International 240 industrial

I am considering buying a 240 industrial. This looks like a utility, but has the factory loader and backhoe. What I"d like to know is how rare are these? Were they any good or plagued with problems? I"ve been looking on the Internet and have found some utilites and Farmalls, but no Industrials. I"ve also found out that Wagner made the loader and hoe but don"t make parts for it. So I"d like to find a source for them.

Thanks for your help.

I have a 240U that appears to have been painted yellow at one time, or at least the Wagner loader was. Also, it looks like the loader may have been added later because it has a front mounted pump and the loader valve has been added along with the power steering which runs off the tractor pump.
It has the factory 3 point which is basically a modified fast-hitch, but is shown in the factory parts manual. The fast-hitch was never a first class set-up for draft control I think because of the external cylinder and the feedback system to the valves. If you have a backhoe, you probably don't have either a fast-hitch or 3 point, and to me, that's the biggest drawback. I did have to rebuild the steering sector in mine and it had been repaired before because it had a 404 steering arm which caused it to wear out sooner than it should have again, due to putting the shaft in a bind. I bought the complete "inards" for the bolster and have had no trouble since then.
The engine is solid and a later version of the old reliable C-123 which started with the Super C... should have no trouble with that.
Mine has an alternator and is converted to 12V.

This one appears to be yellow and white and there is a front mounted pump. When I first saw it I thought it was a "makeshift system" that had been added on the tractor but apparently they were this was from the factory. There are no lift arms on the back. The guy who currently has this tractor claims it runs well. The loader and backhoe need work. many of the cylinders are rusty and the hoe's spool valve assembly is stuck. it will require a total rebuild of all the hydraulics but I think it might be worth it as a novelty as well as light work. My biggest concern is if the hydraulic parts are generic or proprietary to Wagner.

Can't say about the backhoe hydraulics, but no doubt it needed the bigger crankshaft driven pump for that. On mine, it appears the pump and loader valve were added later, because the valve bracket is fabricated pretty crudely. Can't say what brand the valve or cylinders are, except I know they are not Cessna... I would recognize them. It's my belief the pump was added when PS was added and the loader was separated from the tractors internal valves. It appears the internal valves were hooked up at some time in the past. It had a priority flow valve added for the PS and the remaining flow would have made the loader really slow. As it is, I need to be above an idle for the 3 point to work. I have thought about moving the PFDV to the front pump and driving the PS off of that, but don't know if the PFDV has the capacity to handle the front pump flow. BTW, as I recall, the loader is a model 120 Wagner.[/b]

Where did you get the parts to rebuild your steering? My 240s steering is very sloppy and I am wondering if parts are available.

(quoted from post at 18:25:43 11/18/09) Where did you get the parts to rebuild your steering? My 240s steering is very sloppy and I am wondering if parts are available.

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ot the parts from JP Tractor Salvage near St. Louis that specializes in IH parts. Also found the parts at a salvage in Nebraska, but he wanted to send the entire bolster which probably weighs 250-300#. What happened to mine was someone had replaced the steering arm with one from I think a 404 which was in a bind at the ends of the stroke and wore out the keyway in the shaft part of the gear. Then someone had rotated it 180 degrees and milled a new keyway and wore that out. I bought the worm gear, main gear/shaft, steering arm, bearing cage and all complete with bearings. I have a friend with a well equiped shop and he and his son swapped the parts out and replaced the brake discs in 3 hours. JP didn't dis-assemble it any more than nessesary, which made it easy to put back in.

I"m hoping to go out in a few days and see if it will run. I"ll take several pictures and start a list of obvious problems. I"m sure that once I get it home I will drop the loader and backhoe so I can focus on the tractor then I"ll go through the loader and hoe separately. I"ll try to get the serial number as well so I see what year it is.