Which 70's IH to buy?

[ReidyNZ]

The 74 series is a much nicer tractor than a 84 series I think it's the long bonnet and square nose that looks wrong

Agree.......and all that big bonnet did was shake about & break the radiator filler spout out of the rad

 

[Kidds]

Back in the day I used to spend all day every day in a 574, mostly spraying but other stuff too.
Tractor was OK but the gear change really jarred my wrist.
Worst part in the summer was the heat and I often used to think they might be improved by removing the whole of the front of the cab. (doors were taken off as a matter of course)
We still have the tractor and like most it has succumbed to the tinworm. When the front screen eventually fell out I soon realised what a mistake it would have been to take it out to try and keep cool. The noise is deafening!!

We have a 684 still on the place of two that we bought, never liked either of them.

 

[Robigus]

Your not thinking big enough get a 2+2 Snoopy

 

[Forever Fendt]

No it's not the 4.236, it is the 4.212. THis engine has a smaller stroke than the 236.

I've got a 475, a nice tractor but a bit gutless. They were good in their time but I wish they'd put in the 236.

My first new tractor when I started on my own was a 1971 IH 574, VFA811K. I was going to get a MF 165, but the IH was so far ahead of the rest my choice was easy. I collected my 574 from Lomas Tractors in Burton, as I drove it home I was the happiest and proudest man in the country!!! The only thing wrong with them in those days was it was so noisy in the cab. I had to wear ear defenders.

I swapped this tractor for a 685, it wasn't as good though. I had a JD 2130 next and after one terrible MF 3070 I've stuck and been happy with JDs.

can you remember how much she cost new? i can just remember the lomas dealership was it taken over by startin tractors

 

[Qman]

I've just looked it up and the 574 cost brand new £1750!!!

 

[Giles1]

674 was a great tractor.In 1978 worked on a farm with 2 674's and a 1055.One of the 674's was a loader tractor part time.Used to get pig muck dumped in the field and this tractor had duals on the back with the outer ones reversed.Would go anywhere,and get back out,like that.The synchromesh and range lever made using it easy on loader duties,as I found out on the next place I went to which had 590's with stick shifts and multi power.Nicer cab but decidedly unhandy.Nice for grain carting as well,good on the road too,unless you accidently kicked the tipping spool and didn't look back for a bit..........Only did it once!Now the 1055 was a really nice tractor,it had a radio and the engine sounded cool,to a teenager anyway,plus a hundred horse was still something then.So go for a 674 or a 574,definately not a MF 590.

 

[Gilchro]

Brother and I got a 574 to learn on. Bombproof little machine. Biggest problem was with the handbrake, leaving it on and then gumming up the whole system with filings.
Friend borrowed it and he got caught out with that one when he was returning it and nearly parked it in through the window of the local when the steering went solid on him.
Mind you, she was doing nigh on 30 mph at the time

Unfortunately it got consumed in a fire in the straw shed 20 years ago so she's not for sale now.

After school worked on a local fruit place with two 674s and steep hills. Folks learned pretty quickly about the handbrake there.....

 

[Paddington]

Ditto the handbrake on a 574, living on the side of hill I always have to park across the slope, forgot once carting bales........won't do that again!

 

[wilt434]

What about a 374?

 

[joe soapy]

Don't buy a 634 0r 614 they are shite . worst tractors ever made in history

Wouldent agree with that, depends what the op wants. for a simple tractor to fix up and be just a bit different i think
a 634 would be ideal, especially if in the county lookalike spec with equal size wheels.

The ?74 tractors have too many fiddly bits for a fixerupper

 

[Alf]

Wouldent agree with that, depends what the op wants. for a simple tractor to fix up and be just a bit different i think
a 634 would be ideal, especially if in the county lookalike spec with equal size wheels.

The ?74 tractors have too many fiddly bits for a fixerupper

Well I was the owner of one unfortunate machine once , biggest heap of crap I ever had or seen . A prehistoric turd

 

[John 1594]

Well I was the owner of one unfortunate machine once , biggest heap of crap I ever had or seen . A prehistoric turd

and a barsteward to start even on a hot day, by the time you had pre heated it (even in the summer) it had either flattened the battery or burnt the plugs out

IH engines were notorious for being a pain to start, and the 614/34 also suffered from having a hyd oil resivoir which was too small, which overheated the oil and made the pipe next to your leg red hot

and they were generally "heavy" to drive with regards to the controls

 

[joe soapy]

and a barsteward to start even on a hot day, by the time you had pre heated it (even in the summer) it had either flattened the battery or burnt the plugs out

IH engines were notorious for being a pain to start, and the 614/34 also suffered from having a hyd oil resivoir which was too small, which overheated the oil and made the pipe next to your leg red hot

and they were generally "heavy" to drive with regards to the controls

I think what you're saying is they have "character" and look great in red with white wheels

 

[John 1594]

I think what you're saying is they have "character" and look great in red with white wheels

charecter is too good a word, they were outdated the day they were designed, they were heavily based of the 50s mcormic design in all reality

by then people were crying out for mod cons like powersteering etc, the IH engine had the low down torque, but the likes of the ford 5000, MF175, JD2120 and DB 1200 were simply a lot easier on the driver, and didnt need the national grid hooked to them on a cold morning to get the engine going

The 6 series IH was just an inert lump of a thing in comparison

 

[grumpy]

http://www.tractorbarnproductions.com/tractor-dvds/international-harvester-tractors/

 

[spanners]

 

[multi power]

I agree who would want to sit in an old massey , but they do go for ever

dont you mean who would want to sit on an international? there is a 584 here on the scraper somtimes, i think the hand scraper is more fun

 

[multi power]

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nice enough tractor,









if you dont need to reverse

 

[balerman]

Find a 454,absolute peach of a 3 cyl engine which is amazingly quiet and powerful for its size.The 523 was its predecessor,the forerunner of the 844/856 range,so a bit of a crossover tractor between Doncaster and german built machines.

 

[snowhite]

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a great tractor in its day , we had a contractor here that had 14 of them when we came out