An Intimate Interview with Steiger Tractor Founder Doug Steiger
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- Опубліковано 18 чер 2017
- As a young farmer in NW Minnesota, Doug Steiger had a need for a tractor larger than his IH units. He and his brother decided to build their own four-wheel drive tractor which lead to Steiger Tractor Company in Fargo, MN, and eventually built the IH 4WD tractors after they merged with International Harvester Company. We got the chance to speak to Doug at the 28th National Red Power Round Up in Des Moines, Iowa in June 2017.
In this interview, 84 year-old Doug shares the interesting details of the twists and turns that developed this great company over the years.
See more photos and articles about Steiger Tractors, and see videos and read our stories at HarvesterHeritage.org
The real story.
Not the coffee shop or bar room version.
Fascinating.
Thank you very much.
I'll never forget seeing my first Steiger plowing a field east of Euclid, MN in the early 60's. I pulled the school bus over to the side of the road and and watched for a good half hour. Good thing I had all of the kids off the bus when I saw it.
It’s great that you got this on video. We need to preserve this history.
I worked for Doug & Morris Steiger at the plant in Thief River Falls as a welder. They are great people. Sure miss the farm life!!
I love that story, and Steiger tractors. I enjoyed watching your dad tell it! Thank you
I could listen to story's like this all day these men built America 🇺🇸🇺🇸 as long as these story's are told thay never die
A true legend and a true gentleman 👍👍👍❤
About 1987 to 1989 I got to drive Steiger #1, it was at Town & Ranch Servicenter in Glasgow Montana. I was a mechanic at Town & Ranch.
I also got to mount a blade on the last green Steiger to be built. When it was ordered it was coming in red with number badges.
Our Steiger rep was in one day when Don told the rep that Bill wished that he would have bought it last year so that it would have been green and Lion badged. The rep said that can be done. He went into Don’s office, called Fargo, came out of the office and said that it is green. The rep made a trip to Glasgow when Bill came in to see his Lion. Bill still thought that it was red, you should have seen Bill’s face when he realized that his tractor was green!
The rep said that they painted it the first thing in the morning, every tractor painted red that day had to be repainted because the green bled through the red discoloring the red!
The rep said that Bill’s was the last green Steiger to be built because after that day the codes to paint it green were taken out of the system.
The last green Steiger is about 35 miles northeast of Glasgow, Montana still doing farm work, but it is not the main tractor anymore!
Hello from north east Montana.
10 miles from the Canadian border.
Wow! That to be one of the best stories I have ever heard! This is how America was built! The knowledge, courage, humility, and honesty is just overwhelming. To take a leap of faith like this is amazing in building a company. I could listen to this man for days. I wasn’t aware of this story. Thank you!
could listen to stories from old fellas like this ALL day... wow the knowledge and history two thumbs up
The older people have better story’s then have these younger people I loved hanging out with my grandpa before he pasted in November on the first he told me some stories of working at gladfellters the plant in PA and they are closing just like the IH plant
@@gaugebrady5416 Well the young people lived long enough. Well once the young people get in their 70 and 80s they too will have good stories.
The. @@gaugebrady5416 and
REAL AMERICAN here!! Millennials take notice: This is what you are supposed to act like....
Thank God Doug is STILL alive! He loves to go talk to people about tractors too.
Two Brothers kicks the rear of all the big brands with an army of engineers, mindblowing!
Do more with what you have!
Live your dreams!
you have to understand such massive equipment existed in the first place because of the gold standard and the massive mining operations from the iron ore range in Northern Minnesota as he implies. in order to handle the needs for the US Army from World War 2 on such equipment became a necessity during wartime. To the Steigers' credit they knew a good thing when they had that tho..."and the rest they say is History..
Steiger is still in my oppinion the top ,most well built tractor. Amazing how family members work to build and farm together. As they say you are down to earth, one of those guys id like to listen to about stories from the past.
Thank you so much for sitting down and telling all the amazing history, wonderful interview that made my morning.
Thanks for getting a camera on this guy. I hope more people who have access to anyone from farmers to veterans of earlier generations get a camera on them and get them talking. These people are the greatest asset to future generations and we are losing them and their knowledge all too fast.
I love listening to these older people
People have such short memories. It's important to have these stories documented to keep us from trying to reinvent the wheel every generation.
We own a 1984 KM325 Steiger on our farm in Central Illinois. Great story.
The Greatest Generation!! Such a wonderful example of one of the Titans of Industry. We wanted bigger --so we built it!!
My dad and uncle met the Steiger family back in the sixties. They were originally fabricating dual wheel spacers in the big barn. They considered joining up forces and dad had arranged to have a hangar at the Lethbridge airport for fabrication of tractors. They reconsidered for whatever reason and didn’t go ahead with it. They did however buy a couple of old Wagner 9 tractors and repowered them and installed dual wheels. Everyone thought they were crazy. They worked very well and then they upgraded to newer Wagner units. Then my dad and uncle divided and by then my uncle bought versatile 900 tractors while dad started buying Rite tractors. We saw a lot of iron and each dad and uncle ran 6 respective tractors 🚜. Of 500 plus horsepower in a day when 300 was considered big. Learned an incredible amount about a variety of things. Great people that were ahead of the curve and set the groundwork for the current state of agriculture. I left farming to pursue a steady income and don’t regret the education I gleaned from working with numerous machine companies in research and testing of new systems of farming.
Love sitting down and talking to people like this man. Someone whose integrity was not for sale. Saw a way to do something better and did it and made something in the process but money wasn't the only goal.
I went to that factory in Fargo as a kid, from way down south, got to miss a day of school for it. Like 1980 or 81. I was only 7 or 8
Lived in the area, knew these folks. They were smart and talented. Good people!
Doug is a good guy. A guy I work with from fertile Minnesota, his dad use to run hard with Douglas & Maurice & use to go on service calls with Maurice
That's one awesome guy,, to bad there aren't more like him
Amazing video. Preserving important history in the story of farming. As an old farmer and being in machinery sales, I would call you a good salesman. Honesty, integrity, and being direct with farmers give you respect. When the farmer trusts you, he will buy from you. Farming history preserved.
I grew up around these great tractors. My father sold them for an IH dealer in PA.He sold them in lower Delaware and in Maryland. I have a lot a great memories from thosedays.
We need more leaders like this in the world...down to earth and caring
We have them but they don't get the press as much.
I'm in the process of resurrecting a Series 1 Cougar that's been abandoned in a pasture for I think 10+ years, and it started right up with a new battery. These old tractors were built tough, and made to work. You don't get that today.
Love this video. We need more people like this man in the world today
🇺🇸 I wish I could shake this man's hand, only if the world had alot more men like him.
Yes very true
I have been told he still goes to tractor shows.
I have nothing but admiration for Mr. Steiger, having been involved in three tractor design and building projects in England and one in Africa tenacity is the word that comes to mind, a truly great man a great engineer and a great story.
I could listen to Mr Steiger for an eternity....
Probably one of the greatest stories I've heard in a long long time
I collected the brochures and petitioned my Granddad Donny to get a Steiger for 2 or 3 years.In 1980 he did get one which lasted him until he retired in 1999.Great ride for the all day job.Every day nearly,for the whole of summer.Kansas wheat farming.
Corvette steering wheel!
I ran a panther with powershift..what a machine
What a humble beautiful soul. Love the video thanks for sharing. ❤👍
Very good, and of course that's how it should be done. Doug and his brother - Steigers, some hope, drive, and luck. Shy, modest but formidable.
What a great guy and his story! Like his honesty and sincerity. I could listen to him and his life history all week. Wow, real interesting man!
I love old folks like this they are so interesting to listen to great job 🙂🙂
Thank you for sharing this wonderful video of Mr. Steiger. I still wonderbhow he and his brother learned so much about building tractors.
Steiger Tractors are well known down here in Australia where huge acreages are worked for Cotton,Wheat and canola .Large tractors are needed when the paddocks can cover 10,000 hectares.
what a humble man
Absolutely a wonderful person!
What a great guy. Enjoyed his story.
Lovely to hear you Doug, talking like that. You also have quite a following over on this side of the pond (UK.) The first time I heard the name Steiger was when my brother and I visited a company called Komplex in Hungary in 1970. I had built a front diff lock for their Dutra D4KB, and this visit was a gesture of thanks. I did it for our farm tractor which happened to be the first Dutra in the UK. We had a week tour of their relevant factories, and they made almost everything from pins to aeroplanes. State run factories. As well as the Dutra badge, they also had Raba in house. In their development department, buried inside a razor wire surrounded factory, where we walked up an alley of military tanks to get to the door, - I saw a fully automatic gearbox built into the Dutra gearbox housing. Near it an artists impression of an articulated bucket loader, and I made a comment to Peter Mierosh, who was our guide. 'If you take off the bucket loader arms and turn the driver round, you'd have a pretty good tractor. ' His response was that I was four years too late and that the Steiger bros in the US were already making something like that. During another visit in 2001, I drove a Raba-Steiger off the production line. They are still made, and the old factory which then built busses, had one line shut down for a month each year to build your series 2s for their home market. Not much wrong with the Mann derived little engine, but a bus crash gearbox, with the close ratios at the upper end ! Oh dear. Finally apologies for altering your green to the bright one we use . We did the same to the Ford blue, so please don't feel offended.
Interesting. Sadly there is no more Steigers built in Hungary. However there is still a lot of them in good condition and working in Hungary.
That was great to capture and share. I know as a kid the rare sighting of a Stieger was met with the same excitement as some rare exotic sports car. They looked different, sounded different... nothing like them.
I know exactly what you mean. The Series 3 Panther was just beautiful. Still one of the nicest looking tractors ever built
I think the Steigers are cool
Thank you so much for making this video. What a wonderful gentleman. I have a 9180 and it is the best tractor I ever had!
One Steiger Couger 1976y is working in Lithuania (Europe). Thank you for good tractor.
Wow great to see u bring great stories and history to all us,funny story ,a few years ago my son and I went to a Red Power in the states .we from Canada. Anyway my son laughs constantly when he explains how I went to this book stand ,I think Lee Klancher perhaps, but I began chatting with a nice gentleman, and I whispered to my son, who is the old fellow. So I asked him and when he said I'm Doug Stieger,my son I was speechless and turned red,because my son knew I was a Stieger fanatic like him,so my son laughs because after ur father revealed his identity, I I nervous ly whispered to my son, Jesus Chist ,...... son's name.... that's bloody Doug Stieger lol thank for the awesome video and farm story I loved it
Mr. Steiger, I would like you to know dear Sir that I still use two Panthers here in NW Missouri..Another family 5 miles east of me still use two of them and another outfit 5 miles west of me use 2 also..Great old work horses...
The older the better
A
We still use a Panther CP1360 to do all of our tillage
A old Stieger is cheap hp with low maintenance cost too!
Oh wait maybe want a new "red" Stieger that cost a such as $600,000 then when it breaks down. A CASEIH Tech will get to you when they can. Oh wait your tractor is out of Warranty and you need a new DPF at the cost of $10K
I just love these stories. Great video!
Could you imagine the work involved in engineering and sourcing parts before the interweb?
hammer slammer honestly any machine work I need done gets done at a local shop that doesn’t even show up on google. A lot more people in the farm communities back then. Someone always knew somebody else that knew a thing about what you were asking about. Just a little networking is all it takes
@@Midwest4x4f150 I know a guy that knows a guy! 💪
I was there for this event and had no idea this fine man was there, shame, I would have loved to snake his hand. I own 3 of them myself.
Well supposedly he goes to a Tractor Show every year!
Still see an old Steiger working a farm on my way to work in NW Ohio. There was one being used back in the 70's on a big piece of ground near where I lived.
Thank you for recording this very important part of history.
a legend for sure!
Yes
Thank you so much for doing this interview!! It was so good!! and full of info!! and a great chance to meet the creator of the Steiger tractor.
Thank you very much , such a modest man , with a great story to tell . Love old green Steiger 325 St they just look so Right
Dear Sir! Thank you. We still use the Hungarian version of your tractors and they are still going strong some places. I can say I grow up in one of them :) I can not tell you how many times I bumped my head into the frame of the cab while I was sitting next to my dead. What a childhood. Later I ended up driving one and still love them. For sure the time passed but these tractors have a special pleace in my heart always. Thank you.
Are those the Raba Steigers?
I believe that all Raba Steigers were painted yellow with black lettering.
The way that the Raba Steiger came about is Steiger was buying Raba double planetary reduction axles. So Raba got permission and plans to build the Raba Steiger.
I have seen some pictures of them around 1988, 1989.
There was a story about them on UA-cam.
Hello from north east Montana USA.
10 miles from the Canadian border.
@@darrelfuhrman8217 The early versions where green with yellow cab and they where 245hp built with MAN engine. Soon they where replacednby the yellow version with white cab and 250 hp also MAN engine. Still today some of these tractors are still in use and working hard. Raba was exporting axles for steiger and many of the American wersions are built with Raba's axle. All the bests for you.
Lovable Man !
Very good a time when your word mattered and America was a manufacturing giant
Wonderful gentleman with a great story.
Bloody awesome herring that all the way over here in Australia. Thank you
Fascinating! What a history.
Real American man right there
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
Very interesting. Thank you
Great, very interesting video
Neat interview.
So grand and wise of u to get these important stories before they r gone, great insight
great interview would like to hear more.
Great video thank you Mr. Steiger.
More, he is so interesting. More PLEASE!
wow what a story
good to listen to,,thank you
Great to hear the history of this chapter in the evolution of ag equipment! Thanks!
Interesting would love to see photos in the shop and in the field ..
That was great.
Absolutely outstanding video!!
And I've saw tractor no.1 at work in field
The story he tells of Camp Connie Danielson(?) and his twelve year old boy viewing the models in the yard where Doug overhears "... and you're going to be driving one next summer" I'm thinking he was going to use that line in the Danielson's kitchen to close the deal. But, of course, his story has the better ending.
You have to wonder what kind of numbnut dislikes this video. A treasure trove of knowledge humbly speaking about the infancy of his Steiger Tractor - developed out of personal need for his own father. What's not to like? (Rhetorical question).
bonjour. s' est vraiment un monsieur; monsieur steiger douglas.on a vraiment besoin de gens comme lui.il est super .j'espere qu il encore en vie,je lui souhaite longue vie. merci pour cette video .j' adore les tracteurs steiger, pour moi ses les mieux fabriquer.encore merci.congratulations. ( j' ecrit de france).
I have a Bearcat 4 and very good old tractor
His comments about exhaust noise under load was intuitive. I always thought that Caterpillar sold many machines just because of the sounds they made during operation. The old 53/4' bore 4 and 6 cylinder engines sounded like they "meant business"..
Nice strong simple tractors, he needed a Steiger hat for the interview
A little sad they moved away from the Detroit engines. Those engines and that sound where the sound of work getting done in this country for decades. The Cummins and Cat motors are fine but nothing sings like a Detroit.
Saying Detroits sing is like saying hurricanes are a breezy. Detroits don't sing they scream.
Detroit Diesel the worlds most efficient engine at converting diesel fuel into noise!
@@Parents_of_Twins Yes.... A person can still get parts and service for them today too!
www.mtu-online.com/mtu-northamerica/old-mountpoints/detroit-diesel-2-cycle/
@@trebornoslo1951 I have driven a Detroit diesel semi truck. Its a truck for professionals. It will keep the driver engaged at all times. I learned to shift at lower rpms to help the nonsyncronized 10 speed trans shift better.
ua-cam.com/video/E0o1o5W_f6o/v-deo.html
thanks for the video, great watching and straight from the horses mouth, not here say
I did my part but I didn't make it all happen - Doug Steiger
Very interesting. I never knew how Steiger built tractors for their competitors, but also for themselves. It seemed to work out. We used to farm with a MF 1801, and you could find the data plates from Steiger on the tractor. It was even Steiger green underneath the red paint. I never knew if this Stieger was converted to a Massey after the fact, or if Steiger's primer was the same color for both tractors?
133dave1
The tractors built in the 70-90s are still running and can be rebuilt because they have metal and simple systems. I think the new generation of tractors are too reliant on technology and computers that complicate repair and longevity.
Amen bruther! The tech horror stories I could tell....lol.
Yeah, totally agreed. Look at pickup trucks, people are spending some pretty big money buying pre emission stuff and restoring them for daily use. I would rather spend 30-35k for a fully sorted truck then 80k on a brand new one that you know is a ticking time bomb with emissions. Same deal with the bigger stuff like tractors and combines as well.
history
Most heavy machinery that is good is western built. Steiger is a good example
in read that as inmate
13 dislikes probably from Dear John guys.
Why is he in jail?
A god
The banker lent the money t the farmer who borrowed.
I could be rellated to you
With all due respect ( and Mr.Steiger gets respect) the guy looks like he's in jail......a cinderblock wall is maybe not the best way to do an interview but that's just me.....