Tony

Our 1206 in 1965 had 18.4x38s. The 18.4x38 tire was created for the 1206 by request of IHC, so IH 1206 had the first 18.4x38 tire. When the salesman/friend/neighbor sold us the tractor, I remember him saying "you won't need duals, there's so much rubber on the ground duals won't help....". He was wrong. He also insisted we buy the 6-16s, it should've been 5-16s. I realize plowing is different everywhere. Even if we had 300 hp (it didn't, I know), you couldn't have got enough weight on a 1206 to pull more than 6-16s in our dirt. I realize many have tougher dirt, not claiming the toughest in any way though. But, 6-16s was a big load most of the time.

The 1206 we bought in 2013 has 18.4x38s also. The stickers you see in the 1965 photo in my above reply are 100% correct....no argument or thinking necessary. That tractor had just come from the showroom of Harry Anderson International in Kankakee, IL. Andersons is long gone now. But anyway, part of our refurbishment of the "restored" 1206 was to put all the correct hardware, stickers, & signage on it. Very little "dress up". We did put a little chrome that wasn't factory. The factory straight pipes (that's how IH provided them) were painted silver from IH which rusted the next day. We opted for chrome, though it will still rust. The "bar-grill" was silver from IH....we made it chrome. Also, the batteries now have chrome covers. A little "show" yes, but not like Orange county choppers or anything.

First photo below shows 1206 as we bought it in fall of 2013. Lots of "wrong" stuff. Kind of like "Where's Waldo" if you want to find wrong stuff in photo. It also has 11.00x16 tires on front where 1206 only had 10.00x16 in 1965.

Second photo shows the CORRECT signage & repainted tinwork. Not the first ding or dimple anywhere now...not even in the OEM fenders which usually show spot weld pucker marks. It's all smooth as glass now. The correct decals come from Maple-Hunter decals, Indiana division.

Third photo is Kurt & Billy installing a fresh-built 1000 rpm only pto in the 1206. The 1206 was factory with 1000 only. Farmers installed the dual pto later when they wanted to run augers & bush hog type pto implements needing 540.

The 1206 is still in the corner of the shop & I'll get it out for "sunny photos" one of these days...if it's ever sunny & warm again.