By Jack Zemlicka, Technology Editor

Aug. 9, 2012 — With a goal of maximizing uptime and reducing compaction, Case IH launched its new line of Steiger Rowtrac tractors at a media event in Racine.

The products are a spin on Case’s Quadtrac series and could give strip-tillers and no-tillers a versatile machine in the field, says Mitch Kaiser, Case IH’s marketing manager for Steiger tractors in North America.

“With the Rowtrac system you can have 16, 18 and 24-inch tracks now that will fit in with 20-, 22-, 30- and 40-inch row-crop applications,” he says.

The new Rowtrac models — 350, 400 and 450 — distribute tire pressure to the soil over a wider area, provide greater power to pull heavy implements, and offer flexibility in track spacing.

“In the fall, strip-tillers could work on 120-inch spacers or 88-inch spacers or 20-inch and be able to pull the strip-till bar,” he says. “Then in the spring you’re able to plant right in the strips and come back and sidedress back into the row without disturbing the soil profile.”

With four tracks on the ground there is about 1% slippage, and the undercarriage features a new advanced suspension system, Kaiser says. Rubber ‘donuts’ act like shock absorbers and keep the suspension from shifting from side to side, which helps the tractor stay accurate on the row.