IHC Tractor TV commercial from 1981

[machinery pete]

I just posted a fun little video clip on our Machinery Pete Facebook page...(5) farming related TV commercials from a March 1981 nightly 10PM newscast on KCMT-TV Channel 7 in Alexandria, MN...one of the TV channels I grew up watching as a kid. 1 of the 5 commercials is for IHC's "new" 50 Series Tractor line....the commercial says "50 of 57 Deere owners preferred it to the current Deere tractor they own".....wow 🙂    Here's link to the video on our Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Machinery-Pete/293067298117

Pete

www.machinerypete.com

[Nebrfarmr]

I got a 5088 6 or 7 years ago.  It is my 'big' tractor.  I got it at a JD dealership, who got it in on trade, and the salseman told me that to be honest, had the farm crisis not hit, JD was afraid they were going to put a pretty good dent in the JD sales with them.

On a side note, anyone familiar with the 50 series and the way they shift, there are 2 or 3 (or should I say were) 5088s that had all 6 gears within a range, powershift, instead of the 3 clutchless shifts, and the 2 that required clutching.  They were test mules for the sub-transmission that they put into the Magnums.  The 18 speed Magnum powershift tranny is actually a 3-range, with 6 speeds in each range, just like the 50 series.

[Sid15]

I have never heard to many good things about the IH 50 series.  I've read about that survey in a IH book & they surveyed JD 40 series owners.  Once JD showed their 50 series IH gave up. lol

[Nebrfarmr]

Really?

Once, I ditched the troublesome IH shift module, and replaced it with an aftermarket one from Hy-Capacity, my 5088 has easily become the best tractor on the place.  Really, that was the only 'problem' we ever had.

Never drove a Deere 50 series much though, and the one I did, I think had a problem with the power shift, as some shifts were incredibly harsh.

[reptile]

We have a 5088 IHC,been around the clock on engine hours,great tractor.Have now developed problem with shift module.almost impossible to get in Australia.Can you still get an aftermarket one from Hy_Capacity,and if so ,what is there contact details.Would appreciate any help,need to keep the old girl ticking over.

[Nebrfarmr]

I looked up their website, and they do not sell direct.   You can only get parts through an authorized dealer.

maybe this will help.

http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=farmall&th=772194

[Ianbeer]

That is true about the tranny and it didn't get finished because IH was broke at the time and couldn't afford to do anymore development. I took a 5488 MFD on demo for a week when they were new and loved the engine/power etc. but hated the rest of it. I ended up buying a second Case 2394 2wd with the 24 speed tranny which was a far better tractor imho. I rented a few same sized Magnum MFD tractors during busy seasons and never much liked them either. I ended up replacing all my Case fleet with JD when the time came in fact. I still say that Case made a big mistake by trying to keep the IH guys happy when they bought them out and should have just continued to focus on the great tractors they built all along. Contrary to what you've said a lot of my died in the wool IH buddies ended up going to JD as well. I say all of that as guy who has never been a died in the wool anything.... I've just always tried to spend on the best machine for the job. I did run Axial Flows and I'd never have a green combine for example. 😉

[Nebrfarmr]

Don't get me wrong, the JD tractors of the era, had many superior features.   However, with my budget, a 5088 was what I consider the 'best' tractor I could get.

As far as having a quiet cab, decent hydraulics, strong 3-pt, etc, it was the best for the money.

I couldn't justify the extra $10,000, for green paint, on a tractor I put 200 hours a year on.

[Ianbeer]

Oh, don't take me wrong either. The 50 series IH were a lot nicer than the JD's of that era and I agree about not paying a premium for green paint. I leased a 2755 MFD w/loader and a 2955 MFD w/loader for a short time just because the lease deal was very good and I needed tractors that size and Case had junk in that size range. I can't say I enjoyed running either of them myself but my men didn't complain! lol. Once the 7000 series came out I really liked them because they finally had a decent cab, hyd. system, etc., etc. and they also started to price them more in line with the competition. After all the ag. equipment business had finally weeded out the number of players in it hadn't it? JD had some stiff competition and they knew it. 🙂