[flatlander85]

I am looking to upgrade to a large horsepower tractor and an air drill. I am wanting something something in the 250 hp range. I have been considering the Case 4694 or a Steiger. I have heard a lot of bad about the 90 series Case so I am looking at staying away from them. As I am a young guy starting out my budget is limited. I do know that I want closed center hydraulics but past that I am not sure. Any suggestions, comments or tips would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[farmerd]

I have a 1984 Case 4694 and a 1985 Steiger Cougar 1000. Both great tractors! The Steiger has quite a bit more power but also uses more fuel. The 4694 has been good to me with very low maintenance costs. If you have any specific questions, ask away.

 

[flatlander85]

I am looking for information in general. I was raised basically as a ranching background and we are trying to do a little of the farming thing now. The 94 series Case seem to be not that plentiful around here especially in the larger models. Dad does have a 2294 so the familiarity and some interchangeable parts would be nice. I like the idea of the Steiger basically being built from truck parts because I should almost always be able to find parts. I am wondering what I should be looking for as far as weak spots or if they should be avoided all together. Or maybe there is something that a better bang for my buck.

 

[Showtime]

steiger just due to the articulation. We have a Case 2670.. and Steiger cougar 3 st270.

would have the steiger anyday over the Case. If our case ain't leaking oil out of the 4 tires it steers from were scared something is wrong!

 

[flatlander85]

I have come across a Case 4994. I haven't seen any other Case 4994's before. Anyone know anything about them??

 

[Trent]

Scannia motor-a v8 i think maybe 350 hp.

 

[joeltractor]

400hp

 

[lynas]

4994 is cheap horsepower. 400 h.p. V8 Scania engine, 12 speed twin disc transmission.
Most of the early ones had differential failures, due to the huge torque loading from the engine. Some diffs were upgraded.
Engine is expensive to rebuild and Diffs are not cheap to replace.
Wheel sensors give trouble and are expensive to replace. In short, it could be trouble.
IMO you would be much better off with an older Versatile ( 875 or 895) or Steiger.

 

[Justaguy]

If the 90 series were good tractors then the new 620 would come with the crab steer option.
I think Case made the right choice.

 

[phantom970]

Having grown up with a 4890 and two 4994's I would have to say they are great tractors. Steering does throw a few tantrums but you can alway run the rears separate to the front via the steering selector switch. But these are both alot more HP than you talking about tho. No experience with Steigers under KP1400 so cant offer much there. Old versatiles are good old work horses.

 

[offroadnt]

I'd go Steiger, Versatile or even those old Internationals. I really like the '90/'94 series Cases, they were nice tractors but it'll cost you a fortune if your not mechanically inclined. They can be good reliable power but the whole tractor is OEM parts for the smaller ones and the bigger two have exotic engines for North America and of course the 4994 has the electronic shifting Twin Disk transmission and ZF axles.

 

[Don Boles]

4994 is cheap horsepower. 400 h.p. V8 Scania engine, 12 speed twin disc transmission.

Sure?
I don't remember it being a full powershift.

 

[redpainter]

In my younger years (not in farming) I was always interested in Case. When I came back to the farm, I was looking at a 46 series Case for a good price. What scared me away was the fear of having to get parts and service on a tractor that has been out of production for years and CASE went completely to the Steiger design shortly after buying the company. As said before the Scania engine I've heard is expensive to fix and seems I've heard the Case 504 can be hard to find parts for sometimes (not sure about that) and our neighbor had an orange case years back and had to have some adjustment to the transmission periodically if I heard right. Steiger has some basic components that are not hard to find and are familiar to the typical mechanic. Not sure about the Raba axles. The Steigers we have are built tough, but sometimes almost too heavy for using in areas that can pack, but I have a tracked Cat to do those areas. I'd go with the Steiger at least around here. I would still like to have a Case to play around with if I had the means.

 

[flatlander85]

I realize that the 400hp is a little more than I was originally looking at, but it is close to home and the price is quite reasonable. I have looked at the 5 series Versatiles (875,895) but they have open center hydraulics. I am more looking at the 6 series (876,896) just because of the closed center hydraulics for an air drill. Am I putting to much value on the closed center? Can I get away with open center?

 

[Dmax06]

Sure?
I don't remember it being a full powershift.

yes Don they are a full 12 forward speed powershift, we had two of these at one time, great tractors as were the two 4894's we had...

 

[doorknob]

The 4994 is a huge tractor. But I think only a couple hundred were made? Many of them in the Palouse area and several of those had later been converted to cummins when the scania went dead.

There was something about the twin disk that was different than those in the Steiger etc. But on agtalk there is a schematic that someone put up for bypassing the oem shift switch to a direct system of some sort. Last time I looked, it was still up on that site. So that would eliminate that electronic issues.

Electric steering issues can be easily over ridden.

If you want to be safe, then consider the steiger or versatile and put a power pack on the air seeder. That's what I did.

 

[V876]

I realize that the 400hp is a little more than I was originally looking at, but it is close to home and the price is quite reasonable. I have looked at the 5 series Versatiles (875,895) but they have open center hydraulics. I am more looking at the 6 series (876,896) just because of the closed center hydraulics for an air drill. Am I putting to much value on the closed center? Can I get away with open center?

You definitely want closed center hyds for what you want to do. I did not have a 4694 but had a 4690, only minor differences between the two, dash electric shift controls. The 504 engine was an excellent motor in all Case`s from the later 1270`s to the 4494s good running, good lugging ability. Then came the 6 series 2670,4690/94 it seemed that the tuning required to get that hp out of that engine seemed to take away its ability to lug. the other models you could pull down to 1400rpm and they would pull right along the 6s would fall on there face at about 1800. The other choices you have suggested would be far better. I had the versatile 876 probably one of the best tractors I`ve owned to date. I have not owned a steiger but lots around us and always hear good things. A little more hp than you think you need now never hurts and it may give you more options in the future without having to invest in another tractor.

 

[Christian A. Herrnboeck]

I won't really comment on the tractors other than those crab steer case units are… interesting… when it randomly goes into crab steer going down the road, it REALLY gets interesting…. never owned one but keep finding guys to help out that have them. LOL.



We pull a 56' Concord drill with a hydraulic fan, hydraulic meters (2x) on a 4840 Massey… It has open center hydraulics… not a problem with individual flow control on each remote we found… have a new OEM pump on it that puts out enough flow for all that…. You could get one of them for fairly cheap. Bullet proof transmission. 903 Cummins is a reliable engine. Good hydraulic system for its age. And built to last for a long time.