2+2 equals.....

A lot of work getting done. I had my manure
pit pumped on Saturday, so I chiseled it in
on Sunday and hope to plant corn today.

BJ-WI

I worked for a farmer in highschool and he had a 2+2. He called it Dolly. Because it had a lot up front.

Here's a true story about a 2+2. It was early 80's when the local IH dealer received one 3588. They hauled this tractor all over the area to fairs and parades. This being the first 4wd tractor the dealer ever had his truck was too small. The truck was a 1700 load star with roll back bed. The 2+2 had to be loaded backwards with the nose sticking over the end.

The tractor sat way up in the air. The dealer took the tractor to the annual pork day parade. When he turned into the lot, The rain cap on the exhaust pipe caught a telephone wire. Everyone was yelling and waving for the truck driver to stop. The driver keep waving back and smiling. The wire finally stretched about it's limit when the rain cap came off a flew about 50 yards. Just like a giant slingshot. It bent the exhaust pipe badly.

They drove the tractor though the parade with a bent pipe. The dealer lost his IH franchise in 1987. Started selling Ford Mercury cars. Don't know what ever happened to the 3588. It was still on the Ford lot 1990. The Ford dealer been gone for twenty years.

There's one for sale along hwy 90 here in south La. been rode hard and put up wet!

Those are some good tractors. Iconic too!

I went to school with the kids of our local BTO, and they bought one new in the late 70's - it's still in great shape, just like yours.
Even though they now have 300hp Deere's for tillage, they still use it on the chisel plow.
Pete

One day I will own one of these
Untitled URL Link

2 plus 2 more wheels drive

Like wine. The older they get the better they are (for some reason).

Local one sits on the manure pump usually but it has left the yard to rescue a stuck tractor once in a great while.

My first cousin bought a 3588 in 1979. That single purchase helped to bankrupt him. The cost of the tractor plus the down time and warranty work it had, helped to sink him. He had to rent a tractor two springs in a row to get his crop planted. That tractor spend more time in the shop than it did on the farm. He was not rough on equipment either. Welds on the center pivot broke at under 250 hours. resulting in lots of damage in the articulation area. Front rear end issues. Fuel tank cracking with under 1000 hours on it. Caused by an out of balance drive shaft.

The local IH dealer really tried to make it go but it seemed like that tractor was haunted. LOL When my cousin had to sell out in 1983 that tractor had 1700 hours on it. Another local fellow bought it. At 2100 hours he had to go through the transmission. He kept it 3-4 years and had more in repair costs than he gave for the tractor. He sold it to someone in North Dakota. I often wondered how that fellow got along with it.

The majority of those sold around here in 1978-1980 had issues. The later ones where much better. I know of a few of them that have over 10,000 hours with little work.