# 1086 tires



## JSidney6646 (Feb 16, 2012)

I'm about to buy an International 1086 with 18.4x38 rear tires. I want to use this tractor for both tillage and rowcropping, so I'm concerned about the width of the 18.4's in a corn row being too close to the corn brace roots and compacting too much. The dealer says he can change out to 12.4x42's and that would work well for row cropping. Will I have trouble pulling my 4 bottom plow thru some pretty heavy clay dirt with this skinny a tire?
Thanks


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

I have that same sized tire on my 1066 and I don't have troubles in corn. I run 30" rows, so your situation may be different. If you set the wheel spacing correctly, it should leave plenty of space on each side. The 12.4x42 won't give you enough traction with the plow. I have heavy red and blue clay and my 18.4's have trouble getting traction.


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## JSidney6646 (Feb 16, 2012)

That's what I was afraid of with the plowing. Out here in CO I flood irrigate my corn and my concern is that the 18.4s may not only encroach on the brace roots, but may also flatten the rows where the water runs, thereby creaating more silt erosion. I'm thinking 16.9x42 may be the perfect compromise.
Thanks for the advice.


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

Is your plow a mounted/semi mounted or a trailer type? The reason I ask is if you ran the narrower 12.4" tire and used duals when plowing (and working in the corn in general) it would give you more traction than a single 16.8" tire. You wouldn't be able to do that with a mounted or semi mounted plow unless you could get a hitch that allows you to run fully on land rather than one wheel in the furrow. Trailer type plows usually have a wheel that runs in the furrow and the tractor runs completely on land. How big are your plow bottoms? My 1066 pulls an IH 731 5 bottom 16" plow in the clay, but you have to have razor sharp shares and the coulters have to be set just right. When I hit the blue clay that covers about 1/3 of my farm, the tractor will rear up and the front wheels will ride 2-3' off the ground with 1000lbs of weight on the front weight bar. A few places in the red clay (especially on the crest of a hill) the plow will trip all 5 bottoms and just scrape across the ground until you get past that area. It even lifted the 9 shank DMI when I chisel plowed those fields after corn. The 485hp Versatile that I rented almost choked off when I hit the crest of the hill.


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## JSidney6646 (Feb 16, 2012)

What I have at this time is a 3 bottom Oliver spinner plow, 3 point hitch, 14", no gauge wheel. I'm planning on trading up to a 4 bottom, 16" spinner if I get the 1086. I have sandy loam, so I doubt there will be the planing problems you describe. I'm going to trade in my IH 1466 on a smaller 1066 if I can find one, or the available 1086. The 14 is just a bit too large for row cropping, and only has a 1000 PTO, which is useless for my purposes. I'd like not to have the hassle of changing wheel width for everything I need to do, thus am resisting going to duals. Thanks again for your advice.


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

If you can get the 1086 and its in good shape, I'd go for that over the 1066. The basic tractors are the same, but the 86 series cab is light years ahead of the cabs on the 66 series. They have better weight distribution because the cab is mounted a couple feet farther forward than the 66 series and the cab is much quieter due to being isolated from the tractor frame. Only downside to an 86 series is that they have more electronic stuff to go wrong. My 1066 has no electronics on it (except for the radio!). The 86 series has a gauge cluster rather than individual gauges and the TA is run by an electric switch and a solenoid rather than a physical connection.

If you have sandy loam, the 12.4" tires might just be enough. We have a tiny bit of that on the other side of the hill on the north end of my farm and it plows like butter. Then you hit the hill and the tractor starts struggling. :argh:


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