There’s more to the story of last week’s review of the book, “Red 4WD Tractors” than I could fit in that space. The writing of that book review closed out an interesting few days for me that began with a trip to Fargo, North Dakota, for the introduction of John Deere’s new seeding tools in nearby Valley City.
As a boy, I knew Fargo was the home of Steiger tractors. My father had an old Steiger Bearcat, which was one of the first tractors I drove. Although several years old and well-used by the time he acquired it, the Bearcat was a dramatic improvement over the Case 930 it replaced.
I became a Steiger fan, reading as much as I could about the company and its founders, Jonathan Steiger and his sons, Maurice and Douglas. I would have loved to tour the Steiger manufacturing plant in Fargo while it still churned out the chartreuse-colored tractors. That era has passed, but I didn’t want to miss out on a tour of the new plant, now owned by CNH.
Fortunately, CNH officials permitted me to stop by. I met engineer Brian Vik and tractor specialist Mike Molldrem. The company builds red Steiger and blue New Holland four wheel drive tractors, plus articulated front loaders bearing the names of both brands. The amount of raw material that comes in one end of the plant, and leaves as new machines at the other is staggering. In 2016, more than 31,000 tons of raw steel was used—more than any other CNH plant in North America. A combination of automated punches, presses, shears and sheet metal brakes, robot and human welders quickly turn this steel into parts used to build these impressive machines.
As we went from one end of the building to the other, I could only imagine what the plant was like when Steiger was in its pre-CNH heyday.
Seemingly reading my mind, Molldrem said there are still employees from the Steiger days working at this plant. “The Steiger legacy is very strong here,” he said.
Indeed, one of my lasting impressions from the plant is a statement painted on an overhead crane near the end of the assembly line: “The world’s best four wheel drive tractors are built right here.”
A trip to Bonanzaville
In passing, Molldrem had told me he was able to drive the very first Steiger tractor ever made. Nicknamed “Barney” because it was built in a converted dairy barn on the Steigers’ farm near Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, in the late 1950s, Steiger No. 1 is housed at Bonanzaville, a museum just outside of Fargo and on the road to the Deere event Valley City. I had to schedule a stop.
Unfortunately for me, “Barney” is in the middle of an off-site restoration. However, Kaci Johnson, the nice lady at Bonanzaville who answered my call, told me that Steiger No. 4 was located at the museum. Would I like to see it?
She didn’t have to ask twice.
Kaci and I slogged through 5 inches of melting snow and muck to get to the farm equipment building on this wonderful property, and there it was: No. 4, a Model 105, built in 1960, powered by a 118-horsepower Detroit Diesel engine.
I marveled at the tractor and some of the artifacts in the building. After a few photos of No. 4 and a Steiger Cougar housed next to it, Kaci explained that the restoration of Steiger No. 1 had run into some snags. There aren’t many parts available to rebuild the 426-cubic-inch GM diesel engine (which the Steigers had originally salvaged out of an Allis Chalmers dozer).
Despite the challenges, Kaci and her colleague, Missy Warren, tell me that the restoration of this much loved tractor will continue until complete, after which it will return to Bonanzaville.
So much history in a short trip. I can’t wait to go back.
Bill Spiegel can be reached at 785-587-7796 or [email protected].
