Me and the 966 go round and round tonight!

Well as me and the 966 go round and round tonight got me thinking and wondered if anybody else running these old girls from the 70s or any old tractor especially the ones that you bought as junker at a auction I find myself wondering what the original owner would think if he knew his old tractor was still goin Strong! Sometimes I wish I could meet the person that bought a my junker new! If tractors could only talk!

I just spent 10 hrs today on my 826 Hydro.More tommorrow.........Gonna plant about 70 acres of corn later with a Super M. plowed and worked ground this spring with a 1256 and 706.So,ya,I still use the old guys.

The work here gets done with a JD 4430, White 2-70, MF65 gas, and for a few little jobs, the Ford NAA. There's a Farmall H lurking but needs some work on the engine finished.

my dad has a 1066 hydro my grandpa bought brand new In 71! When I was growing up he complained he should have sold it when they rebuilt the engine and hydro in the late 80s! We put it on semi retirement on the tmr mixer about 10 years ago but 365 days a year she starts and runs everyday! Now she gots about 18000 hours and now instead of complaining he says I can't believe she's still goin! I think it's funny dad claims hes not in love with any of his equipment but that 1066 and grandpa's 1486 now matter how bad guys he has hired tears up the 14 he fixes it and it goes again! He won't ever sell them! Not that I ever want him to!

We still use two 4020's,4 3020's,4520 and 4230 for our work. Just got off 4020 and fertlizer spreader and hooked it to the sprayer for morning if wind stops blowing. The 3020 is hooked to the bean planter for tomorrow as well. Tom

Oh Lordy, lotsa stuff around here. The straight truck is a '58 GMC and gets used about weekly for lots of things. It is only for backup or seed wheat during harvest, but a couple of years ago when one of the semis went down she hauled seven loads a day to the elevator.

I would have to look up the years of most other stuff, but the 8430, 4440, 4020, and Farmall M get used about daily during the on season. The 4440 is still the original build on the engine, but the others have all been gone through. The 30 has about 12,000 hours but the 40 hasn't rolled over yet. The 4020 probably has a good 18,000 hours on it and it just keeps going. You can only read the numbers when the right ones roll over and it has been a while since some good legible numbers came around on the hour meter. I'm glad the M doesn't have a meter. I wouldn't want to know on that one.

I've decided to roll the M over to mixer grinder duty only next spring and get an 856 or 966 with a loader to do the raking and/or square baling. I miss having one of those around.

I just spent the day spraying with a 1979 1086. It is retired from heavy duty but it still pulls a 1000 gallon sprayer OK.

My son called me from Iraq about 5 years ago on New Years eve, said dad are you going to that sale tomorrow I need a tractor. I had not planned on going, but since he called I said yes. I hate to buy something when the owner is not here. Anyway there set this 986 and the more I looked at it the more I thought it might be a good tractor. This tractor looked about as original as when new. It grinds hay everyday for the cattle in the winter. The only money we have spent is for a new alternator and a seal on the injector pump.

Brother worked at a local IH dealer. Gave me a call about a 966 sitting there. Looked it over and found out they were selling it for owner. Owner was about 5 miles from out folks. Brother that works at different dealer (JD) and knew the guy, asked about it and finding what I was planning on using it for, said it would be a great tracker. 2500.00 later and it was mine. Put 2 new rear rims on and with 9000 hours plus is still going strong. Think I did ok.

It's 2:30am here dried up to plant beans around noon 966 with 8200hrs and a rebuilt 8300 JD drill, spraying will start as soon as dew comes off with a cockshutt 1650, ground was worked with a 5488 and 496 disk 7800hrs and a white 2-135 and an allis field cultivator 8000ish hrs, grain gets hauled with a 78 gmc brigadier dump with a 300 big cam and 784,484 miles

Dad has an 826 IH like that that. His brother called to see if he would look at it for an elderly lady at his church, and give her a value of it. She needed money very badly and after selling her late husband's restored Super M to some dirt bag that told her $500 was a very good price for her, her son in law wouldn't let her sell anything without letting him know first. This tractor was very straight, had 1 brand new Firestone F&R tire on the rear, but had set outside in the same spot for about 15 years since her husband had passed away. At least it was setting on a concrete pad. After having numerous people tell her they would give her $250,$500, and even one offer of $800. She said that she wouldn't sell it to someone that wanted to sell it for parts, she would like someone to try to fix it and use it, unless it was too far gone. So we went and looked at it. One of the low ball offer buyers in years past had decided to try to get it running. He had left the fuel line to the fuel filter off and had bent it straight up, apparently in an effort to prime it or something. Over the years, it had filled the fuel filter and injection pump with water, and had froze inside the pump, cracking every side of the housing, and obviously rusting up the internals. Oil was right where it should be, in rear end and engine, full of coolant. Made sure the engine was free, hooked a battery up to it, rolled it until we saw oil pressure, then I removed the intake hose and sprayed diesel into it with a hot shot can, and gave it a whiff of ether. It actually took off and ran on the misted diesel I was spraying in the intake, not very good, but it did run. Especially after setting outside for 15+ years. No knocks, sounded quiet. Dad took it home for $1850, and the old lady was VERY happy, never thought she would get that out of it. Put new injectors in it, bought a low hour used injection pump for it, very expensive hard to find pump on those German diesels, especially when you have no core. Use it almost every day now, farming, chores around my part of the farm, a good tractor, and I think it was a good deal for both of us, I bet her husband is happy to see it being used once again. Haven't got to it yet, but, when I was a heavy equipment mechanic a loader came in, it was a Dresser 520 I think, to be parted out. It had that same D358 in it as the 826, except it was a turbo, and had a new turbo on it. Bought the whole engine very cheap, complete with a rod out the side of the block. Soon, the 826 will be a turbo...

Ross