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Swampcat: 856 may be quite old as your neighbors suggest however 56 series tractors have stood the test of time much better than most tractors. The very best tractors IH ever produced, it was all down hill after that. There are 856 tractors around today with 15,000 to 25,000 hours on them and have never been rebuilt. If I were to return to farming today, I wouldn't be one bit afraid to tackle 500 acres of cash croping with a couple of 56 series tractors. Having said all of that, you must decide condition of the particular 856 in question. One of the first items I look for in a used tractor is condition of sheet metal. Then look for welding on castings and front end. Those two will tell you a lot on how well tractor was cared for and maintained. If those items are in good condition, tractor rebuilds are quite straight foreward. From there ask for a working demonstration, about 8 hours on a 80% of hp job. If he refuses you know something needs rebuilding, and in 8 hours your going to find it. If the guy consents to the demo, you know he is damn certain of tractors ability and condition. I go to a consignment auction every year, held by a particular auctioneer. He has rules on selling tractors. All tractors being sold as running tractors must be started by auction staff at 10 am and left running at 800 rpm until tractor selling time at 1 pm. During this time prospective buyers can check them out. All tractors that don't make the 3 hours are sold as non running or parts tractors. You can also consign a tractor as non running, and not bother with the 3 hour test. Remember when you go to buy a tractor, the customer is always right, it may be his tractor, but it's your money.
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