1965 Farmall 706 tractor. This is how it looked when I bought it from a farmer in northern New York state. I am in the process of rebuilding the engine and replacing a lot of missing and damaged pieces. This tractor was not purchased with any chores in mind; I was looking for a machine that I could restore by working on the various mechanical systems. And this tractor has a lot of systems: there are 3 different hydraulic systems for the brakes, clutch, steering, 3-point hitch, and for the independent hydraulics. This tractor also has the equivalent of 16 speeds forward and 4 in reverse, and the 6 cylinder engine will have about 75 horsepower when I finish rebuilding it. (75 hp may not sound like a lot compared to an automobile, but the ratings for farm tractors is measured at the draw bar, not the flywheel, as is typical for auto's.)

It turned out that the the engine needed a lot of work, and I replaced the bearings, pistons & liners, water pump, oil pump,  one exhaust valve, the exhaust manifold, the muffler, alternator, hoses & belts, and lots of other little pieces. The following are some images of my progress:

I have to work on the tractor outside because the door to the barn is too low to get it inside. I have removed all of the sheet metal for painting at this point and have removed one of the cylinder liners. The other liner is being removed.

 
 
 
 
 

The new liners have been installed.

One of the liners is out, and number 5 is on its way!

All of the liners have been seated, the new pistons installed, and the connecting rod bearings bolted up. Those new parts sure do look nice and shiny.

I used the loader on the Magnatrac to set the head down gently on to the block, after replacing the bad valve and honing all the others.

More parts have been installed, but the hood. spark plugs, valve cover, etc. are only resting in place temporarily.

Some more progress, with the water pump, alternator, new exhaust manifold & pipe, fan, and hoses attached. There is still a very long way to go. The old intake and exhaust manifolds are "welded" together by years of heat and rust, and they need to be separated before I can go any farther. In the end, we had to destroy the old manifold to get it away from the intake manifold.

Since these pictures were taken, I have painted the various pieces of sheet metal, restored the various badges as much as possible, and started work on the electrical system. Here is what the electrical system looked like:

I still have a lot of work to do, but I am making progress. I will try to take some more pictures as things move along. A lot of what has to be done yet are small things like rigging up an oil pressure gauge, replacing the gas tank sender, replacing the light switch, painting and mounting the fenders, replacing the seat cushion and two back rests, lots of rewiring and a whole bunch of stuff that I have on a list posted inside the barn. The big day will soon come when I will hook up the huge new battery and start the engine!

Finally all back together! The engine runs well, but the tractor still needs some work: the seat cushions are torn, the clutch slips a little, and one of the front tires should be replaced with a tractor tire (not one from a skid steer loader), and the transmission brake needs to be fixed. The biggest problem impacting the use of the tractor is one that is common with the newer large IH tractors: the "range selector" needs to be worked on because it is difficult to select between reverse and high range. Since this picture was taken, I have mounted a used IH 1701 front end loader on to the tractor. See below:
When I took this picture, I had not yet attached the bucket to the loader, but since then I have gotten it on, and the loader works very well. Here it is with the loader attached: