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Beefed Up IH Tractor Used For Heavy Lifts
A rebuilt IH 706 tractor fitted with a Deere 5020 front end and a White cab does a lot of heavy lifting for custom trailer builder John Gerritsen, Rock Rap-ids, Iowa.
"I liked the 706 the way it was but I needed to lift more weight than it could handle," says Gerritsen.
He fitted the tractor with a modifi
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Beefed up IH tractor used for heavy lifts TRACTORS Accessories 14-5-7 A rebuilt IH 706 tractor fitted with a Deere 5020 front end and a White cab does a lot of heavy lifting for custom trailer builder John Gerritsen, Rock Rap-ids, Iowa.
"I liked the 706 the way it was but I needed to lift more weight than it could handle," says Gerritsen.
He fitted the tractor with a modified Westcndorf front-end loader. He shortened up the loader arms 18 in. so that the front tines or interchangeable quick-tach bucket just barely clear the front of the tractor. Then he replaced the 1,800 psi relief valve on the hydraulic pump with a 2,500 psi valve, and removed the quick couplers in the hydraulic lines between the loader and tractor to boost capacity even further. He says the check valves in the couplers slow up hydraulic flow and since he leaves the loader on all the time, he didn't need them. One drawback is that the loader drops down a lot faster when it's lowered.
To make the tractor more stable, Gerritsen replaced the narrow front end with a wide front from a Deere 5020 tractor. To make the conversion, he built a subframe that bolts to the underside of the tractor. If he ever wanted to convert back to the original narrow front, he could simply unbolt the frame.
"The Deere front end has two cylinders instead of one and requires more hydraulic pressure than the IH. After pulling all the hair out of our heads thinking about it, we finally drilled out the power steering relief valve on the IH 706 from a pinhole size to 3/16-in. dia. It worked great, increasing pressure from about 1,200 to 1,800 psi," says Gerritsen.
Once he had completed the conversion, he says he couldn't believe what the tractor would lift. "We custom-build cattle haulers, flatbeds, gooseneck grain wagons, and many other types of grain wagons and trucks. We use the loader to put truck and trailer beds in place. It can lift a 50-ft. cattle trailer body by lifting one end and putting dollies under the other end."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Gerritsen, Rock Rapids Repair, 320 S. 2nd Ave., Rock Rapids, Iowa 51246 (ph 712 472-3924).
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