Is the IH 86 series that bad?

[Farming Enthusiast]

6 hours ago, sandhiller said:

I only hayed for one family that filled hayfield tractors (H's and M's) with 5 gallon buckets and a big ol gas funnel.

Mother pain in the butt.

Every one else including me had portable tanks with lever or rotary hand pumps on 300 or 500 gallon gas and diesel barrels.

It wasn't till after the boys left home and I had to go back to filling the tractors and swather that I went to 12v electric pumps.😂

We always greased before we left at night and fueled in the morning before we started.

Taught the boys:

Grease a warm machine.

Fuel a cool one!

🤠

 

The guys at work didn't like sitting in the crew truck waiting for me to grease at the end of the day, but that's what I'd do with the excavators dozers etc. Especially in the winter. They didn't seam to care that they greased easier but I did

[td9inidaho]

On 2/25/2023 at 8:24 AM, Qc.Can.IH man said:

I’m going to throw in my very biased opinion…I love my 86 series tractors!I have 10 of them and counting,I have a 3388 and 3588 2+2s.I also have a 3088 with factory MFD, a 3288 and a 3688.

 When the 86 series came out they were a big improvement over the 66 series cabs, but there is still room for improvement which the 88 series cabs improved a lot. I wasn’t a big fan of everything being on the right hand side of the 88 series,but depending what job you are doing it doesn’t really make a difference to me. Just not super handy for loader work… In my opinion, but I love the hydros for loader work. The steps were a big improvement, and redesigning the fuel tank made the drawbar easier to see plus the inside of the cab behind the seat was moved back 2 or 3 inches to make more room to be able to move the seat back farther for those with longer legs.

 Another big improvement on the 88 series was the electric TA and the electric over hydraulic transmission brake,it would only activate the transmission brake when the tractor was in neutral and therefore saving the transmission brake,The 86 series when people were trying to shift on the road they would push the clutch all the way to the floor and caused the transmission brake to activate and make it harder to shift and wear out the brake pad.A properly adjusted TA dump valve and transmission brake makes those tractors not that bad to shift on the road.

 I am 6‘2“ tall and about 200+ pounds and don’t have any issues getting in or out of the 86 series,occasionally during the hot weather I will catch my shorts on the gearshift but it’s very rare.

 I have made improvements to my 86 series which help a lot for getting in and out, I make my own handles to attach to the doors and install a gas spring which makes it very easy to enter and exit, also makes it easier to grab the door when closing.  Someday I would like to put some longer gas springs on the doors to make them open another 5 or 10° instead of 90 to make it easier to get in or out.

I make a similar handle for the 88 series, it needs to be shorter because of the hydraulic levers will interfere with the door handle.

I also hated with a passion the sliding latches for the rear window, so I modernized it.

notice in this picture the mirror at the top of the window to aid and seeing the drawbar 

LED lights and adding more lights improved nighttime visibility.

 The three point hitch also left a lot to be desired, so I build my own sway limiters, I built one for the 1486 and it works perfect so I plan on building more for the rest of the tractors

 for me the 86 series are very comfortable to sit in and operate all day, I’m just as comfortable in any of them as my MX 220 magnum.most of them have working air conditioning and radios, what more can a person want? LOL

 As long as they keep making parts for them I will be using them until the end of my farming days!

 @Matt Kirschdon’t stop posting! You have lots of good advice to give! Plus you are one of my heroes because you have a 1586 and I don’t🥺! 😂😂

 

 

Nice looking tractor. 

So I'm going to assume you didn't have the IH limiters on your tractor?  Or were they a different style than what mine has?  Nice job on the limiters by the way 😁

[Qc.Can.IH man]

1 hour ago, td9inidaho said:

Nice looking tractor. 

So I'm going to assume you didn't have the IH limiters on your tractor?  Or were they a different style than what mine has?  Nice job on the limiters by the way 😁

Thanks for the complement.

That’s factory, my only tractor that has the cam sway limiters like in your picture is my 3588

[gafarm49]

14 minutes ago, Qc.Can.IH man said:

Thanks for the complement.

That’s factory, my only tractor that has the cam sway limiters like in your picture is my 3588

my 1086 has them, I wish the other 2 did

[gafarm49]

So I ordered a cheap seat and suspension from Walmart ( It popped up on Facebook ) for another project, 270$. I had my 986 in the shop and stuck it on just to see.  The seat has a thinner backrest and puts my butt further back. I'm 6 ft 3 in and thats a biggy. Its pretty comfy too!! 

[Lars (midessa)]

I wouldn’t say the 86’s were ‘bad’ tractors, let’s face it the 06, 56, and 66 series tractors all basically followed the same ‘blueprint’ just minors changes along the way over the decades. The 86 series was a substantial change in design, and layout for IH, many buyers/operators didn’t like those changes.

[hillman]

I looked at a 766 yesterday and asked the two brothers who farm together about their tractors , I felt that would be an unbiased review of old guys about 70 years old who don't go on the internet

 They had from what I saw in the shed I was in ( I saw others in open sheds) 3 1086s, 966,1066, 766 ,434,b414,Super M,Cub and a JD 4010 gas The 1086s have almost 10,000 hrs , I asked them if they had bad luck with ta.s , they said no they pick a gear and leave it there mostly, They quoted an insane HP rating that was factory on one of them, They said the 966  would out lug the 1066 in tough spots, The 766 gas  would out lug the 4010 gas and the 4010 was much harder on fuel Their tractors were by no means show room condition but the air was working ( I asked) and they appeared to keep good maintenance on them 

 Thats what plain old farmers said without any bias. I think they said they have JD combines. It was a lot to take in while looking over a tractor

[Farming Enthusiast]

33 minutes ago, hillman said:

I looked at a 766 yesterday and asked the two brothers who farm together about their tractors , I felt that would be an unbiased review of old guys about 70 years old who don't go on the internet

 They had from what I saw in the shed I was in ( I saw others in open sheds) 3 1086s, 966,1066, 766 ,434,b414,Super M,Cub and a JD 4010 gas The 1086s have almost 10,000 hrs , I asked them if they had bad luck with ta.s , they said no they pick a gear and leave it there mostly, They quoted an insane HP rating that was factory on one of them, They said the 966  would out lug the 1066 in tough spots, The 766 gas  would out lug the 4010 gas and the 4010 was a pig on fuel Their tractors were by no means show room condition but the air was working ( I asked) and they appeared to keep good maintenance on them 

 Thats what plain old farmers said without any bias. I think they said they have JD combines. It was a lot to take in while looking over a tractor

Out of the approximately 50 years that  my dad and grandpa ran IH tractors with a T/A they fried only one in their first 1066 in the early 80s. The current 1066 and 1086 have both had new T/As in the last 15 years but they weren't out, they had them replaced when they had a new clutch installed. They just use them as another gear. Ive never been in a situation where I felt the need to pull the torque. The 460 is believed to have its original. Did you want to share what the hp was, and what tractor?

[Drysleeves]

Never ruined a hydraulic TA in any of our tractors because we used them as intended and they were not intended to be an engine brake. Guys would pull wagons to town and destroy them in short order.

[B.B.]

On 2/25/2023 at 10:33 AM, 856 Custom said:

Can's like that? We had 13 of them. Filled them every morning after milking back in the day. Were used to dump fuel in the tractors or combine till I bought a used transfer tank at a farm sale in 1998. Dad had his set and my uncle had some too along with 5 gallon plastic containers that previously had liquid soap in them for the pipeline and tank from the milkhouse. It's the way things were done back then and nobody complained, but I'm sure thought there has to be a easier way. Use that stuff nowadays probably get laughed at. 86 series tractor one man would stand on the 3pt and the second man would hand full cans and take empties away. Combine was a little more entailed as climbing the ladder with full cans. You kept the caps on the cans till you gotter up the ladder. One diesel bath is all it took to learn that.

I had long forgotten about cans like that.    Thanks for bringing back a memory.  Those work a lot better than a plastic oil bucket lol

 

 

You guys know I love my 86 series tractors.  Love the 82 series cub cadets too and they are much easier to fill with a 5 gallon oil jug

 

I grew up planting corn 2 rows at a time on a Allis WD. A 86 series with working air is pretty dang nice to me.  

 

 

 

[Farming Enthusiast]

On 2/25/2023 at 8:07 PM, Big Bud guy said:

Nobody said they were.  

What difference does it make??  Still not a IH designed and engineered product for a tractor that wasn't built with MFWD in mind.  The company that got the MFWD ball rolling was MM.  They designed a transmission with an output shaft on the front of the transmission making for an easy and clean install for an Elwood axle or any other axle.  We had a local machine shop doing it to MM tractors around the neighborhood.  Plus both MM and Oliver tested MFWD tractors at Nebraska in 1962/3.  BTW, my cousin has a 5488 with a loader and it has MFWD.  I assume most 88 series had one but if you say they don't and MFWD only became popular on JD and not on IH tractors despite IH so call leading the way then that's talking in circles.   

Just to clean up some of my posts. MMs first fwa were designed by Ellwood and later Coleman and they were installed in the factory. Oliver's were designed by Clark and installed in the factory. MM beat Oliver  to the market by a couple months in 1961. IHs first factory installed fwa were Ellwoods in 1963 and then later Coleman's. You may see a difference in how they were installed in the factory because you're constantly trying to discredit IH every chance you get, but the fact is all three came from the factory with fwa. As for my point, I get tired of hearing about the 5010-6030 as the "end all, be all" tractors when they were never offered with factory fwa and other companies were investing in traction over hp.  JD didn't offer factory installed fwa until the 30 series and didnt offer factory installed  mechanical fwa until the 50 series. 

[Farming Enthusiast]

I'd also like to add a story about an older guy that I worked with who is retired now. He's a JD guy but an old school JD guy that appreciates other brands. His favorite tractor (though I don't believe he's run one)is the 6030.  But he said growing up, a neighbor had an 806 with fwa and said that was the most impressive tractor in the field for many years. His exact words were, " that thing was a beast"

[hillman]

4 minutes ago, Farming Enthusiast said:

I'd also like to add a story about an older guy that I worked with who is retired now. He's a JD guy but an old school JD guy that appreciates other brands. His favorite tractor (though I don't believe he's run one)is the 6030.  But he said growing up, a neighbor had an 806 with fwa and said that was the most impressive tractor in the field for many years. His exact words were, " that thing was a beast"

Beast alright, both a beast and an early fwa are impossible to turn around.   

 

[Farming Enthusiast]

1 hour ago, hillman said:

Beast alright, both a beast and an early fwa are impossible to turn around.   

 

Believe me I've heard that and understand it completely. But they are the predecessors to modern fwa certainly not high hp 2wd. High hp 2wd is the cause while fwa was the effect in my book. Btw a 5020 has a 30" wider turning radius than an f1256 with brake applied so they are no nimble tractor either

[Farming Enthusiast]

I'd also like to get out in front of the rebuttals and say that I've heard the JD has lighter power steering and I'll agree that the 06/56 are heavier than the Oliver's of the time. But I don't think it's a huge difference in how nimble they feel in tight areas. And the upside to the heavier ps is the tractor feels more planted on the road. 

[Gearclash]

7 minutes ago, Farming Enthusiast said:

I'd also like to get out in front of the rebuttals and say that I've heard the JD has lighter power steering and I'll agree that the 06/56 are heavier than the Oliver's of the time. But I don't think it's a huge difference in how nimble they feel in tight areas. And the upside to the heavier ps is the tractor feels more planted on the road. 

Speaking of steering and handling.  There was a time some years ago that I jumped from an IH 686 to a JD 3020 while raking hay.  The 3020 makes a 686 feel like a barge.  

[Farming Enthusiast]

22 minutes ago, Gearclash said:

Speaking of steering and handling.  There was a time some years ago that I jumped from an IH 686 to a JD 3020 while raking hay.  The 3020 makes a 686 feel like a barge.  

The numbers overwhelmingly back up that statement. 3020 tr with brake applied is 103.5 inches while the 686 is 144"

[hillman]

2 hours ago, Farming Enthusiast said:

Believe me I've heard that and understand it completely. But they are the predecessors to modern fwa certainly not high hp 2wd. High hp 2wd is the cause while fwa was the effect in my book. Btw a 5020 has a 30" wider turning radius than an f1256 with brake applied so they are no nimble tractor either

if only JD did something right they may have become #1🤓

[Farming Enthusiast]

9 minutes ago, hillman said:

if only JD did something right they may have become #1🤓

I was under the impression that maybe I'm not the only one who gets tired of hearing about everything JD did right and IH did wrong so I'm just putting a different spin on things. 

[iowaboy1965]

The AC D21 had the fuel tank behind the seat as did the 190 xt. Not sure you would consider the seat moved forward or not on those. Both of those preceded the 86 series by a number of years. I like em all, but red is my favorite.