Today we are taking a look at my 1965 Farmall 656. We're going over all the features, including how the torque amplifier works, attachments, and then we are swapping the narrow front end for a wide front end.
I have operated a lot of tractors over the years, and I know that putting a wide front end on that might make it look better but it will not make it more stable because that axle pivots. To make it stable you need a lot more weight on the back end of the tractor with wheel weights and keeping a very heavy implement on the three-point hitch. My dad taught me to always keep a heavy implement on the back whenever you're using the loader. In fact always keep a heavy implement on the back anytime that you are driving around! Even if it's only a weight box. And keep that weight close to the ground. And that has served me well working in the operating engineers and working on farms for over 60 years.
I've driven both types of IH tractors. This comment is absolutely correct! Several facts are mis-stated in the video and the narrator basically admits he doesn't have much knowledge or any experience. Everyone has a right to his opinion, but it's clear this video is only expessing an opinion for humor and views and is short on educational content.
@@jphickory522 the narrow front is obvious. It has one support in the middle of the front of the tractor. Similarly the wide front end only has one support in the middle of the front of the tractor which is on a pivot. It is not mounted solid. That means that even though the front axle is wide, the front of the tractor can tip over to the left or to the right to a certain degree without lifting either front wheel off the ground. The wide front end also does not offer any resistance to tipping at all until it gets to a certain degree, and by that time it is to the point of no return and will tip over. That front axle oscillates possibly about 10° either way without resistance or support against tipping. Experienced operators always carry the loader bucket close to the ground especially when it's got a full load. They only start raising the bucket when they are getting close to where they want to dump it. And if you are on very uneven ground you have to be even more cautious! Because with the loaded bucket up in the air and the tractor starts rocking back and forth side-to-side it can easily tip over. Even with the wide front end. I have come extremely close to tipping tractors over several times with wide front ends! If you have a front loader on your tractor that's all the additional what you need to balance your tractor out front to back but you never need to add additional weights to the front of your tractor unless you don't have a front loader to counterbalance heavy attachments on the back. But for front loader work you absolutely have to have extra weights added to the back axle or to the back of the tractor somehow, either wheel weights, frame weights, sand-filled weight box, box scraper, rototiller or some other heavy attachment on the back to counterbalance the front loader. And the more weight you put on the back the better! The only tractor I've ever driven that had good weight distribution between all four wheels was the big off road forklifts called high loaders. They have automatic hydraulic self leveling on both axles. But even that does not keep the tractor perfectly level. It keeps the tractor in between the level of the front axle and the back axle. If one axle starts to tip a little bit it automatically makes the other axel tip a little bit the other way to counterbalance. Similar to the automatic hydraulic self-leveling on the forks of that machine, call hydraulic parallel linkage. It's automatic keeps the forks at whatever level you put the forks at as a boom goes up and down. A wonderful feature also offered on some front loaders.
Andy just a few acers farm has many Farmall tractors and goes through them along with everything else he does. And he restored his 656 plus a ta repair/replace video check him out if you want to learn more about them.
Just a suggestion from personal experience with older loader tractors like that, upgrade the front tires to 11L 15s, 10.00 or 11.00 16s. It will make that tractor work so much better with the loader, especially in soft ground.
Yep, me too. People that think the wide front is safer than a row crop front don"t realize there's a pivot right under the center of the tractor. Once you start to tip, you're on your way before the pivot of the wide front ever stops you.
Welp i have worked on I H tractors for over 35 years and farmed with them since 1968 and in that time frame every Farmall i have owned has been a narrow ft. and i had a much heavier loader on a narrow ft 706 that along with Fixen I H tractors i also bought and sold I H tractors and equipment and i used the 706 to handle all the equipment i bought for resale and a lot of stuff that was a lot heavier then a log and when i came in with a trailer load sometimes i had it stacked up over 10 foot on the trailer With a narrow ft, the secret of doing this is LOTS of weight on the back of the loader tractor . I had 18.4x34 rear tires that were loaded to the max , five sets of them donuts and and extra 2000lbs of ft 100 lb weights off the back . One of my friends that also jockeyed equipment had the same set up and he handled three times the amount as i did on a narrow ft 706 . only once did he break a narrow ft while handling something and that was a 15 ft. brillion cultimulcher . I have lifted the whole back end of a Farmall 560 with a mounted corn picker with it out in the field to replace a broken axle and housing .
You are spot on about the bonus content at the end. Our favorite local place hits all those points. Strip mall in the seedy part of town, and right beside the Mexican market. The only thing I have noticed is the market has a small dining area, and that is where the Mexicans eat. I've got a suspicion that the food is coming from restaurant, as it doesn't appear the market has a kitchen, but the market is where the Mexicans eat. Bonus tip- After your meal go to the market and pick up a 6-pack of Cokes. They will be in glass bottles with Spanish text on them. They are made with cane sugar, not the crap high fructose corn syrup American Cokes are made of. They are much better than their American counterpart.
When we first went to round bales we used an H farmall with a loader. Pretty bad but we all survived. Then we bought a 2250 loader for our diesel 656 and put 1066 spindles and wheels and tires
I was at a Mexican restaurant in San Antonio, Tx. One woman in the group asked what is lengua? Another person said that’s tongue. Another woman innocently said “oh, I love tongue”. We all about fell out of our chairs laughing. She didn’t get it. Great video!
I live rurally in southern queensland Ausrtalia...me n my neighbours regularly exchange stuff too! On rare occasions we do cash....mostly its just about helping each other out
Cool find! We just hauled the sister to that one home from Maine. 1965 656 gasser, with just the drawbar as well. It already has the factory wide front end. Stuck engine, BUT it's got a hydraulic logging winch on the rear. It's worth the engine work. You've just convinced me to invest in the loader... for loading/offloading logs on the trailer, and sawmill.
Ah, that bearing in that hub. Just like an old school car wheel bearing. Ya set 'em up by touch and by ear. Last time I did it was about 1985, but I still remember how...
Hay Andy. Good deal on the tractor. My brother-in-law has a 1939 Ford-Ferguson 9N which is still a working tractor on his farm. Wins first place every year at the County fair for oldest still working tractor. No updated paint job just patina.
Just hauled my ac 5050 home (with 400 loader and loaded wheels) on a half ton! I do have a working break controller but still hairy with the weight. It didn’t shift at all - but definitely steered the truck. ‘73 from west Lansing
Another great way to tell a great Mexican food restaurant: look in the kitchen and if you see a lil ole lady bossing everyone around, you know Abuela is cooking and your in the right spot. Also if they save their beans in a country crock container, you know it’s authentic!
Thanks about suggesting to subscribe on YT. I actually was wondering yesterday why I haven't seen anything from you here lately; I was hoping you guys were OK. I love watching your videos; they're not only informative but they make me laugh too. Thanks, stay safe & God bless
I used to work at a tractor dealership that had a Farmall Super C with a loader like that. It was mainly used for lifting front end loaders off other tractors.
As someone who lives in Albuquerque, NM I can attest that Andy's criteria is spot on. The only thing that beats it is if it's a food truck or a complete hole in the wall
I've been watching you since you showed us how to clean cast iron pans from your caravan, loving your work, inspirational to a town dwelling Brit in the UK! Big love, keep it up!
Congrats on the tractor. I agree with having a wide front on loader tractor. At some point you will push the limit and be glad that you have the wide front.
I live a few miles from Bloomington, and my wife makes me eat at a Mexican Restaurant in Bloomington. It is not Veracruz though. Glad you had a great trip!
I had a 656, and, it was a good tractor, It had a wide front. Any tractor, with a narrow front and a loader is going to be less safe. If used properly they are fine, but, on uneven ground, or with a heavy load in the bucket, you have to be careful. I had the Hydrostatic transmission and, it was very nice on a baler.
As one old GI to another. The harder you work the lucky you get. Congratulations on your new toy. I'm proud of you Baba. Keep up the good work love your channel.
If you weld big hoops on the top of the bucket you can get some forks and mount them to a tube then you can hook the tube part and the forks will rear on the cutting edge of the bucket. It’d make loading logs way more better!
Do NOT do that,..................that bucket weights at least 400 lbs, it is not only stupid to leave the bucket, on when using forks, because you automatically are lifting weight you do not need, it limits how much overall weight you can lift cause you just wasted some of your lift capacity lifting a bucket you don't need for the task, Besides, that Schwartz wide front is not the strongest wide front ever made anyway, trying to lift as little weight as possible on it, will make it last a whole lot longer. Andy has welding skills, make a quick detach system for the loader and get yourself a proper set of lift forks. End rant!!!!
Glad to see you on RU-vid! I watch you on Facebook, but let's be real, I'm too lazy to jump back and forth. Thanks for making it easier for guys like me.
That wide front axle wont change a thing about the stability. The wide axle pivots all the same, and while it will have a catch eventually, by the time the tractor makes it that far over its going either way. Still fun to do and glad youre happy 😊 Appalachia is a special place
One thing to keep in mind when taking that 656 onto the road, especially while pulling a heavy load, the tractor will fee-wheel when the TA is in low range. I almost rolled a pea combine back in 1966 because I didn't know that. Otherwise, a great tractor, I've spent hundreds of hours on one. Good luck.
Yeah, I was about say while sifting through the comments that doing loader work with manual transmission and no power-steering means you will hate using that tractor unless you have a cheater-bar system going then you are going to trade that outdated tractor in for a load of lumber.
Spent many years running the younger brother (666). Solid rigs. As they get older, the shifter can be problematic. There are parts that can be replaced. If you force the shofter too hard, you may end up in two gears at once.
😂 man that cheater bar joke has me going. Looks awesome, my dad and I did the same swap from tricycle to wide front on our 564 Farmall. Love your work Andy, keep up the good work 💪
Statistically, there have been more deadly accidents on wide front tractors vs. narrow fronts due to the operator feeling more in control and not as worried about “pushing the limits” just as one commenter on here already seems to have posted lol. Most serious accidents involving narrow front tractors are a result of high speed operation. I never thought a loader on a narrow front was a bright idea though… be safe.
When I attended class to get my tractor operator license this narrow front myth was brought up. The instructor informed us that more deaths had been caused by tractors tipping over backwards than rolling over sideways.
The narrow front is actually more stable on the wide front the pivot pin is your pivot point until it hits the axle and then if the front end is tipped in that direction your going on over and the wide front can take less weight then the narrow front
@@jphickory522 A wide front pivots on a center pin. There is no suspension like on a truck. the tractor will tip until the axle hits the frame, then the opposite wheel will come off the ground and the tractor will continue to tip if it's on a steep enough slope and finally roll over. Wide fronts are only slightly more stable than narrow. you can flip any of them over.
Make sure you leave the TA ahead when going down a hill (it wont hold the tractor back going down a hill, it still has the old mechanical TA) and dont pull back in road gear, unless you put in the clutch and let it coast to TA speed
Good day OK I get it now on high gear Yea farmer up in Ont. had 4 grain boxes behind tractor, empty now, I don.t know if he is going to pull them full, but think of clutches in trans. when down shifting., say from 10 mph to 8 or 6 Thanks.
My sister in law was moving round bales with a 4020, with a narrow front end, and front end loader. She was on a slight side hill when it rolled upside down with her still in the seat. She knew better, but one mistake, and she was gone.
