Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

BigSky™ Shop has been busy the last little while, taking advantage of (mostly) clear skies and warm temps (for early) March.
When we bought Maxine she had a simple home made tab / hitch bolted on the back of the axle housing, I need something a little fancier so that I can move "real" trailers around the yard and any other attachments that fit in a 2" receiver hitch.
Our 446 (Max) came with a Sleeve Hitch and one of the first things I made for it was an adapter for a 2" receiver that would pin on the sleeve hitch This time I wanted to build something that was more solid, adaptable for things other than just a receiver hitch and would be up and out of the way if I decide to get a sleeve hitch for the 222. Pulled off the little trailer hitch and measured up for mounting points - decided to use the 2 upper (going into/through the frame) and the 2 lower ones started off with a simple box made out of 2" angle iron, with a lip to rest on the one behind the fuel tank cover. then a 2nd piece of angle iron for the two lower mounting bolts... and two diagonal bits to triangulate and brace the whole affair...
This was the exciting part for me, as I was making tack welds on the braces while everything was bolted to the axle... and the gas tank is only inches above... Happily - no big boom It was windy, and I put a leather welding jacket hanging over the back of the seat to make sure no stray sparks wandered off. Once I was happy with the tack welds off it came and the final beads were laid down while it was on the bench... and yesterday it was even warm enough to splash on some Tremclad paint for that "finished" look when the paint was dry, it went back on the 222 Final step was to bolt on a 2" receiver hitch assembly from Princess Auto. Overall I'm really happy with the results, It's nice when something turns out looking as good in real life as it did when you were imagining it...

Excellent fabrication skills Gerry. Harry

Thanks @Harry - It was a fun project and nice to be able to take advantage of early spring weather...

Looks really nice. That should come in quite handy! I agree, it sure is a good feeling when a project turns out as good as you imagined!

Nicely done .

That looks great Gerry!

Finally had a chance to check out the LED lights on my 222 - I have to say - I'm impressed Definitely think I'll be ordering a set to upgrade the lighting on the new to me 644... (Tent garage is a dark place in the evening) Ugh! I really need to do some tidying up!

Gerry, I had a similar experience when I installed LED lights on my old 446. Very nice!

Woo Hoo! finally got a chance (or made the excuse) to use Maxine for a little snow plowing today... I had to clear the sidewalk the old fashioned way last night - too many people had trampled the snow down... Crawled up the hill without any problems, The V-bar chains worked well came outside to get some "action" photos ...and all too soon it was time to take it back down the hill it's an '88 model with the integrated holding valve... nice slow, controlled ride back down into the backyard Two thumbs up way more fun than using a shovel for the driveway.

Rear weight for Maxine...

Trying something different for Maxine (our 222) this year
- (she really needs the extra weight for traction going up the hill to street level ) We don't have a garage or shed here in the city, so the 222 lives outside all year with a cover over it when it's not in use.
I wanted extra weights to be a manageable size so they were easy to move in and out of the basement when not in use. This fall I made a tray to fit in the 2" receiver hitch. In the spring I'll paint it and make a box to carry garden tools in warm weather. but for now there is room for seven .30 cal ammo cans filled with misc nuts and washers - each ammo can weighs about 30 Lbs, so that's a total of about 200 extra pounds.
...it's also convenient storage for all those nuts and washers - hopefully one day I'll even get around to sorting them by size