International 6588

[mjlyda]

Looking at purchasing an International 6588. I have never been around these machines before, and I dont know anyone who has expirience with one. Any one on here familiar? What are their pros and cons? Things I need to look at? Thanks!

 

[art]

How many hours are on it?

 

[mjlyda]

6200 hours. remanufactured engine 200 hours ago. A so called "total rebuild". Not sure what that all entails. Set to go look at it next weekend. Pictures show this thing looks pristine. Current owner says it is putting out 200 hp but wants something bigger. I am always leary of tractors forsale which were recently rebuilt. Why were they rebuilt, and why are they selling it?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I know what you mean, if they just paid to have it rebuilt that short a time ago then why get rid of it so soon? Makes me question whether they actually did any work on the motor or if they are having more problems with it and are cutting their loss. Either way I don't feel too comfortable with it. Good luck if you end up with it. Hopefully it will be a good unit for you if you end up with it.

 

[MHarryE]

My BIL has 2 of them. He is always on the verge of bankruptcy. The tractors have very good power for a low price. I do a lot of driving for him (because I am retired, enjoy driving, and work for free). Have no idea on the hours - meters broke before he got them. He bought them from a family friend who buys old Farmalls and mixes parts to make a salable unit. Power train has been a weak point. I know one I can only use even gears, 2, 4, 6, & 8 because there is a bad clunk in the odd gears. The other one had the T/A out of it and last year the engine was going out (dropping oil pressure) so my BIL used that one to get the last bit out of it before the OP dropped to zero and he parked it. The doors can't be open while driving so look at them to make sure they aren't sprung (articulation puts a wheel into an open door). If it is in great shape like you have heard it can be a very good working tractor for a very low price. International finally worked the bugs out when they went belly up. They were ready to introduce the new models when Case bought IH and pulled the plug. A friend of mine was QA manager at the Farmall plant in Rock Island when this happened - he has a collection of publications - manuals and parts books - from the tractors never released. I got a lot of my info from him. I was thinking of bidding on one in beautiful shape at an auction a couple years back but something came up and I didn't make it. It went for less than $5k. I regretted not making the effort to get there. But if you get one you need to be mechanically adept.