An opportunity to see a 1977-built Rába Steiger 245 in action was one of the highlight’s for visitors to last autumn’s Dutch classic forage maize day.

Made from 1974 to 1977, and built under licence from Steiger (Rába provided Steiger with axles), the 245hp version bought by friendly Dutchman Robert Slomp was possibly one of the last ones to be driven off the Gyor production line.

He bought the 42-year-old tractor unseen for €5,500 nearly 11 years ago after seeing the 4,800-hour tractor advertised on a Hungarian website. Having stood outside for many years, the tractor was not in the best of condition.

This is the first time the Hungarian-made tractor has seen any action for at least 15 years, and possibly longer.

Trucked to Holland by a Dutch road transport company, for the first eight years at its new home the tractor stood outside, with the cab off and the engine and transmission removed.

We are not sure why Robert suddenly felt the urge to piece the tractor back together again but with spare parts for the 10.3-litre six-pot Raba-MAN D2156 engine sourced from Hungary, he set about revising the engine, which in the end turned out to be the most expensive part of the mechanical revision – around €3,500.

All the analogue instruments work but Robert is not entirely convinced that the tractor has done just 4,800 hours.

Robert lives just across the border in Germany. He’s not a farmer but does have a garage to protect the weather-beaten tractor from further destruction by the elements. The Dana-Spicer 10fx2r transmission needed attention but parts were not only prohibitively expensive but difficult to find. It was then that he discovered that some current Raba Steiger users in Hungary have successfully swapped the standard box for an automatic five-speed Allison MT 654 powershift, and as luck would have it he managed to find a used one for €1,000.

The serial plate shows that the tractor was made in June 1977.

In the end, he finally managed to have the tractor operational again just a few weeks before the classic maize harvesting day. All told, he reckons the former Eastern-bloc tractor currently stands him at around €10,000.

Robert reckons to have spent around €3,500 on parts for the 10.3-litre six-pot MAN D2156 engine.

The tractor came on the largest optional Taurus-made 30.5R32 boots. The front ones were in poor condition, so he swapped them for new Taurus 800/65R32s, which incidentally are the same size.

He has no plans to part with the roughly 12.5-tonne old school tractor. “Raba axle were famous the world over and this is a sturdily and well-built tractor.”

There are still a few jobs to finish, one of which includes swapping the plexiglass in the rear cab window for glass. The tractor is a bit rough around the edges, although he is not convinced that a fresh coat of paint for the tractor is a good idea. “The tractor is still in its original condition and I am not keen to change it.”

The current owner has no plans to part with the old school tractor, which stands him at around €10,000.

The tractor does not offer a great deal of articulation, and the cab is noisy, but Robert enjoys sitting behind the controls. As to fuel consumption, he reckons the MAN block drained 20-30lit/hr from the 780-litre diesel tank pulling the nearly 5.0m-wide and seven-leg cultivator.

The tractor thrilled the crowds at the maize day and with a bit of luck will return to the same event again this autumn.