International 666 Hydro

My dad Ralph had a 656 Hydro when I was born that he used on the farm. He traded that on a new 666 Hydro diesel when I was 2 years old, and that is the tractor that I grew up on picking rocks, spraying, cultivating corn and soybeans, hauling silage, cleaning manure, and pretty much everything else around the farm and feedlot. When my dad retired and had his farm sale in 2003 at the age of 75, it was the only tractor that he kept as he still ran feeder cattle for a few more years.

He passed away in 2014, and it wasn’t running at the time. I did a few things to it, then pulled it out of the shed in its work clothes, took the loader off, cleaned it up, and hauled it to a friend’s house. He got it running the next day, then had it sandblasted and started fixing some mechanical things like the water pump, front spindles, bolster, etc., then painted it and put on new decals for me. I brought it home and rebuilt the seat suspension, and now it is living the retired life and goes to tractor shows.

The first show it went to was Red Power Round Up in Huron, South Dakota, in 2020, held at the state fairgrounds. I was asked to include it in an exhibit inside the Beef Barn, which was fun. The Beef Barn burned down later that fall and has now been replaced with a new building. This little hydro has never left the farm and will always remain, although it has slowly gained some hydro siblings.

Craig Lauritzen
Centerville, South Dakota

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