How did you get interested in Case Tractors

[MattA]

Growing up, my parents neighbor had a 3012 with hydravac and snowcaster. Did a great job mowing and it moved a lot of snow for us. One summer we put the chains on it and got to work clearing his side yard. We pulled out small trees and pulled logs with it. Great tractor. When it came time to buy my own tractor I knew what to buy. I bought my 4016 vanguard in the Poughkeepsie NY area and hauled it home in a uhaul. Tractor had 55hrs on it and came with a snowcaster, cab, weights and chains. On the way home I stopped in Warwick RI and bought another SB48 snowcaster and RM44 deck. The 2nd snowcaster got sold and I used the RM44 for mowing duties. The following year I bought a RM48 deck for $50. That's about what it was worth. The deck housing had 7 broken welds which were fixed and bracing welded in. The deck also got all new spindle housings, spindles, idler, all hardware replaced and the mule drive was rebuilt. The following year I bought a weight box and the 3012 from above. I kept the rear PTO and hydravac. Kind of wish I kept the rest. Another year or so passed and I bought my Berco snowblower. See a pattern here I took a few years off the buying and we had two kids. This year I bought the Johnny Bucket but the mule drive part hasn't happened yet. TBD what I'm going to do with that. Still on the lookout for a higher HP tractor. The 4016 gets the job done but the power just doesn't meet expectations. Got a little carried away there rambling

[Eugen]

@MattA good ramble.

I'm curious what kind of more powerful tractor do you think you might get next?

[Harry]

Part two for me is what other Case GT’s I’ve added to my addiction. After getting the 446 back up and working and put on snow removal, I wanted a GT to move material. I came across a 646 that fit what I wanted. There has been many problems with that GT. I’ve repowered it with a Honda 20 hp engine, added large ag tires with combine wheel weights and planning on installing a cab this winter. I also added a rear finish mower for the rear of the 646. I was looking for a rototiller for the 646 and when purchasing one that was originally on a 444. The owner then offered me to take the 444 with the tiller along with a mowing deck. This GT finally has been gone through and can be used for mowing, tilling, plowing the garden and snow removal with a front blade. So then I owned three GT’s, what more could I really want? Backhoe was next by adding a 644 lbh. For the most part the only major work I have done to this GT is welding the fame. I spent two days under this GT welding in fish plates to fix the frame that had multiple cracks in it. Now I had four GT’s until a friend gave me a 226 that I’ve only worked on briefly and is a work in progress. Now I had five until recently the mostly green GT was delivered to me, which I have been posting about in another thread. I hope everyone that reads this understands my addiction. My certainly does not. Harry

[JSinMO]

@Harry Great topic, I’m enjoying reading everyone’s stories. My journey into the Case GT world is pretty well documented here so I won’t repeat all that. But I will add this. Even though I grew up in an agricultural area I really never saw many GT tractors around. A couple of people had the John Deere version but nothing that really ever caught my attention. However there was a fellow a few towns over that had a Case 444 that I was always drawn to. Every time I was over there I had to go take a look at it. Thinking back now I think that planted the seed in my head. When a came upon the 648 there wasn’t any question of weather or not I was going to bring it home!

[Harry]

Matt, I came across this GT today on CL. Harry

[MattA]

@MattA good ramble.

I'm curious what kind of more powerful tractor do you think you might get next?

The 16hp vanguard can't climb the small hill in my front yard with the deck running cutting grass without the rpms quickly dropping off. Even slowing to a slow crawl can drop the rpms into the 3000rpm range. Just running the deck up hill over the already cut grass causes the rpms to drop but not as bad. I can cut down a good 6" of thick grass around my house at a slow walking pace at 3400-3500 rpms. It gets the job done and certainly works hard. I do agree with Ingersoll dropping the 16hp vanguard from the lineup with later model tractors.

Swapping in a higher hp vanguard gets expensive if you want to go beyond 18HP. The 18HP engine can reuse the muffler and clutch. The 21HP and 23HP vanguards require the muffler, electric clutch, raising the hood and due to the new style flywheel, a custom stub shaft setup to connect the hydraulic pump. The vanguard frames also have raised up engine mounts due to the lower crankshaft height in the block. Onan and kohler command crankshafts are both higher. In my opinion it's more cost effective to buy a higher HP tractor. I just haven't found an Ingersoll to buy.

[MattA]

Matt, I came across this GT today on CL. Harry

That would work. Could use a loader too. Would need to add onto the garage to store it.

[DavidBarkey]

The biggest issue Matt has is that the "16hp" briggs does not have the same power as the 16hp onan . For two reasons , gross verses brake net and torque is grater with the Onan due to larger

ci. @MattA You might want to look into one of these Kohlers . extended crank shaft fly wheel side and available in 20-24 hp . A 20hp wood give you ample power.

[THEOTHERHALF]

never heard of case gt,i was at work when a fellow showed up with a 224 with caster he wanted 300 bucks for it no one wanted it at work so i told him i would buy if he could deliver it that nite at my house,it smoked pretty bad needed a set of rings,but everytime i used that caster i felt blessed to have it,i have a long driveway and we get some pretty heavy snowfall this was back in 1998,since then i added another 224 a 444 a 446 and my favorite a 226 that has that same caster on it,i acquired a lot of attachments since then thinking its good to have a back-up for everything we use funny thing is the back up attachments are still stored in same spots as 10 -15 years ago and that rebuilt 224 that i first bought has not been worked in at least that long but it is all ways ready too.

[MattA]

The biggest issue Matt has is that the "16hp" briggs does not have the same power as the 16hp onan . For two reasons , gross verses brake net and torque is grater with the Onan due to largerimage.png ci. @MattA You might want to look into one of these Kohlers . extended crank shaft fly wheel side and available in 20-24 hp . A 20hp wood give you ample power.

David that looks very similar to the kohler commands. Years ago I looked into the Kohler command swap. Issues were the higher crankshaft, clearance to the hood and the length of the engine. I think the engine was several inches longer. It's been done, I have pictures of a case 200 series with a 25HP Kohler command.