Hi,

I am looking to buy my first tractor and so far the only thing I have found locally that I find acceptable is a '64 706D. The tractor is complete, has good sheet metal, starts and runs good. Hydraulic fluid looks clean, oil looks good (not milky or too dirty), and the coolant looks ok (dirty but don’t see any oil or sludge). There is a little black smoke on startup and sometimes when rev'ing up in high gear but it clears up immediately. Most of the "issues" I've found with it I consider minor and not surprising for an almost 50 year old tractor.

My biggest concern is that I can hear either the transmission or rear end when underway and I don't have enough seat time on tractors this size to tell if it is normal. No clicking or anything. The best way I can describe it is how a lot of import cars with standard transmissions sound in reverse. Kind of a waaaahhhh. Is this an issue?

A little more info about the tractor - All gears/ranges work and is not hard to shift although the H-L-N-R lever has a little play in it. The tractor has never had a TA, and has a Y S/N suffix, two front remotes that appear to have never been used and one rear, about 5100 hrs. according to the tach(working). My other concern is the price - $6,900. How does this sound in today’s market? The dealer does not want to come down on it at all.

-Matt

The whine you hear in the rear end is probably the normal whine- My 806 has a fairly loud rear end, a friend's 1206 is fairly loud, too. The transmissions are all straight cut gears- loud but sturdy.

The black smoke when accelerating in high gear and startup is a good thing- I'd be more concerned if it didn't throw up a little black smoke.

Sounds like you have found a fairly good tractor. The $6900 price tag sounds as if the owner is pretty proud of his tractor. For that price, It had better have excellent tires and a pretty nice looking paint job, in my opinion.

-Andy

The price does sound a little high but dealers are always generally higher than private sales. The rear end in my 706 has that hum you are talking about but it has never caused me even the slightest problem. The gear shift slack is just due to age and shouldn't be a problem unless it's sloppy. New and used parts are extremely easy to find and overall they are a fairly simple tractor to work on. I bought mine from a dealer and paid probably 20% more than a private sale but it was my first full sized tractor and I liked it and still don't regret it. If the machine feels right to you buy it and don't look back.