I-H 2+2

Al Baker(pumpman) · Jan 3, 2017

I saw a I-H video on u tube on the 2+2 when it first cam out. Looked like I-h put some time and thinking into building the tractor. After watching the sales pitch I found myself wondering what really happened? There were never many around here and the ones who did have them didn't seem to keep them long. What was the good, or bad on a 2+2 ? Did they work as well as I-H said they would. I wonder how one would be for pulling a manure spreader in the winter? Al

dhermesc · Jan 3, 2017

Big expensive and clumsy to use. Basically they were an articulated 4WD tractor that was designed to do the job of a tractor with MWFA. They can be had for dirt cheap today but with many more parts (some rare) they require more maintenance and repairs - meaning more $s to operate.

NY 986 · Jan 3, 2017

I don't know how much time or thinking that IH put into a 2 plus 2 as the rear end was pretty much an 86 row crop chassis and cab. It was not a from the ground up new design. They were best as a small dairy farm tractor and I remember a string of years back in the 1970's where the autumns were wet so interest was high in the 2 plus 2 for a corn chopping tractor. Working them like a Steiger or Versatile did them in quick. An area dealer brought out a 3388 and we borrowed a 5 bottom plow to pull behind it. That 3388 did not want anymore than that 5 bottom plow back there even though in theory it should have pulled 6 X 16's. The big thing that aided the 2 plus 2 was a lot of IH's competitors had nothing in 4 wheel drive or MFWD in the under 180 hp sizes. This changed by the early 1980's so the market slipped away by the time the merger came along during the mid 1980's.

NY 986 · Jan 3, 2017

It seems to me that they were scarce the first year out and this is somewhat bore out by the 1978 production numbers. IH dealers were getting more time on demo units than what were suppose to be upsetting the IH blockmen. Everybody who was interested wanted one that fall to chop corn. Then months later the strike came which hurt the 2 plus 2 market.

rrlund · Jan 3, 2017

How were they for chopping being articulated? I know a guy who tried to chop with a 7020 Deere and said it was all but impossible to stay on the row. He said if you turned,it pushed the chopper way off the other direction.

NY 986 · Jan 3, 2017

I never heard any complaints. It was just one of those things that you get used to just like going from a two wheel drive front steering axle tractor to a center pivot articulated tractor to a Case crab steer 4 wheel drive. Some guys can go from one to the next to the next one yet on the same farm on the same day with no problem then there are guys who can only manage one type of tractor period. I think that if you have enough mud any one of them will be frustrating to keep on the row. Case dealers touted the advantage that with the crab steer you could keep both axles steering uphill to stay on the row. The only thing was that the HP started at 180 with the 2470 by the time I was old enough to care. Case had nothing more economical down around 130-150 HP. White had its 4-150 but White really did not have any powerhouse dealers around like Case or AC did. Back to the 2 plus 2 we plowed when our turn came for a demo as it was summer with a field that needed to be turned to go to wheat that fall. I did see a new 2 plus 2 on a new IH chopper the following fall and it did not look difficult to manage. That fall was a little dryer than the fall of 1978. If you are asking me 2-155 or 3588 I guess if I were calling the shots back then it would have been 2-155 w/ MFWD.

showcrop · Jan 3, 2017

That is what advertising people do. They take big money for putting lipstick on a pig and making people think that they put a lot of planning and though into how best to do it.

rrlund · Jan 3, 2017

I have seen guys around here chopping with the big Case 4 wheel drives,but you could steer with just the front wheels on those.

NY 986 · Jan 3, 2017

Steering with the front axle would be my preference too. That said if it came down to using a Deere 8440 to get the job done I could do it with minimum difficulty. Basically you would lay the pass out in your mind as you come to the row and then follow in a straight line. Whipping the steering wheel is going to put a wave in the pass you are on and some corn heads are more tolerant than others if off the row by a couple of inches. If you know you are going to chop with an articulate before you put the corn in it might pay to redo the planting layout. Some fields are irregular so it might be best to find a spot where you can drive perfectly straight and then work from there to the sides and ends.

coonie minnie · Jan 3, 2017

Like anything, it is what you are used to. I keep a chopper on the row with the tongue swing as much as the tractor. The 7020 Deere didn't have live PTO either, so that would also make chopping interesting.

An advantage to a 2+2 on a chopper was that if you had some manual controls (this was the late 70's remember) you could actually reach them.

fixerupper · Jan 3, 2017

We had a few around here. Some had no trouble, some had nothing but trouble. The ones who did not have trouble didn't use them heavy. Hanging saddle tanks on them would snap a front axle. Saw several of them.

Bruce from Can. · Jan 3, 2017

I would not buy one now in 2017 , parts are tough to get if not impossible .

NY 986 · Jan 3, 2017

That is an easy question to answer. How about if it was 1978, you have the money, and there is 25 acres of corn to chop that your current 90 hp 2 wheel drive is not getting through?

rrlund · Jan 3, 2017

Ya,he'd said it didn't have live power. He said in wet conditions,it was better to hook the 7020 to the front of the 5020 and pull it through.

2002sliverado · Jan 3, 2017

I have operated both a 3788 and a 6788. I know both owners quite well to this day. The owner of the 3788 had traded it in for a 7240 Magnum with mfwd. There were two tillage tools he felt the 2 + 2 handled better, with one being a v-ripper. The other still has his 6788 and uses it under conditions his 5488 2 wd struggles in. Operating one does take a bit of getting used to, but I did like how that front end would turn the tractor and implement right on around. They could pull quite well and with all those large tires on the ground, they had an advantage in wet and muddy conditions over their competitor's products. Another poster indicated parts are either difficult to obtain, or getting difficult to obtain. I tend to recall the drive train was a little light in these tractors, but I believe when the 70 series came out with the STS transmission and planetary final drives, these shortcomings were improved upon.

Mark-Ia · Jan 3, 2017

They were clumsy and ugly to drive. Most people used them as a 4wd which they weren't designed for.This one belonged to a friend I help in the fall. Was a great day when that tractor went down the road.

Ken Macfarlane · Jan 3, 2017

Still one in our neighbourhood. Once in a while see it out rescuing stuff out of a wet hole. Most of the time its is on a bale wrapper that is stationary so I suspect it has some transmission or middle joint issues.

I'm not sure why they use it for recoveries as they have a good sized cable skidder on the farm.

oldtanker · Jan 3, 2017

IH really messed up with those. With the number of units sold I often wonder if IH actually made any profit on them. Considering that they had to start new lines for them, engineering cost, testing cost and marketing. Their timing was bad for the release because MFWA was just about to take the market.

As far as good or bad? Some love em and other hate them! Back in the day I thought it was an interesting concept and ugly!

Rick

massey 333 · Jan 3, 2017

Randy,they didn't drive like 4 wheel drive tractor does.The back end doesn't really move or swing hardly at all.You drove them like a 2 wheel drive tractor,that was their big selling point.You ONLY put duels on the back axle and NEVER on the front or you had failure right away if used that way on heavy tillage work.

dhermesc · Jan 3, 2017

I thought the front axle wasn't supposed to have duals mounted on it.

coonie minnie · Jan 3, 2017

I was told that, too, by a former IH mechanic.

JayinNY · Jan 3, 2017

They wernt recommend by IH on earlier models.

Part Time Pete · Jan 3, 2017

The dad of a couple of guys I went to school with bought one new. They're now our local BTO and they still use it on the chisel plow for turning under manure. They take very good care of their stuff, so it still looks almost new, but it's got to have a ton of hours on it
Pete

JD Seller · Jan 3, 2017

I have a cousin that bought a new one in 1979. It bankrupted him. In the first year alone it was in the shop more than in the field. Then when it went off warranty he could hardly pay the repair bills. He was not a cowboy operator either. The trouble was in the middle joint mainly hoses and drive shafts. His even cracked the fuel tank twice in under 500 hours.

He paid what I did for my JD 4440 and did not get the use out of it.

Adirondack case guy · Jan 3, 2017

Most of then left around here have been religated to Poo spreaders. That is about all they were good for. They sure wern't nimble in row crop situations.
Loren

Ragnarok · Jan 3, 2017

Hmmm...I fixed the air conditioning system up on a 3588 last summer....was really impressed with the hood falling-off when you opened it all the way forward! :shock: ....takes like three guys to stuff it back on

Nick m · Jan 3, 2017

I worked on a small dairy farm in school that had a 6588. Was used for poo hauling and a secondary tillage tractor when the 8920 magnum was tied up. The 2+2 would pull anything the magnum would, just a touch slower.(25ft disc, 9 shank disc chisel). Even chopped hay with it on occasion. The owner said the 2+2 would have made the magnum look silly if it were still putting out the ponies it did when they bought it. He said that engine didn't last 2000 hours though. I hated it at first, but kind of grew on me. Don't think I'd ever seek one out, but if a cheap decent one showed up, I wouldn't turn my nose up.

Torwood · Jan 3, 2017

I chopped with an 8440 in the past too. Like everyone has said, you learn to adjust, and in the end I thought it worked pretty well on the chopper.

Straw Boss · Jan 4, 2017

Or the grill simply falls out and you run over it.

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