We bought one of the earliest ones in fall of '65. This is it in the 1st photo below. Note plastic still on seat. Bought an IH 560 plow with it, 6-16s. Someone in this thread asked if 18.4 x 38 was built for the 1206. I have read that IH wanted the 38" tire for the 1206 power & had to wait a bit for the tire. I'm on the left, brother Larry on the right. Fall of 1965. Coveralls were mandatory uniform on Lukow farms back then. No questions. Actually, always looked forward to getting ready to pick corn because we'd get a new pair of coveralls for fall work.

Also, since ours was an early '65 model, the "1206" emblem is a flat stick-on decal. Later production had the raised emblems. Story that I've read is that someone didn't get the emblems ready in time & IH wanted to get the production cranking so they just printed some shiny foil decals. That's what we had. If you ever wondered about the proper paint scheme for front wheels/hubs/alternator/etc, just look at this photo. Nothing had been touched. It even had the silver painted straight pipe from IH.

We had the infamous IH "ice cream box" cab. No a/c or heat. Just a vent blower mounted on the ceiling. We bought an IH fender radio & mounted it to the inside of the cab, but you could hardly hear it. I found that if I could swing the plow in Hi-1st, TA back, throttled down a bit, I could finally hear WLS 890. But, if in Lo-4th, TA back, the transmission made to much whining & you had no chance with the radio. It was much quieter inside with the door/windows open. We also had jacked up the cab mounts from the axles & put cut outs from rubber tires in there & then bought foam & glued it to the ceilings & walls. Doing all that helped reduce noise about 1.2% Replaced a TA & some rear bearings a couple times.

Our 1206 was traded on a JD 4620 a few yrs later & a local farmer bought it. But, somehow it caught fire hauling wagons on the road & burned. Insurance co. totalled it. Might've been able to buy it back if we'd been up on things.

So, about 50 yrs later we decided we wanted a 1206 again. Found one somewhat restored in WI. We did a lot more to it after getting it home. It was also an early '65 by ser #. So, we had flat shiny decals made again (Maple) & keep it for parades & plow days. Also pull an occasional barnyard open class pull. That's the 1206 we have now in the photos taken @ Half Century & local Herscher parade.

Yes, most agree the aesthetics of the 1206 make it one of the prettiest tractors. 

(1206 1 (full).jpg)

(1206 2 (full).jpg)

(1206 3 (full).jpg)

(1206 4 (full).jpg)

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1206 1 (full).jpg (125KB - 229 downloads)

1206 2 (full).jpg (96KB - 185 downloads)

1206 3 (full).jpg (98KB - 193 downloads)

1206 4 (full).jpg (112KB - 188 downloads)

DSC07228 (full).JPG (152KB - 197 downloads)