I've never driven the 66 series much, but I put thousands of hours on a 1086 with an Elwood MFWD when I was a kid. Dad bought it in 1989 when he was looking for a cheap manure tanker tractor. It was the biggest tractor on the farm for 7 years. The other two tractors we had were a 1965 4020 and a 1977 4430. I would own a 1086 if you gave it to me, but I wouldn't enjoy it. I have not heard much hate rained down on the 66 series, but maybe you're more tuned-in to it versus me. Here's my list of dislikes on the 86 series -
1 They're rough riding. That is compared to tractors of the day, not todays tractors. You'll think you died and gone to heaven if you drove a 1977 4430 versus a 1086 all day.
2. They're horrible to get in and out of due to a terrible step and door arrangement.
3. They had a terrible, unsynchronized transmission with the shifter on the wrong side, and an "out" or "going out" TA.
4.That TA was a deadly outfit in the hills. I can't remember which way, but either engaged or disengaged was a recipe for disaster when trying to hold a load back while going down hill...
5. They were difficult to hook up due to the fuel tank being in the way. You HAD to open the back window and lean way out to see what you were doing back there.
6. The fuel tank cap was just about as unhandy as possible. May as well open the back window and fuel it from inside the cab.
It did have a few advantages. It ran a few more RPMs at full throttle, so it spent the summer on the blower, throwing feed up a 90 foot Harvestore. If you took the RH door off, it was more convenient to disengage and engage the blower versus a deere, too. Best place for it since no one wanted to drive it...
There's a fellow in Dane, WI that has an absolute love of everything IH. He has everything from F-12s all the way up to 5488s. He has 5 or 6 1066s, but NO 86 series tractors.
My neighbor used to be die hard IH as a kid in Dubuque, IA, he's now got a varied stable, but only one CASE IH - a 7140. He says often that the 86 series sold more John Deere 4440s than any John Deere salesperson ever did...
But hey, you obviously like them. They work for you and THAT is ALL that matters. I only responded to your post to explain why I don't like them. If you're happy in the seat, who cares what I think???
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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