John Deere vs International

[Crookedcreekjerseys]

I usually get tractor fever this time of year and its back, it doesnt help my work is seasonal and Im off Christmas to April 1st. Im stuck between a dealer lot John Deere 4030 diesel and a 1 owner IH 686 diesel with the 312 engine bought new 5 miles from my house. Production years only overlapped for 2 years but these would have been competitors in their horse power range. Both are open station and would do anything from grinding feed to pulling a wheel rake. Id love to hear anyones opinion. Especially if youve operated both.

 

[Janicholson]

Service records (or an actual discussion with the 5 mile owner about condition) would,if positive, influence me toward the IH. But there is nothing wrong with the JD if it is operational. Is there a big difference in cost? Jim

 

[centash]

The 686 is an older design from the 60s, whereas the 4030 was a new model. Compare things like wet clutch/brakes, diff lock, dual speed pto,etc feature vs. Feature.. Both are a good tractor, the deal breaker would be condition and price.
Ben

 

[Rich'sToys]

As mentioned, if you have not already done so, I'd visit with the owner of the IH, since he's only 5 miles away. See what he has to say about the tractor.

 

[redforlife]

Price difference and how many hours since last overhaul would be big factors to me. Otherwise would be a pretty close toss up to me.

Friend of mine bought and fixed up a couple 4030's. One open station, the other with the old cab on it. Seem like pretty good all around tractors. I wouldn't have any problem with having one of those in my line up.

The one owner 686 wouldn't be a bad choice either. Sometimes it's worth alot to know the care and mechanical history. With a one owner, you can ussually get the whole story, and not just part of it as you would with a multiple owner. Also have an idea of its work life too. Know if it's been in front of a plow it's whole life, or just pulling a hay rake about half the time. You can find out that type of info also, from a one owner.

 

[VicS]

Of course anyone in their right mind would pick the 4030. The 686 is just a 560. One of the reasons Ihc went broke.

 

[tomstractorsandtoys]

To me the 686 is just a warmed over 656. The hyds on the Deere will be much better and you would be getting a hyd clutch. Bad about a 4030 is they are one of the worst for getting antifreeze in the oil due to electrolysis. same engine used in 2840 and 4400-6600 combines. The IH would have to be super nice for me to choose it over the 4030. The 4030 is also going to ride better. Did the 686's ever get a park? Neighbors 656 just has locking brake pedals and he about got run over when it wasn't latched right. IH just never seemed to put the effort into their smaller tractors. There is a huge difference between the 656 and the 756-856 same with 786 and 986 compared to the 686. I know they needed to compete on price but it seems they could have done better. I will admit to being very bias in favor of green tractors as I only have about 10 of them.LOL Tom

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Here comes the 560 whine-fest

 

[Bill(Wis)]

The 686 is nearly identical to the 666 before it. They just renamed it 686 when the 86 series came along in 1976. I don't see much of a comparison with a 656 other than they were both red. One change did occur in 1979 when the engine went from 312 cid to 310 cid. The info I see on the Nebraska tests show the Deere to have both a 1000 rpm PTO and a 540 whereas the 686 just has 540. Comparing the bare tractors the Deere weighs about 1000 lbs more than the 686. Personally, the TA would turn me off but there are other things to look at.

 

[Tx Jim]

Which trans does 4030 have (SR or QR). I had a 4030 with SR trans when I 1st started custom rd baling. I much prefer the QR trans with twice as many speeds. Perma-clutch on JD tractors is very good as my 4255 with same type clutch has 11,600+ hrs on original clutch & it's operated a rd baler starting/stopping over 100,000 times not to mention the many 100's of acres this clutch has been used to pull a plow.

If 686 operator station & controls are anywhere close to same design as a 986 I'd choose 4030 for sure. Yrs back I drove my friends 986 for 4 hrs & disconnected it & attached 24 ft field cult to my JD 4255 to complete plowing. Every yr after initial yr I plowed for my friend I used my 4255.

I was unaware JD 329 CID engine had a bad history of engine cylinder liner failure due to cavitation. 329 CID diesel engine utilizes same part # for cylinder liner used in 153 different JD engines.

I think poor coolant maintenance is the major cause for liner cavitation.

 

[Stuart]

After the 560 came out, Deere was 1st in tractor sales. Its not a whine fest. Its backed up by facts. The 560 and 06 series never should have been made. I say all this even though I grew up and own IH tractors

 

[caterpillar guy]

I've been an IH guy for years and the biggest fault is the lack of volume in the hydraulics and lack of decent PSI in them also. Puny little 12 GPM pump with only about 2000 PSI makes for slow hydraulic work if used with a loader.

 

[NY 986]

John Deere 4030 with Quad Range (16 Speed) transmission plus the hydraulic system and dual speed PTO would have a clear advantage over the 686 in terms of features. Given the age of both condition might be the ultimate factor in which one to go with. I have a friend who would be highly interested in the 686 if you were to pass it up. Anyways, either if well maintained would make a good tractor. Further, the 4030 may have differential lock which was never offered on the 686. The HP difference is significant with the 4030 rated at 80 PTO HP and the 686 at 66 PTO HP. The 4030 catches some guff because it is less HP than the 4020 even though the model number is higher.

 

[Farmer Rock]

Although I think the 560 gets too bad of a reputation, I do agree, the 560 caused a lot of grief for IH.
The 06 series on the other hand, I don't see a problem, they were tough as nails.
Many 806Ds earned their keep as the big tractor on the farm back in the day.


Rock

 

[Rich'sToys]

Sooooo.....Back to the original question--which tractor should this guy buy?

 

[Tony in SD]

Id buy both.

 

[rrlund]

Consider operator comfort. The 4030 would have tilt/telescope and a console wouldn't it?

 

[dhermesc]

Many of the 06 series are still earning a living on the farm today. I always thought the 86 series should have never been built (as it was). At that point IH large frame tractors should have a true power shift transmission instead of the 4X2 transmission with a TA. By the mid 1970s every major manufacturer had a power shift transmission of some kind. While their engines were (and are) great the failure to put a modern transmission in their tractors and letting a copy machine president mismanage their finances hurt them more than some failed bearings in the 1950s did.

For all the talk about the lousy 560 there are still thousands of them on farms working to this day 60+ years later.

 

[hoosier.hz]

Sounds to me like theres one clear and correct decision here

 

[NY 986]

Depends on the money and the purpose. The 686 would have to price under the 4030 if the condition of each one was near to equal of the other.

 

[Mrfred54]

Have had both red and green on the farm. From farmall H,and M. 560,656 706,806,966,986,5088,5488. Green,A,4020. After the 4020,two tranny rebuilds,engine failure, axle broke, dad said no more green sh***, on the farm. Did have a 55 combine that was very good machine. All red now, no more green. The IH tractors have been very good to us, have never replaced a TA in any of them. Did buy the 986 with a bad TA. Replaced it, been 22 years ago. Two speed Pto would not concern me with a 65 horse tractor. Don't need it. 2000 psi is plenty of pressure for the size tractor,its not a large frame tractor. Just my opinion

 

[paulsamwel]

Condition is everything.The 686 is 66 pto hp versus the 4030 at 80 pto hp.As mentioned the 4030 has much better clutch,trans(either synchro or quad),brakes,hydraulics,etc..

 

[Tx Jim]

Mrfred54
Opinions are like navels everyone has ONE!

There's a lot larger % of JD 4020's that made it to over 10,000 hrs of use without problems than the 4020's that needed engine/trans overhaul at low hrs of use.

IHC 986 operator comfort left a lot to be desired for me.

 

[Stuart]

IH promoted from within and few new ideas. I live in an area populated by many IH Dealers and there are more M and 450s earning their keep than 560s. Your statement is pure hyperbole. Are speaking about for profit farms or hobby farms/tax right offs? Around me for the last 20 years, a 560 is of little use on even small farms.
The 56 and 66 were much better than the 06 series.
How did Deere outsell IH with that antiquated 2 cylinder design?
Deere started with a clean slate with the 4010/4020, and it culiminated with 55/60 series. Now the 30 series had their share of problems for sure, but that tends to happen when trying new things

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Sooner or later you will need something done above your paygrade.

Dealer support is #1 in my book.
#2 is having a truck and trailer to haul the tractor to the dealer.

 

[Hawkeye85]

For the tasks you listed the 686 would be great, knowing that it is a one owner tractor belonging to one of your neighbors would be worth a lot, not many one owner tractors if that vintage anymore. The 4030 will give you better hydraulics, but given the size of those tractors it may not really matter. The 4030 is a bit bigger, and if it has QR trans it has a lot to offer over the 686 if they are in similar condition. Both are nice tractors to operate, the 6 may feel better to operate around the farm yard, but I believe it will have a mechanical TA, so it will freewheel down hill.

If the 686 is a clean tractor its a desirable tractor all around tractor. If the 4030 has a SR trans and is a clean tractor as well it would be my choice simply given the better trany option.

 

[Hawkeye85]

I mean QR in the 4030.