I'm Leaning towards Case/Ingersoll but need help!!

Hello everyone,

We purchased a farm this past summer. My wife, Marie, and I are not farmers and we hope to find a local farmer willing to rent our fields, 5 to 10 yrs, for hay.

Until we find someone we, or should I say "I", have lots more to keep cleared and once we have a farmer take care of those fields we still have 10 to 20 acres guessing that I will have to maintain.

I'm leaning towards a use Case/Ingersoll (All Hydraulic) and I need some help better understanding the models and what is so different and better about them compared to another.

If you have owned one of the models listed below PLEASE - fill me with the good and bad!!

Is there a chart somewhere that shows all the models from lets say 400's to 6000 series with info?

What years did they make them and so forth?

The models I have seen and liked are:

1) 444 - 448(Iknow I saw a 446 and I believe there is a 448)

2) 4018 - 4020(I tihnk I saw)

3) 6018 (is there a 6020 too?)


However, I don't know much about them.

I have read post on as many of them as I could find posted here and over at MyTractor.

I could ask a dealer. However, they are out there to make a buck and I don't want to end up buying one I wish I did not get.

Plus right now I'm still kicking tires and don't want to waste their time or get them put off with me by the time I'm ready to comit.

I know I want a good size Hydraulic Garden tractor. NOT a big farm tractor!!

I know I want the differential to be Hydraulic and not run by any belt.

Same goes for the attachments - All Hydraulic...

I like to have power steerting - however it is not a must.

I do not want a manual!

The things I want to do with it:

a) Pull a large Hyd cutting deck - to cut acres much faster than our curretn JD LA130 48"

b) Be able to use a Hyd dump trailer

c) To use a Hyd wood splitter

d) A must - to have a front Hyd snowblower, 30" to 48", for our 75 foot laneway

e) A Rear Hyd tiller

f) A cab would be real nice... It gets -40F up here at times...

g) front bucket

Added Bonus - but not a must:

To be able to add a backhoe at some point...


Type of Fuel - I prefer Diesel but gas is okay to start with and once the engine gets tired I will switch over then.


Thanks for all your help and support.

Sincerely,

Since you mentioned you like diesel, have you considered one of the sub compacts or small compacts by the big names?

I looked at the Ingersoll tractor, but in my studies, the Kubota BX or small 20 series B tractors, along with the John Deere 2305 and 2320 just made more sense for affordable Cat 1 implements and such. Just food for thought.

I plow snow, I use my front end loader, I plow huge gardens, I pull my pto driven rear finish mower deck, I cultivate single rows, I dig potatoes, and pull my utility trailer around. Pretty handy.

BP, Thanks for your input.

I don't want a tractor that sits to high making it harder for me to get in and out of. I also don't care to shift gears or work a clutch. I have bad knees plus, like everyone else, I'm getting OLDerrrr...

Can one get any of those units, you spoke of, used for between $2,500 and $8,000 with a front bucket, Hydraulic cutting deck and snowblower?

Also you had mentioned the PTO - I like to have all Attachments Hydraulic, with no PTO shafts.

CorvairGuy said:

I don't want a tractor that sits to high making it harder for me to get in and out of. I also don't care to shift gears or work a clutch. I have bad knees plus, like everyone else, I'm getting OLDerrrr...

Click to expand...

Those are fairly low tractors. I have run a BX2200 and BX2660, both are fairly easy to get into. My FIL has had a knee replacement and chose a BX for a mowing tractor.

Can one get any of those units, you spoke of, used for between $2,500 and $8,000 with a front bucket, Hydraulic cutting deck and snowblower?

Click to expand...

A used BX with a PTO powered 54/60" deck, a PTO snowblower and a loader will probably run you $8-12k (see here)
One with a deck and a loader will probably run 6-9k depending on the seller.
One with just a deck can be found for $5-7K (see here)

Also you had mentioned the PTO - I like to have all Attachments Hydraulic, with no PTO shafts.

Click to expand...

The only machines with a hydro powered deck that you will find are the Power Trac articulated machines or a skidsteer type machine. Either of them will probably be more expensive than a compact tractor.


Aaron Z

I own an Ingersoll 448 with a 48" mowing deck, 3 pt, rear hydraulic PTO, and a hydraulic rototiller. I use it to mow around trees and other obstacles and the perimeter of our 3 acres of lawn as well as pulling a leave vacuum and mulching in the fall. I also till a large garden with it. It does a great job of both mowing/ mulching and tilling. I have been watching to see if I can find a good snowblower for it as well. Remember that the Ingersoll is a CAT 0 3 point - smaller than the most common CAT 1 equipment and is limited to the hydraulic PTO drive. While the tiller and mower work great, there are limitations.

I also own a Cub Cadet 4 x 4 compact tractor with a 28 HP Perkins diesel engine and front end loader. I had a GT class tractor with a FEL but it wouldn't handle the size jobs I can perform with the Cub. For the Cub I have acquired a three point 5' finish mower and a 4' bush hog for trails. I now use the Cub with finish mower to mow the large areas of our lawn and I have cut my mowing time by 1 - 2 hours while also significantly reducing the amount of fuel required to do the job. I also have a 3 point rear blade and a box blade for the Cub for maintaining our 600' gravel drive. In addition I have a 3 point boom and a trailer hitch for logging firewood. There are a lot of things I can do with the Cub that I can't do or do as well with the Ingy.

In reality, I require both of the tractors described above in order to do all of the tasks I need done. There is no such thing as one tractor that can do everything well. Between my two tractors I am well equipped for most anything. I'm sure you will find that a good diesel compact tractor costs substantially more than a used Case/Ingersoll, but if your needs require the larger tractor it is what it is. BTW - The Cub is a bit of work getting on and off of, but the 448 Ingy with the 'big wheel' design takes a bit more effort to mount than you might think - especially with a large mowing deck and leaf vacuum with big hoses attached.

In addition to being a CAT 0 three point, the Ingersoll implements are all hydraulic driven and more or less proprietary. Again, the Ingy does some things very well but for larger jobs I found the universal CAT 1 PTO driven implements for the Cub to be more available and even more affordable.

The type and size of the jobs you will want to do with your tractor will (or should) have a strong bearing on your decision. Don't be surprised if somewhere down the road you end up owning a couple of tractors to cover everything you want to do. In the meantime I suggest that you prioritize what you want and need and go about it that way.

The Case/Ingersoll tractors are great machines and they really do offer an impressive array of available implements and functions. Still, they are not the answer to everything you will ever want to do. Also remember that the Case/Ingersoll tractors are best owned by people that are capable of performing their own maintenance and repairs since dealers are not common everywhere and major equipment available for them is almost exclusively used.

I hope this helps you a bit. Keep us updated regarding what you decide and get. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your new tractor(s)!

JN

I know you don't want a huge, 80 horse farm tractor, as you've made that clear. I'm just thinking of practical considerations for you to mull over.

It didn't sound to me as if you were all that familiar with the compact tractors of today. When my wife and I returned to the country a few years back, much of my tractor knowledge was out of date as well. It was fun catching up.

By the sounds of the amount of work you want and need to do, you should absolutely spend some time at a John Deere and Kubota and get familiar with was these small tractors of today can do. They are amazingly frugal on diesel. I'm talking weeks and weeks between fill ups and then it is only a 5 gallon jug of diesel.

They have hydraulics, hydro transmissions that are so easy to operate it will blow your mind. The mid PTO and rear PTO options open many doors to readily available, common, less expensive implements, as does the standard 3 point hitch in back. I'm no spring chicken and I've got a horrid lumbar and yet, these new machines are a joy to operate.

I've included some photos. What you'll find is these small, modern compact diesel tractors are just world's ahead of what we used in the 60's.
If you are a sharp shopper, ONCE YOU'VE CHOSEN the model or models you want, then Craigslist will net you what you want for very reasonable. Hate to say it, but the economy has forced a lot of guys to dump their stuff for very, very low prices. They've got themselves into a bind and you CAN get tremendous deals on stuff.
Anyways, here are some photos to give you an idea.

Here are some more shots of work, snow, gardening, tilling, and general rural life with a compact tractor.

Most of these implements are generic and affordable.

CorvairGuy,

Bet you're getting a little confused by now, right? :laughing:

I agree with much that was said by the others above. Again, I really think the Case/Ingersoll tractors are great machines and I would be lost without mine. Then again I'd be lost without my Cub Cadet 6284 compact diesel, too. Over the 12 years that we have lived on our 40 acre place I have had as many as three assorted garden tractors at one time with various attachments. All three of them could not perform the heavier tasks that caused me to purchase a compact diesel with FEL. I sold off all my existing garden tractors when I got the Cub and immediately discovered that I still had need for a good GT - hence the Ingersoll 448. I am now satisfied that between the two I am totally covered for anything I could want to do on my place.

Again, I recommend that you prioritize the things you want/need to be able to do. I know what shopping with a budget is like so be sure that your most important needs are covered first. The good news in purchasing used GT's and CUT's is that if you make a good purchase and take care of it you should be able to get most of your money (sometimes even more) out of it if you want to sell and/or trade up later. Good used tractor equipment tends to hold value very well.

Also consider tasks that you will perhaps perform infrequently and think hard about whether you absolutely need to own equipment for it. It may make sense to rent or borrow certain equipment if your budget is tight or if you maybe want to try it out before buying. I think a lot of us own more equipment than we really need (I'm a good example) just for the convenience of not having to go get it and return it in addition to satisfying the 'more toys the better syndrome'. By renting or borrowing you may learn some important factors about what you really want and need even if you decide to purchase later. There are some purchases I have made through the years that I would have done different if I had previous experience with it.

JN

So far I am sticking with a late 80's to mid 90's GT.

I need to keep the cost down as much as possible, until we unload the extra house.

I feel that a good mid size GT will do what I need for now. Should I need to do more right away - I can always rent what I need at that time.

In a prefect world - I'd run right out and buy everything to have it at the ready. However life is not like that.

The 4,000 to 6,000 series is what I'm leaning towards... Fits the price range and things I can do with it right away. Plus the things I can buy for it at a later date to add to what I can do with the one unit.

And when it is time to rebuild it - If I can afford it - I can use the parts to build my custom Hyd tractor and go out a buy a new tractor for use around the farm. (Again we are not planning on farming ourselves. We just have a good size farm that we are retiring too - for the peace and quiet.)

Over twelve years ago when my wife and I moved from a duplex apartment to our 40 acres (with over 2.5 acres to mow) we only had a power push mower. The Friday before we moved in we took a couple of hours off at lunch from our business and went shopping for a lawn tractor. We ended up buying an 18 HP Murray rider with a 42" deck. Over the next five years that tractor was put to uses you can't even imagine. Then as time went on our needs expanded, we became smarter and (because we are getting older) we became less willing to kill ourselves doing things the hard way. Over the next several years we added a Bolens GT with a rototiller and a Sears SS-15 with FEL to our stable.

Finally two years ago the Murray was giving signs it could no longer handle our huge mowing and leaf mulching duties. I found a great opportunity to purchase a Cub Cadet 4 x 4 compact tractor with 28 HP diesel and FEL and bought it. I fixed up all three lawn/garden tractors as best as reasonable and then listed them all on Craigslist. All three tractors sold and were gone within 48 hrs (maybe I should/could have asked more for them). I acquired 3 pt implements for the Cub such as a 3 pt finish mower, bush hog, boom, rear blade and a box blade. Even though I could now do most of the mowing with the Cub and finish mower I still needed a mower to trim, mulch leaves, and rototill. I found an Ingersoll 448 with 48" deck and 3 pt and purchased it. I then located and purchased a rear hydraulic PTO and a rototiller to run on it.

Today between the two tractors I can do much more than I could with the three that I replaced. But as you can see we have taken a long road to get to where we are at today. Like you our budget did not allow us to go out and get everything at once and I would not have known what to get if it had. I think you would find the same is true for most members of this forum.

Take your time and enjoy the ride. The frustrations you may encounter now are things you will look back at fondly some day.

Good luck and keep us updated!

JN