Is the IH 86 series that bad?

[Drysleeves]

6 hours ago, Lars (midessa) said:

Remember complaints on how the TA lever would kinda ‘snap’ into position. Rear visibility  was limited when using a semi mount moldboard plow, was kinda difficult to see the first bottom, compared to the 06, and 56 series.

I never heard any complaints about the TA. It seemed like a good concept to have that inherent feel of the lever locking into direct. Rear visibility issues, yes. IH started mounting a hitch mirror above your head to help the operator see the drawbar from the seat but it wasn't the greatest situation either. The longer chassis of the 50 Series and beyond with essentially the same cab ameliorated most of that issue. Deere guys always used the invisible hitch as a standard talking point against IH. In a Deere you would hit your head on the rear window looking at the hitch unless the seat was all the way forward. Nothing like the benefit of Green and Yellow eyeshades.....

[Big Bud guy]

2 hours ago, Drysleeves said:

Deere guys always used the invisible hitch as a standard talking point against IH. In a Deere you would hit your head on the rear window looking at the hitch unless the seat was all the way forward. Nothing like the benefit of Green and Yellow eyeshades.....

That’s why you can open the rear window and stick your head out further.  Please don’t tell me that never occurred to you.  I had my neighbor’s hired hand jump in with me one day when we were seeding his crop.  Been working for my neighbor since 1972 and has never run a JD tractor.  One of the first things he noticed was the latch on the rear window.  He asked me if the window opens and I said yes and it’s been that way since the 70s.  He thought that was neat.  

[acem]

 

I never heard any complaints about getting in the 86 series except here on red power. The hitch view is poor but not that bad.

Everybody loved them round here when they came out. Transmission and rear axle problems on the big ones were the main complaint. Normally these problems were related to extra wide duals (38 and 40 inch rows were normal then),  overloading and running them low on hydraulic fluid. Pulling rice levees are hard on axle bearings too. 

When an 806-1486 axle bearing fails its a pain to fix but when they fail on a jd the housing usually breaks off!

[acem]

Here's a 6030 that broke the housing when the bearings failed.

 

[Drysleeves]

19 minutes ago, Big Bud guy said:

That’s why you can open the rear window and stick your head out further.  Please don’t tell me that never occurred to you.

Had two of them here. Did it all the time and still hit my head, just not as hard because the glass was a few degrees aft with the window open. It was as big an inconvenience to tilt that open via two latches as it was to crane my neck over the fuel tank in an IH tractor to see the hitch. I made that argument with my Deere friends and they disregarded it due to their Green and Yellow eyeshades. I'm an IH guy but also a realist and those scenarios are rather equal.

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

32 minutes ago, acem said:

Here's a 6030 that broke the housing when the bearings failed.

 

There must be an astronomical amount of salvage in your area @acem? Or do all these pictures come from one yard? Very interesting. 

[Matt Kirsch]

I don't know why I get involved in these discussions. A guy just can't give a fair critique and say that they could have done better without getting Greta'd (i.e. HOW DARE YOU!), labeled a "hater," or being accused of trying to prove some other color is better.

Critique is different from complain. If I was complaining I would not own a 1586.

Just because you didn't hear anyone "complain" in 1977 doesn't mean people weren't. How many people did you really come in contact with? Maybe a couple of like-minded neighbors? Your like-minded farmer uncles? Realize that here you are exposed to a significant swath of "Middle America" with varied experiences and opinions. Realize its 45 years later and we've moved on to much better operator's platforms, and can see that while it was better than anything that came before it wasn't perfect.

Really guys it is okay to not love every little thing about your red tractors. Nobody should think any less of you for it.

[acem]

4 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

There must be an astronomical amount of salvage in your area @acem? Or do all these pictures come from one yard? Very interesting. 

I sometimes buy salvage for a friend so I kinda have a magnetic draw to salvage tractors.

BTW there's a 5020 and 3010 salvage tractor at the same place. There's bound to be more I can't see for the trees and brush...

[Big Bud guy]

8 hours ago, Drysleeves said:

Had two of them here. Did it all the time and still hit my head, just not as hard because the glass was a few degrees aft with the window open. It was as big an inconvenience to tilt that open via two latches as it was to crane my neck over the fuel tank in an IH tractor to see the hitch. I made that argument with my Deere friends and they disregarded it due to their Green and Yellow eyeshades. I'm an IH guy but also a realist and those scenarios are rather equal.

Well it would have been easier to see the hitch on the 86s if IH hadn't been the first one in the industry to move the operator forward.  

[hillman]

20 hours ago, Matt Kirsch said:

 

Critique is different from complain. If I was complaining I would not own a 1586.

 

I don't think anyone ever has a problem with your comments Matt. you have some skin in the game unlike some who just repeat themselves over and over  Every IH guy knows their faults but they hate hearing it from JD guys online or in person. JD guys tend to think they are high and mighty🙃 Green ones break as well and aren't perfect

When I saw the title of the thread I knew where it was going

 

[B.B.]

Here's something no one talks about....   Fueling these tractors from a can or 5 gal oil bucket.      It's not fun lol

 

 

 

From a hose it's probably not so bad 🤣

 

[Farming Enthusiast]

2 hours ago, hillman said:

I don't think anyone ever has a problem with your comments Matt. you have some skin in the game unlike some who just repeat themselves over and over  Every IH guy knows their faults but they hate hearing it from JD guys online or in person. JD guys tend to think they are high and mighty🙃 Green ones break as well and aren't perfect

When I saw the title of the thread I knew where it was going

 

I personally have a hard time believing how much criticism IH gets on an IH forum by a couple people on here. I didn't that this forum would be like living in an IH fantasy world but you can't even talk about how much you like your tractor without hearing how JD is better. I suppose they have bragging rights because they were the only brand to make it but I think a lot of people are well aware right now that the majority don't always know better. 

[FarmallFan]

11 minutes ago, B.B. said:

Here's something no one talks about....   Fueling these tractors from a can or 5 gal oil bucket.      It's not fun lol

 

 

 

From a hose it's probably not so bad 🤣

 

I agree! I did get one these which makes it a bit easier. It's still not as easy as having an electric pump but better than a can!

[ihrondiesel]

13 minutes ago, B.B. said:

Here's something no one talks about....   Fueling these tractors from a can or 5 gal oil bucket.      It's not fun lol

 

 

 

From a hose it's probably not so bad 🤣

 

You’re supposed to read the fuel cap, B.B.   “Buy clean fuel, keep it clean”

[hillman]

37 minutes ago, Farming Enthusiast said:

I personally have a hard time believing how much criticism IH gets on an IH forum by a couple people on here. I didn't that this forum would be like living in an IH fantasy world but you can't even talk about how much you like your tractor without hearing how JD is better. I suppose they have bragging rights because they were the only brand to make it but I think a lot of people are well aware right now that the majority don't always know better. 

I have no idea why this happens on an IH forum. If it starts in the Red Power magazine I am done with it☠️

 Its been many years since I was on car forums. Mostly Camaro forums but some all brand Hotrod forums. The Mustang guys stayed off Camaro forums and Camaro guys stayed off Mustang forums. The back on forth on other forums was in good humor usually but not like here, 

Even on Yesterday's Tractor the JD guys don't go on the IH forums and start the crap . The IH guys on there outline some shortfalls of some IH brands and its not candy coated.  

 

[Qc.Can.IH man]

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🥺! 😂😂

 

 

[Qc.Can.IH man]

1 hour ago, B.B. said:

Here's something no one talks about....   Fueling these tractors from a can or 5 gal oil bucket.      It's not fun lol

 

 

 

From a hose it's probably not so bad 🤣

 

That goes for pretty much anything!🙄😎😂😂

[856 Custom]

1 hour ago, B.B. said:

Here's something no one talks about....   Fueling these tractors from a can or 5 gal oil bucket.      It's not fun lol

 

 

 

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.

[766 Man]

28 minutes ago, 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.

  There is not one tractor out there that I would consider easy to fill with a 5 gallon fuel can.  

 

44 minutes ago, hillman said:

I have no idea why this happens on an IH forum. If it starts in the Red Power magazine I am done with it☠️

 Its been many years since I was on car forums. Mostly Camaro forums but some all brand Hotrod forums. The Mustang guys stayed off Camaro forums and Camaro guys stayed off Mustang forums. The back on forth on other forums was in good humor usually but not like here, 

Even on Yesterday's Tractor the JD guys don't go on the IH forums and start the crap . The IH guys on there outline some shortfalls of some IH brands and its not candy coated.  

 

  All brands have followers that are either saints or sinners.  I think the worst of Ford vs Chevy or Quaker State vs Pennzoil is behind us as a society.  Given what is out there most people are just happy to have a site to go to for discussion of old tractors or old cars or what have you.  You don't have to be very old to be considered irrelevant in today's society.  

[Big Bud guy]

11 minutes ago, 766 Man said:

  There is not one tractor out there that I would consider easy to fill with a 5 gallon fuel can.  

Our 8300 is easy to fill no matter what.  But in context of this thread I couldn’t tell if the original post was referring to JD or IH because neither were fun filling with a can.  

[bitty]

1 hour ago, 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🥺! 😂😂

 

 

Those are really nice looking door handles 

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

3 hours ago, Farming Enthusiast said:

I personally have a hard time believing how much criticism IH gets on an IH forum by a couple people on here. I didn't that this forum would be like living in an IH fantasy world but you can't even talk about how much you like your tractor without hearing how JD is better. I suppose they have bragging rights because they were the only brand to make it but I think a lot of people are well aware right now that the majority don't always know better. 

I think there is way too much overreaction to a critique. Lots of people have experience with more than one brand. The number of people who have/do make a living with only IH branded equipment is less everyday. There have been some real jerks who have posted here, and as far as I know every one of them is currently banned. I think it’s good that there is civil discussion on here. I hear positive comments about Oliver, Allis, other colors and no one flies off the handle. If someone mentions a 5010 though, look out. How many new new people does Allis Chalmers attract? What about other long gone brands? I don’t think there is any reason to run people off. The people who post to this forum keep IH alive. 

[Farming Enthusiast]

1 hour ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

I think there is way too much overreaction to a critique. Lots of people have experience with more than one brand. The number of people who have/do make a living with only IH branded equipment is less everyday. There have been some real jerks who have posted here, and as far as I know every one of them is currently banned. I think it’s good that there is civil discussion on here. I hear positive comments about Oliver, Allis, other colors and no one flies off the handle. If someone mentions a 5010 though, look out. How many new new people does Allis Chalmers attract? What about other long gone brands brands? I don’t think there is any reason to run people off. The people who post to this forum keep IH alive. 

I agree with your statement. But I find it pointless to go after people about their opinions, experiences or preferences. I also don't care for people who act like all other brands except the one they like are junk . If people didn't get it, the reason I asked the question about the 86 series is because until I the internet I didn't know that all of the debated things about them were so bad. I personally don't think the brand new tractors I run at work are any better than the vintage ones. In fact, I think they're worse because even though they are much newer they seam to need to be worked on more.

[hillman]

2 hours ago, 766 Man said:

 

 

  All brands have followers that are either saints or sinners.  I think the worst of Ford vs Chevy or Quaker State vs Pennzoil is behind us as a society.  Given what is out there most people are just happy to have a site to go to for discussion of old tractors or old cars or what have you.  You don't have to be very old to be considered irrelevant in today's society.  

you and I are a good example I believe. We haven't always agreed but we never made it personal. I have come to enjoy your contributions while maintaining my opinions.

[Farming Enthusiast]

2 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

I think there is way too much overreaction to a critique. Lots of people have experience with more than one brand. The number of people who have/do make a living with only IH branded equipment is less everyday. There have been some real jerks who have posted here, and as far as I know every one of them is currently banned. I think it’s good that there is civil discussion on here. I hear positive comments about Oliver, Allis, other colors and no one flies off the handle. If someone mentions a 5010 though, look out. How many new new people does Allis Chalmers attract? What about other long gone brands? I don’t think there is any reason to run people off. The people who post to this forum keep IH alive. 

I'd also like to add I wasn't trying to put down anybodys tractors. I was just trying to prove a point even though I don't think it changed anything