Your Collective Thoughts?

Let me run this one by ya.

Got this old 1976 966 with 4610 hours on it. We've "restored" the old thing to the tune of $14K, but it still has some 'major' issues. I've been after the red shop to get it in and get it cured, but they have been awfully busy in there.

First off, is that damned rear end. It is just noisey to my mind; sounds like the bulls or pinions are worn completely out, but I've been told that it could possibly be the ring gear and pinion 'causing the trouble.

Secondly is the hitch. It has a leak in the piston area and is continually 'correcting' and drops as soon as you shut the tractor off.

Finally the park lock. Unless you are setting on some pretty level ground, the darn park won't hold.

Okay, I'm in the post office this morning and the local red shop guy is there. He says that he just bought an insurance fire job. A 186 Hydro.
The fire took the front end, messed the cab up a little and torched one rear tire.

He wants to just swap the Hydro's rearend for mine and kill three birds at one swipe. He says those rearends out of the hydros are always in good shape 'cause they haven't been "banged around" or "had the guts pulled out of 'em".

What do you guys think?

Allan

Which ones are you insulted or upset by, Allan? I don't see ANYTHING in this thread that is unhelpful or could/should be taken as hurtful.

Is the tractor worth fixing? That's only something you can answer. You're already $14,000 into this tractor, so it's decision time: Cut and run, or see it through to the end. You'll never get $14,000 out of it if you cut and run, and from what some of the more knowledgeable are saying, two of the three repairs are fairly simple and inexpensive, while the third may not even be a problem at all.

Not upset by anyone or anything.

All I want is to get this old tractor right again, get 'er out in the field doin' what it was designed to do and just thought that by doing a third member swap, this could possibly be a fast, easy, painless fix.

Dunno, sure thought it was a fairly straight forward question.

Allan

Oh! You want to swap JUST the part BEHIND the transmission! I get it now!

You have to admit that your post did read more like, "Should I bother?" rather than, "Should I swap the rear ends?"

I think most people thought you wanted to swap out everything from the bell housing back.

Nope, I don't farm for a living; I'm not smart enough.

What I do tho, is to use farming in my business; could not survive 6 months without it. I am not playing at a hobby; I buy old tractors and I buy old junk machinery for a reason.

I'm not looking for a free ride on anything; never have, never will.

I am not retired. I am self-employed and my day starts at 3am and it ends at 10pm. No weekends off, no holidays, no days off and no Christmas bonus. I get a paycheck only after everyone else is paid.

I did not marry a rich woman and I certainly don't have "plenty of money".

No different than anybody else; just takin' 'er one step at a time and tryin' to keep the wolf from the door.

Just so we have the story straight,

Allan

I probably asked the question wrong, I think.

Was wondering if you guys would consider putting a used rear end in a tractor vs opening the original up and repairing it with new parts.

Allan

I see nothing wrong with your question. You qualified your original post appropriately.

As always, thanks for sharing the images... sharp looking rig. That must be a later model 966. I don't recall ever seeing decals like that on a '66 series. The decals seem to resemble those of a 986.

As for what I would do... I would go for the lowest cost solution which would give me the best result (time permitting). If the parts will all swap over and the cost for parts and labor is reasonable, it might not be a completely unreasonable way to go.

I think you're a little like me in your search for perfection. Those little sounds no one else hears dig deep into my ears. I've got an input shaft bearing and seal to replace on the '49 C my dad bought new. The tranny seems to whine a little louder than it did years back and it's never been split, so it might not hurt to have a look-see. Your various successes with tractors, balers, etc. are makin' me a little squirrelly thinkin' I can may be do something 1/50th as difficult.

Have fun,
Red

I would be fairly uneasy about switching out the gear transmission to a Hydro. The price may be right, but when it comes to yanking that four bottom rollover, I'm sure you'll wish you had a gear tractor. I don't know if I could stand all that whining and carrying on anyway. But then again, maybe they don't whine like the hydros in combines or sprayers...

I wouldn't let what those other goons said dissaude you from posting your dilemmas. They mean no harm. We're all just trying to have a good time.

Have a good evening.

I don't wanna trade the transmissions; just the darned rear end, the hydraulics and fix that silly parking pawl. Other than that back housing, my tractor is otherwise totally new.

He tells me that the rearends of the two tractors are identical 'cause my tractor is a late model 966 anyway and he could probably swap the two in a day or so.

The only concern would be the fire, which he says didn't hurt the rear on the hydro tractor one little bit and it would be a real fast fix.

This gets my attention 'cause I really think the tractor is gonna be in the field within 10 days or so; it's turning spring in a hurry here.

I dug into the IT manual last night and I want absolutely no part of this thing. I could repair it, yes. But I just don't have time enough to be learnin', liftin' and fixin all at the same time.

Fixin' a little Hydro70 transmission is one thing; this dude is some heavy duty wrenchin' and I'm runnin out of daylight here. :>)

Dunno, guess I'll wait til they get the fire job hauled into town and go look at it. My other option would be to wait another year, but really don't want to have to plow 100 acres with that draft yankin' 3" every few seconds. That would make me crazier than I already am. :>(

Allan

As far as asking us anything, you just come on back any time ya want to. Harley

What about going the other way? Fix the Hydro. It ould be a great haying tractor.

John

Sounds like yer itching for perfection...I would fix what ya got unless you really want to turn that 966 into a hydro.... but it sure looks pretty- I would have a hard time taking it apart- I might scuff up the fancy paint...

I've found that over analysing simple problems is my forte... it drives me crazy... go with your gut instinct on this one. It doesn't hurt to stay busy fixing things.

My $.02
TS

Sorry I bothered you guys. It won't happen again.

Allan

Steve