A Real lawn and garden tractor! Ingersoll

CarlGlas · Jan 12, 2006

( Up until a year or two ago, they were still being sold under the Ingersol name (Not the same company as the Ingersol-rand stuff). The tractors were still virtually unchanged from the earlier models. A testament to a truly good design. There are entire groups on the internet dedicated to the Colt/Case/Ingersol tractors. Parts are still pretty plentiful for anyone wanting to take one on as a pet project. ) 

My dad has had one of the 4000 series for years.

For those interested here is a little history about the company.

http://www.ingersoll-inc.com/presenter/WhoWeR-pg1.html
http://www.case-ingersoll-tractors.com/

The first garden tractor that I remember him having was a 60's year model Wheel Horse.

http://www.farmcollector.com/articles/wheelHorse/1/top
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Cabin/8001/index.html

gsganzer · Jan 12, 2006

( Did you ever remove the seat plate and take a gander at the gears in there.... )

I never pulled the plate. It wouldn't surprise me that it has some beefy gears. The entire construction seemed to be designed to last two lifetimes. I think the price tag for the most recent 4000 models was in the 7K range.

I never had to do a lick of work on anything, with the exception of the snap clutch for the front PTO. That was the only achilles heal to the model I had. My model had the old style clutch that required adding or removing shims. The later models had the ez-adjust clutch that eliminated that headache. I sold the tractor to a good friend of mine about three years ago. He's still cutting grass with it. It was a joy to mow with. I think the forward/reverse lever made it even simpler then hydrostatic (albiet no continuously variable speed).

bontai_Joe · Jan 12, 2006

Here is a link to an article published in Aug 2005 about Eastman industries taking over the Ingersol tractor line:

http://business.mainetoday.com/news/050818lawn.shtml

bontai_Joe · Jan 12, 2006

Here is another article from May 2005:

http://www.golfcoursenews.com/news/news.asp?ID=1568

GreenQuality · Jan 12, 2006

well that say's a lot for Quality control! 5 to 10 guy's making tractor almost like orange county choppers. so there a limt on how many tractor are made a year?I wonder how long it takes to put together a tractor?

bontai_Joe · Jan 12, 2006

Since I've worked in manufacturing for over 30 years, and they currently have 5 people with an additional 10-15 plus 20 more by the end of the year, That makes close to 40 employees. That many guys can make a lot of mowers and tractors, I'm guessing a couple of thousand per year.

bontai_Joe · Jan 13, 2006

Just to get up to date info, I e-mailed Eastman Industries as to what was happening with the Ingersoll line. Surprisingly, I got an answer from the president of the company.

First, my question, then his answer:

Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 10:53 AM
To: info@hovermower.com
Subject: Ingersoll tractor line
Hi guys,
How soon will production of the Ingersoll/Case line of tractors resume? I realize moving the operation from Wisconsin to Maine is gonna take time, but this is a topic of some interest in several tractor discussion forums. I hope you can be making tractors soon. Any info I can pass along will be helpful. Thanks!

Joe

Dear Joe,

We commenced producing tractors in Wisconsin last August. Our production continues in full gear. Our relocation to Maine will occur gradually so we will have as little disruptions to our operations as possible.

Sincerely,

Nick Nikazmerad

So it sounds like they are still in production, have parts support and are available.

kmelion · Jan 15, 2006

my grandfather bout a case 220 in the late 80's and i got my first house about 2 years ago so it was given to me. it is from 71 and it runs good. don't get me wrong i had to put some money in it but it is worth it. i had the motor rebuilt and i did the bearing on the mower deck, and rebuilt the front clutch. i then bout a blade and i was given a snow blower. i know of another one not far from me and i plane on getting it to. it is a case 224 with a tiller on the back. i would not give up my mower for nothing. so if you are thinking about it i think you will be very happy.

Surgeon · Jan 27, 2006

I have a Case 444 with Kohler shortblock, 3 blade belly mower, rear hydraulic takeoff, and Belco front snow blower. It is built like a brick outhouse and will outlive me. It does have the runaway preventer so downhill jaunts are not as exciting as they could be. The big rear wheels with chains and wheel weights give great power. The rear hydraulic attachments are in my experience pricey and hard to find. I have been looking for plans for building a logsplitter but without much success. I bought a have a MF 1428 with loader a while back and should sell the Case (because it is redundant) but just can't bring myself to let it go (and instead have been bidding on a snow cab on ebay). You just don't see equipment over-engineered like this anymore.

crazylare1 · Feb 22, 2006

GreenQuality, I currently have two case garden tractors, one is still running and being used to haul firewood etc. and now has a snowplow on it for the 10 year old to plow with. I've found that the quality is second to none! These tractors are I believe to be a 1966 model 150, and a 1967 model 155. Both are ten hp kohlers. Both have working 48" mower decks. The only thing wrong with the 155 is that someone put in a connecting rod that was 1/4" to short making it so that the piston didn't reach the top of the cylinder, thus making it have less horse power than it needs to move the tractor and run the deck at the same time. I think that the reason case, ingersol was having financial problems is that yes they are built to last a life time but people are more interested in machines that have modern creature comforts. But do to the fact that I've had one of these for years and years I feel that the hand lever to control direction and speed if changed to two peddle control would make me go back from green to ingersol orange. I love the way the tractors ride, run, and pull but hate the hand control, yes they are spartan but are indestructible and comfortable to use. I would still rather mow for 8 hrs on my GT235 than 4 hrs on the case though. I put in a picture of the case that We are still using. Have a good week.
Larry