Not being pissy, just don't understand your comment. If the dealership cannot fix it and I cannot fix it, then for all intents and purposes it is unfixable. They are the ones trained, they are the ones I have already paid for the repair work. At some point, it is time to move on from a machine that does not work. If this was a car and the certified mechanics could not keep it running then I would be a fool to keep driving that car in hopes it will all of sudden get better. I have been trying to fix this model for five years. I have done a lot of the work myself (I am an accountant, not a mechanic) but things like hydraulic or engine problems are above my paygrade. If the experts can't fix it, then it is time to move on.
I don't think we are that far apart, and I don't disagree. What I am saying is to step back and take a look at the whole situation.
Mechanical things are wonderful and not very complicated. But they all have in common that they need mechanical attention to keep giving good service. Either we do it ourselves or find someone who can.
Lucky for you and I, these are logical devices. So if we don't want to do it, it isn't very difficult to find someone who can. Unfortunately, your Steiner dealer wasn't capable. I don't know why.
Listen to me, I'm an old mechanic myself. So are several others here on TBN. Read between the lines on both on my posts and on MossRoad's. We both like Steiner and Ventrac and think they are simple wonderful machines. We know that they are made by assembling commercial parts and designed to be owned by guys who like devices designed in that manner because it makes them able to be fixed by us mechanically inclined owners. They are simple to diagnose and to fix. More than that, most owners own them have them because they are FUN to diagnose and fix. Sort of like touring the country on an old British motorcycle or vintage chevy van/VW van. You EXPECT to need wrenches now and again.....
Your dealer and his mechanics don't feel that way. They are stumped. I'm afraid that all the training in the world is not going to change what is wrong with that shop. But there are others......
So when you change to a different make of tractor, keep in mind that the ability of the shop to service it is important to you. I hear you that you do not want to do the work yourself. What I am saying is since that is the case, you owe it to yourself to be able to evaluate the next model you look at in terms of the dealer AND his ability to provide service.
It's mechanical; you have to have both.
And especially so when you start looking as some of the European models. Go slow there. Frankly they are better in many ways - in every way in fact - than the US made slope-capable models. But they are way more complicated mechanically.
Luck,
rScotty