Rare Hydro

[wcompton]

The 1026 was the first hydrostatic tractor over 100hp that IH produced, only 2472 IH were made. Even more rare is this 1026FWA!

I found this at an IH dealership in central South Dakota. Sorry for the poor image quality, all I had was my cell phone to take pictures.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wyatt, cool! You need to keep a good camera with you at all times.

Here are some excerpts from a Spring 1971 <FONT COLOR="ff0000">I</FONT><FONT COLOR="000000">H</FONT> brochure.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Wyatt and Kraig. Really neat pictures. Thank You for sharing them. At work they have safely stored somewhere during our expansion a brand new IH hydrostatic housing with hydro for a 656. From what I've heard it will one day be part of the museum display should there be enough room this time around for a museum. At the time that I was allowed to bring home and store a couple pieces of prototype equipment until restoration can be done I was informed that either five or six new 15U pump/motors for Cub Cadets were thrown away. And a year after I started I was told that about the time I started the company got rid of three or four old prototype/experimental tractors. No room..... No one could remember what they were since to them they were "just tractors and nothing more"... (sigh)

 

[kmcconaughey]

Marlin, unbelievable...

 

[mhomrighausen]

Kraig. Just what I thought at the time. Remember Mr. Charlie Ricketts (creator of the Sunstrand prototype hydro using an Original Cub Cadet)? Don't know if I ever mentioned this however before he developed the hydro Cub Cadet, he had just come off a team project developing the hydro for IH combines. Now there should be some interesting stories. He's already told me a neat story of how someone once took the heat exchanger off a machine and then wondered as to why the hydro system on that particular machine wasn't working. Should you ever get over this way let me know and I''ll do my best to arrange a visit with him. He is absolutely an awesome person. (Maybe we can try for this year's Plow Day to get him there. Just gotta get a date set.)

 

[ccote]

Who was the first manufacturer to offer a hydrostatic tractor?

 

[digger]

I was thinkin that Colt had the first hydrostatic transmission. I'm sure someone knows for sure.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Wheel Horse actually beat International Harvester by about six months on introducing the first true hydrostatic drive garden tractor for marketing. At the same time that Charlie Ricketts was developing the Cub Cadet prototype for IH there were also two other tractors being tested by Sunstrand. One was a Wheel Horse being developed for Wheel Horse to review and had a different style/type of hydrostatic system. The other was another Original Cub Cadet. The reason for two different Cub Cadets was this. Two different styles of transmissions were being developed for IH. IH also had informed Sunstrand that they were introducing a higher horsepower in their garden tractors. During the development of the Sunstrand tractor IH had come out with the 70/100 series. So, Sunstrand acquired a Kohler ten horse and installed it in one of the Cub Cadets and kept the other Original with the factory 7hp. The 7hp had the same style of hydrostatic transmission as the prototype Wheel Horse and the 10 hp powered Original had the Charlie Ricketts designed hydro. Wheel Horse accepted for their early production usage the other style of hydro (like the one in the prototype Wheel horse garden tractor and 7hp cub Cadet). Eventually Wheel Horse adapted the 15U series to their tractor line.

Colt actually developed a Hydraulic drive garden tractor. There is a difference. So, therefore Colt Industries actually developed the first successful (depending on who you ask since they were known to have some troubles) hydraulic powered garden tractor.

Whatever happened to the Wheel Horse prototype garden tractor and the other 7hp power Cub Cadet garden tractor? Good question. Answer: Back when those tractors were still around the company would let the employees purchase the prototypes for personal usage. Sad to say that no one at the time "loved" the Wheel Horse so after a couple of years it was cut up for scrap. That second and lesser known hydrostatic drive prototype Cub Cadet was sold to an employee and his sons that resided around the Rockford, Illinois area (Sunstrand's location at the time) and may very well still be in usage or in someone's shed/barn awaiting rediscovery.

I'll have to ask if I can one day print another "neat" little history story about "How to Fix a Hydro Leak". I am not quite sure if I can actually let that cute piece of information out.

Hope this sheds some light on things.

 

[mgonitzke]

I guess I should be looking for that, it could be right in my backyard

 

[dfrisk]

MARLIN, Wyatt - At FARMALL all the Hydro's were assembled in "The White Room" which was exactly what it sounds like...enviromentally controlled room with VERY limited access in the best clean room tradition. It along with the third & fourth floors (of four) of the "Motor Building" and a couple other places are ALL areas I never got into during My 5-6 yrs there. I didn't get "Out" much.

 

[kmcconaughey]

OK, so it's not a 1026, but it is interesting.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Kraig. I think that tractor that you pictured went on to become the turbine tractor that IH built. Since they already had the hydro rear end they just modified the rest of the tractor. I may be wrong however somewhere I remember reading about that.

BTW Wyatt. Your cell phone takes pretty dang good pictures.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Marlin, cool.

 

[kweaver]

Kraig - Did I send you the video for that one ? I know I sent it to Bryan.

Wish they would have shown it running.

Hey is that an oil leak at the right rear ??

 

[kmcconaughey]

KENtucky, I don't recall ever seeing a video.... I think you may be correct about that being an oil leak.

Don't tell Matt or Todd.

 

[kweaver]

When I run across it again around here I'll send ya a copy. When I emailed it to B I think I had it chopped up into 10 sections which had to be put back together to watch.

... and yes I hated mentioning that ...

 

[mhomrighausen]

If you look at the rear by the wheel you'll see the real-life hydro motors that are in Kraig's lower drawing. Also, yes that could be a hydro leak and I also wonder if it was a picture taken before the tractor had to be rebuilt after being in a very nasty wreck or after it had been rebuilt. Something about the truck leaving the road after the driver swerved to avoid hitting something. When the insurance guys found out the tractor was a prototype that they had agreed to insure was now needing a hasty rebuild in time for a show someplace ... welll... the insurance fellas weren't happy. I remember reading about that tractor when IH first introduced it. It was around that era that the world starting thinkng of turbine engines. Chrysler made seven or so prototype vehicles so a "hand-picked" group of average American families could test drive the turbine cars in various locations throughout the U.S. (That last little tid-bit came from my grade school Weekly Reader in grade school.)

 

[jcarlton]

Marlin, I can say I've driven a 1026! A guy we used to operate a couple dozers for had me bush hog with his dad's 1026 one day about 5 years ago. I can say it was neat to try once but I wouldn't want one to drive daily doing farm work and I'm as "Red" blooded as the next guy. Lots of little quirks with that tractor...Give me a 12, 8, or 706 anyday 1066 are nice too!

 

[mhomrighausen]

Jason C. Never got a chance to drive a bigger hydro IH. Just a neighbor's 656 utility and I loved that with the loader. One of the primary reasons that there is a shift towards electronical versus mechanical control of a hydro system is the wear factor of a mechanical linkage. I wouldn't mind having a 1026 if I had a place to store it.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Here is a little information on the difference between a Colt/Case/Ingersoll hydraulic and a hydrostatic drive system.

A hydraulic drive has downward pressure on the three point. Less horsepower loss versus a hydrostatic. Reverse operation can be achieved with a tiller. The pressure and flow of the hydraulic pump and motor is oversized to allow operation of a tiller and at the same time downward pressure on the three point.

Therefore Colt (what later became Case then Case/Ingersoll and now Ingersoll) was the first "automatic" or no gear or belt drive garden tractor. Wheel Horse was the first hydrostatic drive garden tractor. Cub Cadet came in second.