Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

Yes, I know there isn't a write up for part 1 or part 2 yet, but think of this as being like the Star Wars movies, where I pick a story line out of sequence and share it - because it's the most interesting one at the moment...

Today I was going to try for a group photo of our 3 tractors, but honestly only the oldest one (and newest to us) is cooperating and putting a big old smile on my face when I get to drive it around...
A couple of weeks ago I had a major weakness in my frugal ways and actually bought 2 tractors in 2 days. I saw an ad on Kijiji for an '88 Ingersoll 222 at a reasonable price.
I convinced it would be a good addition to the herd as it would use most (if not all) of the attachments we got with the 446. We drove an hour away and picked up the 222 and brought it home. That was supposed to be the end of my searching for another tractor to buy - however the next day an ad on FB Marketplace popped up with a "Compact Tractor" listed on it, no mention of Case at all, but I knew what it was a soon as I saw the "Bug Eyes" on the front grill...

Kelly was out with friends at the time, and while I was home alone with no adult supervision I made an offer to buy the 195 just based on the FB photos. When she got home from her luncheon we hooked up the trailer again and headed off towards Sarnia - a 2hr drive. Chatted with the owner for a little bit, paid the asking price and headed home with our third Case Garden tractor.

The drive was uneventful - except for realizing how much the new trailer with its great big loading ramp affected fuel mileage at highway speeds.
So here we go - some photos of our new to us '68 Case 195 aka "Max Sr."
The seat is obviously not stock, - it's a Grammer seat out of an industrial forklift - even has a bit of spring suspension built in!
But Wait!!! There's more to the story - This was the 2nd GT we've brought home with our new utility trailer... In my rush to get a few photos while it was sunny this afternoon I started unloading the 195 from the trailer, - Without a truck attached to the trailer hitch. I realized it was missing the latch to hold the parking brake engaged (it has disc brakes on the rear axle) so I gently pushed it by hand towards the loading ramp, with wheel chocks in place so it wouldn't get away from me... I pushed it the last little bit so the back tires were just starting to touch the ramp when very gracefully the trailer did a gentle wheelie
Memories of childhood on the playground when the heavy kid jumped off the end of the teeter-totter... I'm glad I wasn't driving it off under power - 'cause that could have been a change of underwear situation.

Fortunately the trailer has a small winch on the front and I could pull the tractor back a little to free up the wheel chocks and get them out of the way,
after that it was gently winch the tractor down the trailer until it was on the ramp and the trailer slowly settled back down to earth... Whew!
(next time - jacks or axle stands under the back of the trailer if there isn't a vehicle connected to trailer hitch.)

Nice tractor. Good save. Tractor and trailer


Noel

great looking tractor, nice find.
Tim

@RoamingGnome Boy if that thing runs as good as it looks what a sweet tractor!
I’m glad you teeter totter ride was easy to handle!

Thank you for taking the time to write up the story. I’m looking forward to the next installment of this series!

That happened to my trailer too, but like you, I wasn't in the seat. And also got in the habit of winching the tractor slowly off the trailer.

How's the state of the engine on the two additions?

Thanks for the comments, I'm calling the trailer incident a "happy little accident" - no damage to person or property and the only thing hurt was the operators ego. A good learning experience on how not to do things next time

@Eugen The engine on the 195 runs great, It's the only one I have with the generator/starter combo and it seems to start right away with no hesitation. Factory push button start for a 55 yr old machine is kinda neat too...

The 222 on the other hand It's a "newer" Ingersoll model with the plastic dash... seemed ok when we went to look at it, (even cut a bit of the guy's lawn with it) Once we got it home it started a couple of times and then last time I went to use it it cranks but doesn't start - I haven't even begun to troubleshoot if it's fuel or electrical issues - so many other distractions - my list of things to do around here seems to get longer every time I look...

RoamingGnome wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2023 8:45 am The 222 on the other hand It's a "newer" Ingersoll model with the plastic dash... seemed ok when we went to look at it, (even cut a bit of the guy's lawn with it) Once we got it home it started a couple of times and then last time I went to use it it cranks but doesn't start - I haven't even begun to troubleshoot if it's fuel or electrical issues - so many other distractions - my list of things to do around here seems to get longer every time I look...

The collective wisdom here will get that 222 running in no time The Kohler 12HP is almost the same as the 14HP and I'm very familiar with that engine, I even have one around here that I got for parts at some point (just because someone was selling it cheap). The usual problem with these old machines is fuel delivery, more often than electrical. I know what you mean by the large list of things to do...

RoamingGnome wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2023 8:45 am

The 222 on the other hand It's a "newer" Ingersoll model with the plastic dash... seemed ok when we went to look at it, (even cut a bit of the guy's lawn with it) Once we got it home it started a couple of times and then last time I went to use it it cranks but doesn't start - I haven't even begun to troubleshoot if it's fuel or electrical issues - so many other distractions - my list of things to do around here seems to get longer every time I look...

Spark plug Gerry. Happened to me a few times. Use the tractor, shut it off, go back to it a week or 6 months later, no start. Spark plug. Get a known used good one and try it.

Noel

Great story Gerry, thank for sharing. Great looking 195!

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