Any opinions on a IH 706 gasser?

Looking at one for sale.

Thanks for your input

What are you going to do with it? I would say a 706 gas would be best for low power jobs and cold weather operation. If the tractor is to do dozens of hours in demanding situations a diesel will prove more economical. Also, you bypass the periodic trouble shooting of an original ignition and carb setup that comes with a gas tractor.

Low annual usage. Maybe 150 hr.s year, tops.

IMHO they were as good as any other gasser at the time.

We had two on the farm when I was growing up. They were good,dependable,easy starting tractors,even in cold Iowa winters but if you worked them hard like plowing or chopping silage you couldn't carry enough gas to them. I know people are going to beat me up for making that comment & they are going to show the Nebraska testing specs & argue they are no worse than anything else but they burn a lot of gas.

Then you will be fine.Use premium gas.However we need more info..............

If those jobs require a lot of power that size of a gas tractor will guzzle fuel.

also use low ash oil or you will have valve trouble.

"use low ash oil or you will have valve trouble"

That always intrigues me.

WHAT was so different about Binder engines vs. Deere or Oilallover that made the IH engines crave low ash oil?

Don't ever recall hearing about such a requirement from the Deere or Oilallover guys.

We ran IH gas-powered combines for years when I was growing up and they got Farmer's Union or Gulf oil, nobody told us any different and we NEVER had to deal with "valve problems". So, WHAT'S UP with THAT?

Very heavy tractor with a small C.I.D. engine. Heavy is great for stability but that little engine has to scream to make the power necessary for any significant pulling, which is fine if you're accustomed to running an engine at rated RPM. Never cared for the governors on those 263s. For what's that worth, which is about nothin'

Check the gear shift operation and check the IH forum on YT for the 756 shift update. Figure it will use about 1/3 more fuel than a diesel. At only 150 hours per year it could take a long time for fuel savings to make up for the extra cost of a diesel and diesel repairs.

Actually any quality gas engine oil is "low ash" oil. Its just a matter of which has lower ash. Years ago I looked and Castrol GTX 30W had a lower ash content the "IH" oil along with a couple of other brands - formulations have changes since then so I don't know what is rated where today. IH just used it in marketing its oil. Most Group 4 synthetic oils have extremely low levels of sulfated ash - much lower than the advertised "Low Ash" CIH oil.

All gas engines benefit from low ash oil - not just IH engines.

There is ash and there is ash. IH oil low ash oil virtually eliminated the calcium, barium and magnesium from their so called low ash oil. Another oil may be lower in total ash but not necessarily those three components which are the ones that leave hard, insulating deposits behind on valve heads, spark plugs, pistons etc. I scraped and chiseled a lot of carbon from those valve burners for many years and low ash oil, along with good valve guide seals and better piston rings really made a difference. A valve face covered with a layer of hard ash cannot cool properly so it overheats, sticks in the guide, torch's out etc. The spark plugs on those engines would build up that hard carbon and bridge the gaps under heavy loads. Now days, very few see heavy work and the plugs get built up with soft carbons from puttering around. I do not know what low ash oils on todays shelves actually contain or do not contain.

I tend to prefer another color tractor, but I spent several summers working for a neighbor who had a 706 gasoline tractor. It was an earlier one with the smaller, 263 cubic inch, engine. I believe the later ones had 292's in them. The tractor was in pretty good mechanical condition, as was the engine. Most time was spent on it mowing and spraying, but also did some haying with it. This tractor also had a front end loader. I did not care for the transmission set up for loader work, which was my only complaint about the tractor. The transmission does not have synchronizers, nor are the forward and reverse gears matched up that well, for all the forward and backward movement in using the front end loader. For doing all the other tasks, I removed the quick attach loader and it was generally pleasant to operate. The only problem I ever experienced with it was a time when something failed in the transmission and I could not get it out of gear when in a confined space. We took it to a shop and they removed the transmission cover to make this repair. I cannot recall if it was a matter of a sheared roll pin or something happened to a shifting fork.

I have been told by numerous people that parts are scarce for them tractors.

Good luck shifting them as they grind, grind, and grind some more.