Re: IH 656 Diesel (Hydro)

Posted by Hugh MacKay on March 22, 2004 at 23:04:43 from (209.226.247.163):

In Reply to: IH 656 Diesel (Hydro) posted by RTD on March 22, 2004 at 17:21:30:

RTD: The guys are right but for all the wrong reasons. There is nothing wrong with any of the diesels used in these. Problem was the people that used them. Rather than read the manual, they got it in their head you shouldn't need to use glow plugs for more than 1/2 minute.

I bought two 282 diesels new in the 1960s, a 560 and a 656. I farmed in Canada and sub zero temps were the norm all winter. Yes they had to be pluged in with a circulating block heater. And yes you often had to use the glow plugs 3 to 4 minutes in cold weather, and always a minute in summer. They were not pluged in during summer however. You guys must remember these were the IH pioneers of direct start diesels. I put a total of 25,000 hours on my two tractors, and yes they had two 6 volt batteries in series that weighed about 65 lbs each and had battery cables the size of your thumb. These were truly the most efficient horse power I ever farmed with.

Now the reason you shouldn't buy the tractor is that bloody old HYDRO. Unless you have precission vegetable seeding and harvesting they are just a waste of money. That my friend is what they were designed for. Baling hay and haybine are not precission work. Many many times I have baled 4,000 to 5,000 bales per day with thrower and pulling wagon, and I have done that with each of 300, 560 and 656 gear drives. In fact the 300 still holds the record on my farm for baling production. My 656 with TA and 9' haybine would put down enough hay to keep round baler or 1066 on NH 890 forage harvester going, and that is a lot of hay. I have seen that 1066 with NH 890 fill a 24x70 tower silo in 24 hours, and the 656 mowed it all.

Those old hydros by now will be absolutely nothing but grief for you. The main reason a lot of them still look half decent is no one could ever afford to use them very much. I'm just trying to save you some headaches.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: IH 656 Diesel (Hydro) RTD 05:57:42 03/23/04 (1)
  • Re: Re: Re: IH 656 Diesel (Hydro) Hugh MacKay 05:28:34 03/25/04 (0)

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