These are notes that I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
Dennis DeBruler posted Is this a 2+2? Are they still made? I had my daughter drive north on I-57 so I could ride in the backseat and take pictures of corn cribs. I also grabbed shots of any tillage work I saw on Nov. 8, 2014. Cary P Cavanaugh2+2 was the one of a kind brainchild of IH. It's future was killed when Tenneco stepped in and merged IH with Case. Not all is lost, as Steiger was picked up in the deal to put red out front in 4 wd and tracks. Cody SheppardThe big design point of the 2+2 was having a big split-turn 4x4 that the operator could still easily see the hitch from the seat. John WarrenLove ours many hours out tilling with an row cropping with... use it to sidedress nh3 every year one of the few 4x4 articulated tractors that follows wheel to wheel in the turns John LeistModel #'s 3388 @131hp (PTO), 3588 @150hp, built from '79 to'81. 3788 @170hp built from'80 to'81, ......6388 @131hp. 6588@150hp. < built between '82 to'84. 6788 @170hp all built from '83 to'84. .......... only 16 Model 7488's (@235hp) were built before production halted in Nov. 1984. There was also a small number of 7288's (@210hp.) made during that time frame. Cary P CavanaughNot sure, but somewhere I read if they kept going, a 7088 would have come in at 180hp and a 7688 would have been 275. Russ WhitacreThanks for adding me. In about 1978 I was in a meeting with Bud Youle the marketing manager for large IH tractors and we discussed the 2+2 concept - he said it was "to buy time" for IH, I took that to mean that they couldn't afford to upgrade the whole line and needed some marketing buzz for a new model using current components. I was working as a training instructor for IH and worked the dealer launch of the 2+2's in Phoenix in January/February 1979, due to rain/snow in the desert we drove those tractors all over Phoenix and Scottsdale to find higher ground. One more add - my dad was a test engineer for IH starting working on H's and M's in the 40's and his last assignment was tracking the field testing of the 2+2's.
Cody M Sheeks posted Our 3388 2+2 all original got 4,000 hrs we use it ever day pumped has be turned up 40%
Some of the photos shared by Dan Bowen include a 2+2 with a detailed shot of the articulated joint.
Sheldon Richardson posted two photos with the comment: "2+2 ran the spreader pretty good. Got a lot of thumbs up and waves while on the road."
[His 2+2 is still rolling in 2024. Some comments discuss if he had trouble with the drawbar and which gears were used for spreading and roading.]
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Chris Dieterle posted Hey everyone, got a tech question about my 3788. How does the fuel tank system work?! It seems like the gauge reads off the back tank, but mine has been drawing fuel off the front tank only. I also see there's a transfer pump under the cab with a filter on it. So my questions are, does it just pull fuel off the front tank, if so, what tells that pump under the cab to pump fuel up to the front tank, and does that front tank have sending unit in it? Someone feel free to school me on this, I'm willing to learn! Thanks!James LerouxOn mine the fuel system was a source of endless frustration. I removed the back fuel tank and made an epic tool box back there. Works great!
Brian Terry posted So was the 7088 going to be 150 PTO horsepower?Brian TerryNo idea they planned a 7088, a 7688 was on the idea list, likely with a bigger engine and in the 250+ range.
Kenneth Updike posted Full Frontal Friday...... Dennis DeBrulerInteresting. It never occurred to me that they need to twist as well as bend until I saw this photo.
Kenneth Updike posted Front End Friday photo.....
William E. Karis commented on the posting that was shared above
Andy Rentschler posted
Happy 2+Tuesday!! Found a nice little brochure at the Toy show in Winimac, IN this weekend!! Pretty sure it's the pamphlet from the 1st edition display!!
David BrattonI still have the one that I got from our IH dealer in bourbon Indian when I was a kidRyan MorrowI have the same one with the 1980 buyers guide
Hartmut Keller commented on Kenneth's posting
Kenneth Update posted
Part of the IH intro ad for the tractor series that changed the way IH looked at its future in tractors......
Big Tractor Power posted
International 575 spreader making a pit stop
[This is the first time I have seen a 2+2 in a turned position.]
Guy Shrum posted
This is one of my favorite sales brochure pics for 2+2's. Many years ago, I pulled a 6 row cultivator with a 3788 in cotton. William DavenportI run 8r 30 with my 3588s stillGary AndriesI ran 3588 with an Bushhog 8-36" 36 years ago.
[This is one of the reasons why IH advertised it as a "row crop" tractor. The standard 4WD articulated design would have smashed the plants. They were good only for tillage (plowing, disking, etc.) operations after the crop was off the field. I wonder if William is growing "organic corn." Cultivators, along with plows, became obsolete with the advent of broad-spectrum herbicide and the genetically modified corn that could survive the herbicide.]
Dennis Lenox posted three photos with the comment: "Well we got it split today. Got some parts to order. Clutch, shaft bearing, pto shaft needs replaced and the cast piece that pivots were the shafts go threw needs to be sent out and machined."
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Jordan Konkol posted
I don't care what anyone says about the snoopy's, they are cool tractors in my opinion. Where they created a hybrid between row crop and the high hp 4wd's of their day. Still a lot of them used today as cheap horsepower.
[It yellow because it is used in the Ukraine. The comments contain several more pictures of "anteaters."]
Guy Shrum posted
I enjoy red tractors, but sometimes a different color adds some excitement. This a European made 2+2, built by Raba under license from IH. Some people say built in Hungary, others say Czechoslovakia. Maybe Raba had factories in both countries...?
Evidently the 2+2 had some reliability issues, at least initially:
Yep, a lot of the Binder guys try to claim that IH going belly up was due to the farm economy and the strike. I've also heard that they spent a BIG pile of money doing warranty work and recalls on the 2+2s. But the main problem they had was trying to play in to many sandboxes at the same time. They tried to compete with Deere in ag, with Cat in construction, in the truck and pickup markets, etc. Try to do to many things and you end up not being able to do any of them very well. Although they did build darn good straight trucks. I'll give them that. [YesterdaysTractor, 12-15-2004 13:34:10 ]
Jeremy Russo shared three photos with the comment: "My neighbor's 'new' horse pulling my 'new' mower home." I especially like the first photo because it shows how the tractor turned.
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Scot Perry shared Russell YargerOwned all of these in the day [I saved this one because it shows hay forage chopping as well.]
Kenneth Updike posted
IH 3X88 literature pic...the IH 2+2 runs circles around the competition... Michael HalsallPhoto proves the 2+2 were true row crop tractors! [I believe "true row crop tractor" means that the rear wheels followed the tracks of the front wheels, even during turns. That, and its short turning radius, minimized damage to plants when it had to turn in the field headers.]
Josh Herbert posted
Fields are soft, the old 37 is in her element though! Dan KennedyMy favorite .. I joined IH in 1978 just as these great 2+2’s were being introduced !! A very sad day in 1985 when CIH VP Vicky Rickie killed the program. The new line had tremendous potential ! I’m still not over it!Joe HutflesBest mud tractor ever made. I've pulled out a bunch of tractors and vehicles stuck in mud or bogs with my 3588.Dick WoolleyThat's what she was built ferBrian CasperNice turbo sticker placement lol. Wish I could find a pic of our 6588
Matthew Holder posted
1979 International 3588 2+2 Roger BraggNice looking outfit. Where you located? My 6788 wouldn’t pull 8 in my ground.Matthew HolderWilson NC
Chris Simons posted, cropped [The comments include photos of the business end of blowers and how this unit is heavy and it takes a big tractor to handle it.]
Jeremy Ekkel shared Jean Cointe's post of five photos with the comment: "FARMALL Plant 1978 Press unveiling of the 2+2 tractors @WHS special thanks to Herbert Starzinger for the research."
Joe Trappler: Unstoppable tractor in the mud.
Xristos Tziotzios: I can’t understand how this company has closed!!
Dennis Coopman: Xristos Tziotzios the story I got from a employee there was Brooks McCormick wanted to break the union. Instead he bankrupted his company. [The Fort Wayne, IN, truck plant closed rather soon after a long strike. Springfield, OH, got all of the manufacturing work.]
It appears that there was a 7088 planned. This would have been the continuation 3388, 6388 lineage all powered by variations of the DT-436 turbocharged diesel engine. The bigger models were all powered by variations of the DT-466 turbocharged diesel engine. I am not sure what engine the 7688 prototype was powered by though
Because Case bought Steiger and Steiger had a much better 4wd tractor at the time then what the 2+2 had there were also alot of problems with the 2+2 not that appealing to farmer's in the day. But the main reason is because case bought Steiger in 1986
Case needed to extract their pound of flesh from Harvester after Tenneco handed them the keys to the family bus. So the 2+2 was cancelled immediately and all existing examples at Farmall were scrapped, even if they were completed. All existing 2+2 parts including the chrome exhaust pipes that could've been used on the 50 Series tractors built after November 26, 1984 were scrapped. The endless stupidity continued with management distributing hats at meetings with former IH dealers that had the IH logo colors intentionally reversed. If management in Racine had any intelligence they would've continued what was brewing at Harvester including the products and color schemes and kept the four letter word off the agricultural product line. When Tenneco spun off the division in 1992, the bastard stepchild Case fumbled around until Fiat took pity on them. Harvester may have been inept but they weren't jackasses....
It appears that there was a 7088 planned. This would have been the continuation 3388, 6388 lineage all powered by variations of the DT-436 turbocharged diesel engine. The bigger models were all powered by variations of the DT-466 turbocharged diesel engine. I am not sure what engine the 7688 prototype was powered by though
ReplyDeleteIs anyone able to explain why the 2+2 design was terminated by JI Case?
ReplyDeleteWere there design flaws?
Is anyone able to explain why the 2+2 design was terminated by JI Case?
ReplyDeleteWere there design flaws?
Because Case bought Steiger and Steiger had a much better 4wd tractor at the time then what the 2+2 had there were also alot of problems with the 2+2 not that appealing to farmer's in the day. But the main reason is because case bought Steiger in 1986
DeleteCase needed to extract their pound of flesh from Harvester after Tenneco handed them the keys to the family bus. So the 2+2 was cancelled immediately and all existing examples at Farmall were scrapped, even if they were completed. All existing 2+2 parts including the chrome exhaust pipes that could've been used on the 50 Series tractors built after November 26, 1984 were scrapped. The endless stupidity continued with management distributing hats at meetings with former IH dealers that had the IH logo colors intentionally reversed. If management in Racine had any intelligence they would've continued what was brewing at Harvester including the products and color schemes and kept the four letter word off the agricultural product line. When Tenneco spun off the division in 1992, the bastard stepchild Case fumbled around until Fiat took pity on them. Harvester may have been inept but they weren't jackasses....
Deletei have a 79’ 3388 that im restoring.
ReplyDeleteHell ya
Delete