3288 opinions, value?

[youngold farmer]

I went and looked at a 3288 last week as a possible haymaking/corn planter tractor. It would be used on a 9ft discbine, small sq. baler, maybe blower, corn planter, manure spreader etc. I haven't any experience with 86/88 series tractors. Would this be a good fit for these jobs. What is a fair price to pay? It has a clean cab, dual remotes, older repaint but looks nice, 18.4-38 firestones that are worn but not cracked, good fronts, r134 ac, ta works, Striaght sheet metal, no rust. It started cold at 35 degrees with no ether but smoked a lot, cleared up after it warmed up. Shows 4000 hours on a working tach but owner can't confirm correct. There's not many around here so I'm wondering what would be a fair price on it?

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

It's about a 90HP tractor, so if any/all of those jobs can be performed with a 90HP tractor on your farm, then it will work well for you.

A fair price to pay is somewhere between scrap value and whatever the owner is asking for it. Most likely the owner is asking for the moon. A lot depends on condition, and a verbal description of condition depends a lot on the observer's experience and vocabulary. In short, my "good" may be very different from your "good" and that can drastically effect the value of the tractor.

If you want a good cross-section of "high" values check out tractorhouse(.com). The dreamers advertise there. If this guy's asking anywhere near the prices on Tractor House, he's also a dreamer.

 

[NY 986]

IF the hours checked out I would say that 10,000 would be a fair price. Been a long time since I have seen a 3288 or 3688 sell at auction but I don't remember any wild bidding as though they were ultra rare or ultra collectible. I just saw a 6788 sell last Saturday for 4,000 dollars which surprised me as they as supposed to be very collectible even if the condition is less than desirable. This 6788 supposedly only needed a power steering pump but 4,000 dollars tells me that those 88 series tractors don't have a huge fanbase.

 

[MinniMan]

I had a 5488 which is a much larger tractor than the 3288 you are looking at but otherwise very similar. They are a beautiful tractor to drive. As easy as driving a car steering wise. The one I had started excellent and was a smooth running engine. Very quiet cab and all controls were well positioned for ease of use. The transmission had a direct and underdrive position by simply moving the shift leaver left or right Excellent for bailing or cutting hay.
The only down side would be if you had to do the clutch or any transmission work it requires a split and is very complex. Make sure you have the right PTO speed for what you need. I'm not sure if the 3288 had the dual PTO or not but I tend to think it will. Mine was only 1000 with the big shaft. I used it on a big PTO combine for years I found it excellent on fuel which was dependant on how hard it was working. It would run for days on a baler but would use more in heavy tillage operations but not a fuel hog at all.
So long as everything is working well it is one of the nicest tractors you could have to drive. Turns short and yet easy riding with a nice seat. The municipality used one for years as a mowing tractor for road allowances with a big shulty ditch mower and it was a 3288.

 

[DR. EVIL]

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in common between a 5488 and 3288. 3288 is very similar to the older 886. Nuess D-358 was very fuel efficient, it didn't realize it was only 90 hp. The Torque-Amplifier in a 3288 is different than what the 886 had, shifted electrically I think.
Would be a great haying tractor. Should have the typical 540/1000 rpm PTO IH used since 1963.

I'd like to find a 3088, same tractor but no cab, or as IH called them, a Non-ROPS. Farmall started ordering in generic D-358 engines, the injection pumps were not precisely set, they had to go to Lohse Automotive on the west side of Rock Island to be set to the 80 hp or 90 hp depending on if they would go in a 3088 or 3288. I had started that procedure on 786/886 engines when I was still at Farmall. We had LOTS of 886 engines and lots of orders for 786's.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Other than the electric shifting, which is external, the TA is identical to what you'd find in an 886. The only difference is an electric solenoid that runs the plunger up and down instead of a cable connected to a lever.

Gearshift is on the right side in a Z-pattern 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. 1-2 is 1st TA and Direct on an 886, 3-4 is 2nd TA and Direct, and so on and so forth... Going from 1-2 or 3-4, etc. is shifting the TA.

 

[youngold farmer]

Why do you think the 786 was outselling the 886?

 

[youngold farmer]

I saw a non-rops 3088 that looked descent sell for $10,100 on auctiontime a month ago. On tractorhouse they list for more.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Does that model have the fan in front of the radiator ? If so then he will want to look at the fan bearings. I thought the 88 series was series with the fan and bearings deal.

 

[Bill VA]

Sounds like a decent tractor. I?m always skeptacle of hours on the meters on these old tractors. IMHO price and condition are most important and while there are barn finds out there for cheap, to get a decent tractor you?re going to have to likely pay more up front; still cheap compared to a new tractor. I?ve been looking at some haying tractors and with the exception of one, I walked away telling myself, that was a fine tractor in its day - but not today. As was mentioned, keep an eye on the front steering bearing at the radiator.

Good luck,
Bill

 

[DR. EVIL]

It wasn't so much the 786/3088 was outselling the 886/3288, it was the fact the 786/3088 was a cheaper tractor because of the standard equipment. Right after the 786 started production we built two FWA 786's every day for two weeks. We could only build two FWA a day, and lots of dairy farms wanted them for loader tractors would be my guess. Farther north they would want something with a cab and heater and A/C.
I know 786's never exceeded ten tractors per day, think 886 was 16 per day. What caused us to have to rework engines from one rating to the other was the L-O-N-G lead time to get the engines from IH Nuess. Took Nuess 3-4 months to ship then a month on the North Atlantic and clearing customs. Had the exact same problem with Kimco front drive axles for 2+2's, except we would tell them what we needed and when and they would negotiate what, how many, and when they would ship. Terrible to deal with. That's why the Super 70 tractors would have had a RABA fry axle.