When I bought my 4.5 acres of Hudson riverfront property back in 1997, I was concerned about the uphill battle of mowing 3 – 4 acres or lawn as well as having to blow out 250 feet of driveway, all with steep terrain. I passed a dealer in Rondout Valley NY who had a Steiner 430 tractor out in front. I knew immediately this was the only tractor for my property. The dealer, Tony Kowalchuck, Sr., was truly so enthused about his product that his passion was infectious, and I soon became as passionate about my tractor’s performance as he was.
I initially bought the Steiner 21.5HP diesel and several attachments including a 60-inch mower deck, a 48″ snow blower, a slip-scoop, and the leaf blower. Over the next few years, I added a 10,000KW generator and a stump grinder. My property was transformed into our own backyard garden of Eden. Tony Kowalchuck had given me great support over the years along with his son Tony Jr. and when I noticed a shiny new version of Tractor in their shop, I became aware of the Ventrac line.
This new tractor seemed to rectify a number of short-comings that the Steiner had, most notably for me a rollover bar and increased horsepower that could help tame my steep terrain. However, these are not low-end tractors or garden toys one would expect to find at a typical big box store, and I just wasn’t prepared to lay out for a new tractor when my existing one met 90% of my needs. Then, unexpectedly, the diesel tractor threw a rod due to a rollover mishap that had happened a few years earlier and I was faced with the dilemma of having to replace a relatively new tractor also knowing that I had a huge investment in attachments. Tony Kowalchuck came to the rescue and made me a great trade-in offer on my broken Steiner and I went home with my new Ventrac 4231. There were several key issues that made me buy the Ventrac. First of all, I knew I had one of the best dealers and friends and that was a huge factor in my decision. Second, the roll-bar on the Ventrac would help protect me on my varied terrain and unexpected lapses in judgment. Next, my diesel was sometimes hard starting in the winter unless I used the block heater. However, when the electric power was out because of winter storms, pre-heating wasn’t an option and I couldn’t get my Steiner going to run my generator. That was a big factor in my decision to go with the 31HP Ventrac gas model.
Then of course, I knew I would be able to leverage all of my investment in my Steiner attachments that fit perfectly on the Ventrac with some slight adjustments in belt sizes. I was so thrilled with the increase in power and handling ability of my new Ventrac, I quickly replaced the 60″ Steiner mowing deck with the 72″ Ventrac deck. I love the flip-up feature of that deck for routine spindle greasing and blade sharpening.
I also purchased the 48″ Ventrac Tiller and I am continually amazed at its ability to take the roughest ground and turn it into pure fluffy soil that is the easiest to plant and maintain. I have added the extra spotlight light bar and emergency beacon to the top of the roll-bar for when I venture up onto the roads in winter to blow out the driveway, and some added features of my own like stereo system and headphone jacks to make the mowing a little more enjoyable.
I’m just starting to train my 11-year old son in safe use of the Ventrac and he loves doing tractor work for me now all the time. I love my Ventrac as it cut my mowing time in half versus the old Steiner. This machine is built with incredible toughness and with the right maintenance, performs just like the day I brought it home new.
The best factor throughout all of the ownership period is clearly the dealer support from Tony Kowalchuck Sr., his wife Cathy, and their son Tony Jr. They always do their best to help keep minor un-expected repair, use-oriented wear-out costs and maintenance as low as possible, and they are always there for advice. That’s a quality factor you can’t manufacture, but says a lot about who the Ventrac folks allow to represent their product and the process in determining that. No surprise there. I’m always excited to visit the Ventrac website and see what new attachments they have dreamed up.
The support from the manufacturer’s staff has also been outstanding in my opinion. They are always timely with responses, and generous in consideration of issues that may not have been my fault entirely. The entire Ventrac team should be commended for the highest level of possible customer service and support.
On my wish list is replacing my Steiner snow blower with a Ventrac model, possibly a winter cab, and maybe the leaf blower as well. The kids want me to figure out how to turn the Ventrac into a sled lift for winter runs out in the backyard. I told them to wait a little and the Ventrac folks will come out with the Ventrac ski lift attachment. Hopefully, I just planted a seed. 🙂
