a while back. Don't think Steiner has built machines past 2003 or 2004. Ventrac is higher end and more $$$ but everything is interchangable between the two. The name Steiner and the design/patents have been bought recently I believe by the steiner family and the start building Steiner machines again and come out with new designs. The 235 is only 2WD which sucks


back in the 90's I dealt with an outfit that sold (amongst other makes) Steiner in B.C , Canada.Owner kept peddling them to golf courses,municipalities and cemeteries up and down the province for years.with some success. When the sons took over they did not know how to sell it and that was the end of Steiner in B.C...What I mean to say that some tools indeed are way better then others but if the service,the sale know how and upgrading is not there...even the best tool is at best left alone...


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## turfman59 (Nov 18, 2008)

Wouldnt a Tool Cat have been a better choice?


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