IH Tractor Repowered With Bus Engine
“When I found out it’d cost more than $6,000 to overhaul the engine on a 756 Farmall that I’d bought very reasonably, my buddy Barry Schimke and I decided to repower the tractor with an old school bus engine,” says Wisconsin farmer Mitch Fenske. The adventuresome mechanics pulled a DT360 engine from a 1990 International school bus. Even though the bus engine at 180 rated flywheel horsepower is a full 100 hp. more powerful than the original tractor engine, no major modifications were needed for the install.
“Neither of us had done something like this before, so we just got after it bolt by bolt,” Fenske says. After about 200 hrs. on the project, Schimke and Fenske fired up the repowered tractor to enjoy the sweet sound of success.
“With a straight pipe on its original exhaust manifold coupled with the turbo, the 360 has a lot stronger sound than the original D310 that was in the tractor,” Fenske says. “We’ll use it around the farm to cut, rake, and bale hay, maybe even take it to a few tractor pulls and turn some heads,” he adds.
Fenske says they used the original 756 frame rails, and other than enlarging a few holes and using a 666 front cover, the install didn’t require any special modifications, mainly because they swapped an International tractor engine for an International bus/truck engine. They used the tractor’s radiator, fuel tank, starter, and electrical system for the repower engine. No special parts were needed to bolt the engine to the rear end of the tractor other than a 66 or 86 plate. They left the turbo manifold outside the frame rails and ran the stack up outside the head. They did away with the original air system and plumbed a new K&N filter under the hood.
Fenske grew up on a farm and says, “I always thought repowering was interesting, and I’ve modified other equipment, but nothing this extreme. When I was younger, I thought it would be cool to put a Detroit 6-71 in a Farmall. My dad told me that if I put anything other than an International engine in this tractor, he’d disown me. I’ll have to make a few modifications to the hood of this one and then get everything cleaned and painted this winter.”
Other than his and his friend’s time, Fenske says he spent very little out-of-pocket. “I paid $1,400 for the school bus and sold enough parts that the engine was basically free. I recently found another International bus and will use that engine to repower an 856 with a twin-turbo. On this project, I learned that the company changed bell housings on IH tractors built after 1994, and a swap like mine using a truck engine won’t work.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mitch Fenske, N9003 County Road Vv, Mindoro, Wis. 54644 (fenskeappraising@gmail.com); or Barry Schimke (ph 608-780-5926).
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IH Tractor Repowered With Bus Engine REPOWERED EQUIPMENT “When I found out it’d cost more than $6 000 to overhaul the engine on a 756 Farmall that I’d bought very reasonably my buddy Barry Schimke and I decided to repower the tractor with an old school bus engine ” says Wisconsin farmer Mitch Fenske The adventuresome mechanics pulled a DT360 engine from a 1990 International school bus Even though the bus engine at 180 rated flywheel hp is a full 100 hp more powerful than the original tractor engine no major modifications were needed for the install “Neither of us had done something like this before so we just got after it bolt by bolt ” Fenske says After about 200 hrs on the project Schimke and Fenske fired up the repowered tractor to enjoy the sweet sound of success “With a straight pipe on its original exhaust manifold coupled with the turbo the 360 has a lot stronger sound than the original D310 that was in the tractor ” Fenske says “We’ll use it around the farm to cut rake and bale hay maybe even take it to a few tractor pulls and turn some heads ” he adds Fenske says they used the original 756 frame rails and other than enlarging a few holes and using a 666 front cover the install didn’t require any special modifications mainly because they swapped an International tractor engine for an International bus/truck engine They used the tractor’s radiator fuel tank starter and electrical system for the repower engine No special parts were needed to bolt the engine to the rear end of the tractor other than a 66 or 86 plate They left the turbo manifold outside the frame rails and ran the stack up outside the head They did away with the original air system and plumbed a new K&N filter under the hood Fenske grew up on a farm and says “I always thought repowering was interesting and I’ve modified other equipment but nothing this extreme When I was younger I thought it would be cool to put a Detroit 6-71 in a Farmall My dad told me that if I put anything other than an International engine in this tractor he’d disown me I’ll have to make a few modifications to the hood of this one and then get everything cleaned and painted this winter ” Other than his and his friend’s time Fenske says he spent very little out-of-pocket “I paid $1 400 for the school bus and sold enough parts that the engine was basically free I recently found another International bus and will use that engine to repower an 856 with a twin-turbo On this project I learned that the company changed bell housings on IH tractors built after 1994 and a swap like mine using a truck engine won’t work ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Mitch Fenske N9003 County Road Vv Mindoro Wis 54644 fenskeappraising@gmail com ; or Barry Schimke ph 608-780-5926
