806 questions

[anoelke]

Looking for a tractor to use 3-4 times a week to grind feed and 2 times a year to shred 60 acres. Found an 806 that’s been fixed up that looks pretty sharp. New gauges engines been gone through, inject pump has been rebuilt. Shifts well no leaks.
Anybody out there still using these daily?
Are parts hard to find?
Appreciate any advice on it.
Used to old tractors just not this color..
Thanks
Aubrey

 

[SkipperII]

Good old tractors. I have had some degree of success getting used parts from Parts ASAP. But, haven't needed anything lately.


.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

Mine gets used quite a bit. There's enough new & used parts out there to keep you going for a while.

If the one you are looking at is ready to go, you should have a good time with it. Those tractors can still get a lot done.

Mike

 

[Powered By IH]

Looking for a tractor to use 3-4 times a week to grind feed and 2 times a year to shred 60 acres. Found an 806 that’s been fixed up that looks pretty sharp. New gauges engines been gone through, inject pump has been rebuilt. Shifts well no leaks.
Anybody out there still using these daily?
Are parts hard to find?
Appreciate any advice on it.
Used to old tractors just not this color..
Thanks
Aubrey

Hello Aubrey!
A couple things:
Do they have documentation of the engine rebuild? receipts, etc.
Does the engine smoke at all?
How does the Torque Amplifier, steering, hydraulics, brakes and PTO work?
Have you checked all of the fluids?

 

[anoelke]

Hello Aubrey!
A couple things:
Do they have documentation of the engine rebuild? receipts, etc.
Does the engine smoke at all?
How does the Torque Amplifier, steering, hydraulics, brakes and PTO work?
Have you checked all of the fluids?

Engine wasn’t rebuilt just head machined and valves replaced. Going off what owner says,everything you mention works right. Engine smokes a little . He says due to new valves not being worn in. Is that believable?

 

[Jim Becker]

Engine smokes a little . He says due to new valves not being worn in. Is that believable?

No.

 

[Gary Reif]

Engine wasn’t rebuilt just head machined and valves replaced. Going off what owner says,everything you mention works right. Engine smokes a little . He says due to new valves not being worn in. Is that believable?

Never heard that one before. (Engine smokes because the valves haven't worn in yet)

 

[used red MN]

He says due to new valves not being worn in. Is that believable?

The consensus you will get on this is that it is not a correct statement. When a “valve job” has been completed at that point is when they are at optimal and then as the engine runs gradually degrade in terms of loosing their ability to seal. Piston rings which would not have been touched according to what you described do have a “break-in” process and can gain effectiveness during that process after installation.
The tractor being a diesel will smoke to some degree particularly after start up while the engine is coming up to operating temperature. The color of smoke and the amount is what help you determine if the engine is in okay condition or not. After the engine is at operating temperature blueish/gray smoke would not be considered good and is an indication of burning oil.
Overall an 806 is considered a very good tractor. I think it goes without saying, that tractor is roughly 60 years old, some parts particularly in the power train excluding the engine will only be available from other salvaged machines.

 

[miangus]

I think, my personal opinion, the 806 may have been the best IH tractor built. The fact the rebuild only did the head may be a good thing, the dry sleeve motor used in the 806 required a experienced rebuilder to get it right. The idea that the new valve job will break-in and it will quit smoking is not true. If it smokes now, it will smoke later. If it runs smooth under load and the smoke is black, I wouldn't worry. A tractor that age will likely have some gray smoke at idle.

 

[matthies]

On a V8 chevy that was using oil, only got worse when I had the heads rebuilt with new valve seals. Guy told me not to do it, but I had to try something. It would use a quart on a 60 mile trip, when the heads were fixed, I lost oil pressure and shut it down as it was that low on oil, on the same trip. Filled it back up and all was fine, just added oil before going home.

 

[urbancase]

806 is a good tractor, I would look at cost of what they want for it, and see if you live with it. I myself would not worry about a little smoke for the age of the tractor. Parts are not hard to find, I have 06, 66 and 86 series tractors and no problems getting parts.

 

[Mrfred54]

Kick myself for selling my 806. The 361 diesel is a very good engine. When I sold mine it had 11,000 hours and never touched the engine other than new injectors and rebuilt injection pump once

 

[rustred]

Engine wasn’t rebuilt just head machined and valves replaced. Going off what owner says,everything you mention works right. Engine smokes a little . He says due to new valves not being worn in. Is that believable?

kinda appears the owner is not all that mechanically inclined, from that comment. sure the head was most likely resurfaced and had the valves replaced, but there is a lot more to the job rebuilding a head than that. i would be asking for the receipt on that job, as that will tell the story. and here we go again with the "engine being gone through". as i say thats salesman talk. why not specify or show reciepts as to what was done. and aslo having the injection pump done and head and who knows what else thats a far bit of money supposedly spent on it. and who was doing this work ? is another question worth asking. plus find out if it uses any oil .plus depends what he is asking for it also.

 

[rustred]

Kick myself for selling my 806. The 361 diesel is a very good engine. When I sold mine it had 11,000 hours and never touched the engine other than new injectors and rebuilt injection pump once

its all in the regular oil changing and servicing. technically that is not a lot of hrs. my duramax has over 10k hrs and dont use any oil.

 

[countryman]

On my 806 you have to use an overriding clutch on the small spline pto drive to run control of start and stop.

 

[ss55]

Engine wasn’t rebuilt just head machined and valves replaced. Going off what owner says,everything you mention works right. Engine smokes a little . He says due to new valves not being worn in. Is that believable?

I would ask why the head was machined:
- was the head warped after overheating?
- to compensate for low compression?
- or to put in new valve seats due to excessive valve recession?

IH 361/407 engines have a very good reputation for power and durability, but they were expensive to manufacture and are expensive and finicky to overhaul. They were replaced by the 400 series wet sleeve design engines to reduce cost.

P

Post in thread '806 miss and smoke…alot of smoke'

Mar 13, 2014

You got that right about those 361 and 407 can be tough to overhaul. Then you have the guy who puts the sleeves in the freezer and drives them in with a wood block and the darn engine actually runs. Thing is , one engine doesn't count. Do a bunch of them and then compare results. Another thing often overlooked on all of these diesel engines is piston protrusion over the top of the block. IH never even gave any specs for it. Have to go to engine rebuilders for specs. We all know that valve recession or protrusion is critical(now days we know, old farts like me had to learn that the hard way...

• pete 23

 

[anoelke]

Really appreciate all the good information convince me to make the long drive to go. Check it out.Went and saw Tractor yesterday and there’s less smoke than I’ve ever seen on an old tractor. Shifts really well steer is good. Sounds fantastic. Body is straight and paint is good. has good gauges.The downsides are the seat is shot and the tires are usable, but old and weathered cracked. Also one fender is not original, which doesn’t bug me, but could affect resale if I had to. Guy has obviously put a lot of work in getting the mechanics working this well and is asking for 8300. I don’t see a lot of similiar tractors out there what do you guys think?

 

[miangus]

For that price it needs to be nice. Make sure it has the duel PTO 540/1000 the 06 series did have issues with the shift linkages most which can be dealt with. There is a lot of advice on adjusting and repairing shifting issues in this forum. Tractor Vets posts gave great advice. Check the TA souls lock in firmly. Drive the tractor in reverse and listen for a clicking in the transmission. Reverse can often have a chipped tooth.

 

[dhermesc]

Really appreciate all the good information convince me to make the long drive to go. Check it out.Went and saw Tractor yesterday and there’s less smoke than I’ve ever seen on an old tractor. Shifts really well steer is good. Sounds fantastic. Body is straight and paint is good. has good gauges.The downsides are the seat is shot and the tires are usable, but old and weathered cracked. Also one fender is not original, which doesn’t bug me, but could affect resale if I had to. Guy has obviously put a lot of work in getting the mechanics working this well and is asking for 8300. I don’t see a lot of similiar tractors out there what do you guys think?

Shifts well? That's a new one for an 06 series. Has it been converted to a 56 or 66 series shifter?

 

[used red MN]

I doubt ..she.. knows.