Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

Drove this home yesterday... Already dealing with the rotten lines. Came with a doner. And lots of parts... Also came with some extra buckets... And the loader is a 4 way... Going to be a nice setup without too much horrible effort. I'm not saying it isn't going to be work, but so far it looks like it might be tolerable...

Anything yellow, big, of heavy duty metal, with hydraulics is mighty exciting for me. Oh, add diesel to it and it gets 15% better.

Funny, there's a pic with the engine inside, then 5 minutes later, poof -- engine gone!

Looking forward to the rest of the story!

That's the parts machine that came with it. Engine in the complete machine was rebuilt as some tech HS kid's final project apparently, so I should be pretty much good forever on that aspect. Essentially the same engine that's in my JD300 loader that has been virtually faultless since we got it in '70...

And yea, diesel. I ran across a couple really nice machines during the hunt that were gassers. I really didn't want to play the same games due to stale gas again.

Wow 3 backhoe buckets and a 4 in 1 front loader with a parts tractor, sounds like one heck of a deal! I hope you’ll be able to take us along as you go through it and do some work with it.

Well, the weather this week seems to suck... Cold, damp, and rainy... So glad I took the week off.
At any rate, I did get 3 hoses off yesterday as examples for the local hose maker. Not as fast as a hydraulic shop, but, I can be patient to work with a neighbor.

So, being a cab machine, I can at least work inside the cab on a few things... I got the seat tower working kinda ok yesterday. The base slider/pivot really needs more work, but at least I can lock, and unlock it now. The drive home was interesting in that it was stuck on swivel, and so far forward, I think a very small person was running the machine. I can't tell from the parts breakout how the swivel is assembled. It has a lot of slop in it, and it would be nice to be able to tighten that up. I also ordered a new seat pan and cushion.

I managed to get the blower for the cab heater running. Seems it has a sketchy switch. I have something that can work for that on hand.

The wiper that worked a little on the drive home apparently decided it was done. The rubber is completely gone now. Where/how, I don't know. Of course, Deere being Deere, they used a weird proprietary arm, and blade combo. They want over $100 for the arm, and $70+ for the blade. They can pound sand on that... I ordered parts that I think will work to replace both with marine units. Still overpriced, but at least they're more generic, and generally available. I might have to make an adapter for the existing motor shaft, but hopefully not...

The hazards, and dome light work, but apart from the trip home, I doubt they're ever going to be needed again. I'll still replace the cracked lenses, or possibly the whole fixture on the hazards simply because it bothers me when things aren't "right". Plus, no reason to let insects start building nests in the housings.

Head lights, and work lights are a mess. It's plausible I might want those, so that's on today's list to putter with. I think the 5 up high on the cab will be ok to get running (though one of those is smashed, and will need a replacement). One even comes on, but at like 25% intensity, so possibly a crap ground. The two headlights on the loader pivot will be harder. The wire enters the loader tower, and I don't know where it comes back out. One wire is missing, and the other has no voltage currently. That will have to wait until it dries out and I can crawl under the machine. There is one spare headlight housing from the parts machine...

None of the gauges work. Plus the hour meter is gone. There's a full set of gauges on the doner machine, so hopefully those will work, assuming the wiring and sensors are ok. I'm guessing the kid that rebuilt the engine was tested on the engine only, and not electrical work. Or at least I hope so as the wiring is a pretty ugly mess. (not that that is weird on a machine this old) There are in line fuses, scattered all over the place, and nothing is labeled. Plus, just about all the wire I've seen is just red. Will have to take the label maker out with me today. I should probably just rewire the whole thing to a fuse block, but I'm not sure I want to get that far in to it in crap weather...

My neighbor may be interested in the rear tires. He's got a Deere 302A, and I imagine they'll just bolt up. They're a little dry/cracked, but he said his are at the point he doesn't know when they're going to blow. The rears on the parts machine are pretty good, so they'll go on mine once I get the hydraulics back together. Hate changing tractor tires... I don't see and corrosion on the stems, so hopefully they're not loaded. Probably wouldn't need to be for the original owner's application, but you never know... I'll know in a hurry once the lug bolts are loose.

TS this thread will be one I definitely will be watching. Good luck on your project. Harry

Harry wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2024 9:59 am TS this thread will be one I definitely will be watching. Good luck on your project. Harry

Same here .

Looks like quite the project. I'm assuming you have to remove the outer hydraulic lines to get at the middle ones?

Oh yea... The lines that run from the valves to the pivot point manifold are tightly packed. So far they have come apart fairly well, and I have a pretty good selection of wrenches, line wrenches, crows foot wrenches, and misc weird things to work on it. It will be an oily mess, but that's to be expected. And as tight as they may be, they're not packed in quite as bad as some of the areas on the 646. There are plenty of spots worse than the 646, but at the moment, I don't have to get in to them.

I noticed that a lovely new soft line running off the main pump runs right through where the side screens should be... The prior owner specifically let me know he had just replaced that, and it was quite pricey. Too bad it's the wrong part. On the plus side, the correct steel line is sitting in the pile of parts from the doner I'm pretty sure. It isn't a top priority since it works, and doesn't leak, but I know it is going to bother me not having the screens in, and having that hose sticking out the side...

In other news, I got the other 3 work lights to light up today. Simple broken wire, so no big thing. They also run really dimly though. They're all grounded to the ROPS cage, which should really have a solid chassis ground, but have to see if I've got serious voltage drop there. It's a solid 12 out to the lights, so it's either ground, or something strange like they put 24v lamps in there. Another shitty weather day, so no desire to climb on the wet slippery steel to pull out a bulb.

Both of the hazards have cracked up lenses... So while taking a break inside to get warn today, I read the operators manual. Apparently the lights on there aren't stock. They should be some kind of dual option red tail light/white flood. The doner has what looks like is in the manual, so perhaps I'll get lucky there too.

Tomorrow is still wet, but should be warmer... Might be a good day to pressure wash it. It has a green pallor as a result of algae, and lichen. It's been repainted at least once, but seems they used the right color on most of it, so I think it will clean up ok if you don't look too close...

Don’t you love the “getting to know you” phase of a new project!

Most of my old stuff all have body ground lights. I usually just plan on running a separate ground wire to them when I rewire something. I figure it can’t hurt.

I prefer the separate ground as well. The lights are aftermarket up on the cab, so they're set up with 2 wires already. Running a ground line around will be simple enough when it dries out.

There are a lot of loose, or missing bolts holding the cab on/together. That's not the ground path, but it speaks to condition I guess. That's going to be a whole other thing, getting the cab to stop rattling... All the parts breakouts tend to show items in isolation, rather than part of an assembly. Only a couple of them have ghost images of their surroundings so you know how things relate. They're very nice drawings as is, but a little context would help in many cases.

I watched a video of someone working on a 410 last night. Deere went with a pretty complicated hydraulic system compared to what Case did. High, Intermediate, Low, and Tank pressure zones in the system, variable displacement pump that is demand controlled. I've got the full tech manual, so I am beginning to understand it. Supposedly, it is a very smooth running system that will handle multiple demands at once without dropping flow anywhere with no issue, but it became complex as a result.

And now I've got the "Getting to know you" song running loops in my head... Thanks... I did that musical just a few too many times over the years I was in the arts...

Toolslinger wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 4:42 am
And now I've got the "Getting to know you" song running loops in my head... Thanks... I did that musical just a few too many times over the years I was in the arts...

Sorry about that. Although I suppose there are worse ear worm songs you could have stuck in there!

Managed to get a few more things sorted out...

New seat bottom arrived. Much nicer than the chewed up remains that it came with...
I'd like to replace the back unit too, but it isn't completely gone yet. I do need to make some support brackets that are missing, but they're the same on the JD300, so I have something to work from.

The parts came in to finish up the wiring for the heater's blower.

Also managed to get the regular 6" fan running for ventilation. Don't know how long that one will hold out, but I'll keep working some oil back in the bearings...

Got the new wiper, and arm installed. I need to change the angle a little, but it's ok for the moment.

While I was up there, I pulled the front work light apart. There's a reason they're dim... 17 watt, 28 volt bulbs. Obviously they have to go... I had one 20 something watt 12v on the shelf. Far brighter, but that's never going to be of any use. I expect I'll just end up replacing all the fixtures with LED units. I can get some hot LED's to put in what I have, but they cost as much as a complete fixture, and I have to replace the crushed one anyhow... That will come together when I do some of the re-wiring. I'll be putting some big LED's in place that will draw more than the existing, and the current wire isn't going to be up to it. Probably have to make a relay bank with diodes to make the 3 lighting options work. I also found where the wire is supposed to be for the loader tower mounted lights. They're all MIA. I ordered a few 100' rolls of different color wire as this is turning in to a complete rework... Of course, I'm doing all this because I can't do much else with missing hydraulic lines... The odds of me using the lights is pretty slim. I've used the lights on the other tractors only a handful of times my entire life.

Pulled the floor panel over the battery. Going to need to do something there... Battery is just sitting on a shelf, loose. The parts machine is a bit older, and has more of a box setup. Strangely, sitting on the shelf in the barn is the kit with the hold down hooks for the earlier setup. I thought perhaps they were from the JD300 we've had for years, but I don't think so, and that's the only Deere we've had... Strange.

Monday, I got a hold of the guy that was making my replacement hoses again. I hit him up after 3 weeks, and he hadn't done them, but swore he'd take care of it that week. Monday was a week, and a weekend after that. Still no hoses. That was it. As much as I want to support a local shop, that's some bullshit. My neighbor picked up my old lines from him since he was heading that way.

I brought the hoses with me to work this week in NJ. Ran over to a hose shop, and handed them over the counter. Guy asked if I was going to wait, and I told him I'd run out for coffee and be back. He told me not to bother, he'd be done before I got back. 15 minutes later I had my 12 new lines. What a complete waste of 4 weeks waiting for the other guy to do anything. Lines are never cheap, and these were no exception, but lesson learned... Don't bother with the hobby shops, just go where they know their business. Picked up coffee on the return to work. The guy was right, the coffee shop was 10 minutes away from his shop.

My upcoming weekend is kinda ruined already by a wedding taking up most of Saturday... Hopefully I can at least get the lines on if I hit it hard Saturday morning.

Toolslinger I’ve found the same in my area. There one shop that will make them while you wait but they are expensive. Harry

And I'm back at the 310 today... Just in time for it to be 34 degrees outside. Apart from the cold, it was pretty nice out. Clear skies, and no wind to speak of.

There aren't many photos. Apart from not wanting to touch my phone while covered in hydraulic oil, I was busy questioning the lineage of the JD engineer that designed things here... At the spools, I had to disconnect, and reconnect 10 fittings. I would like to see the wrenches used during the OEM assembly. The mess of tools I ended up using was ridiculous. You have to think several moves ahead to put the hoses on in the right order, or you will not be able to get a wrench in at all.
The cab gator was packed with tools. Had the generator with me to throw a charger on the battery, but strangely, the battery was fine. Second gator was making runs back to the barn for more tools, or the odd bolt for hose clamps.


So, 12 hoses... 7 hours. The two long ones out on the boom only took 10 minutes. Those hoses are going to make me nervous forever. No other way to do it though with the extendahoe option. Like to replace that mangled steel line, but I've only seen one, and it was sold for just shy of $300...

End result is... It works. And, weirdly, I didn't see any leaks. Something will leak, as it always does, but so far, everything is good.

Looks like a fun time! Glad you got them all done. Fingers crossed you can ruin it for awhile with no leaks.
I don’t know what to say about that steel line, really going to have to keep an eye on it.

Yea, it bothers me... I need to call the local breaker yard, and see if they have one.
I'm not actually worried about it failing as the bend is actually pretty smooth. No kinks, so it's just bent badly. That's not to say I'd try bending it back.
I'm really more concerned about catching it on something while telescoping out in brush. Doesn't help that it has to pull that long line through the guides all the time as well. (which is another poor idea... I should probably get some armor for them.)
I wouldn't say it was Deere's finest moment of engineering. Even when it's in the correct shape, it's kinda exposed. On the other hand, I'm sure they weren't thinking of operating in heavy brush with a unit they figured would be ripping up streets, or digging on more open lots.

Huh... And just like that, a NOS unit hit my Ebay search...
Should have it in hand in a week or two.
That factory paint is going to look out of place on this tired old warrior...

On a lark, I checked to see if I could get the plastic spacer that is associated with it, and to my absolute amazement it too was available. I would suspect that failed at some point due to age, and the use of a hydraulic breaker on the machine. It was never replaced, and with that line loose, either a branch got under it, or the hose got caught on something and pulled it back. Ordered one of those as well. The associated hose clamp that supports it all is not an issue, I've got those (just not painted a pretty yellow).

Next up is figuring out the backhoe bucket mess. The 12" that is mounted is not a JD unit. I really wouldn't care, except it wobbles around on the pins enough that it might become an issue. Also, when they put the mounting ears on (it was a QD unit) they got some geometry wrong, and the bucket can't curl in as far as it should. I'm not loading dump trucks, so that doesn't matter, but that also means the teeth can hit the boom bottom, and that isn't right. It's in good shape otherwise, so I imagine I will add some bushings to fix the wobble, and keep it for small trenching.

The 24" bucket is beat pretty bad. I expect that was on the machine for the majority of it's life when not running a breaker. The two outer shanks are worn down to nubs, and will not hold a tooth. I had the same on the 646 buckets, but my welding can hold up to that machine. I don't think I could get a tooth to stay on either of these via weld. So, either I have to do shanks, and likely the cutting edge, as well as possibly some patching on the sheet metal, or I have to pick up another 24". My feeling is the 24" is what I'd want to have on for most applications, and since I have to have the specs on hand before I order the Amulet HoeClamp, making those decisions is going to be high on the list as I'd really like to get that thumb on there to deal with another project in the near term rather than years down the road.

The 36" bucket also has badly worn shanks, and cutting edge. I might just cut the shanks off, and put a straight edge on there. If I ever use a 36", it would be to do some dredging in the ponds. I don't need teeth for that operation, and probably would be better off without to keep a smooth bottom. The machine really isn't heavy enough to be digging with a 36 unless it was silt, sand, or loose gravel. I have silt in the ponds, but everything else here is rock, and high clay content. Smaller buckets will work, just take a little longer. 36 is at the bottom of the list, and will likely just get set in the woodline for a future year.

Finally will need to get some more hydraulic lines for the loader. I should have pulled them with the last batch, but I was thinking of a quick turnaround then. They're a little harder to get to, and in a horribly filthy area under the machine. I had hoped to powerwash it, and then get after them, but the delay in hoses means the water lines out to the fields have been drained, and winterized. I don't want to wash this thing right in front of the house, so I either have to haul a tank of water out to a field on a nice day, or wait on that until spring comes around in lateish April when I turn on the water.

Backhoe control valves were never nice, regardless of using pilot control or old school mechanical linkages to move the spools.
One thing to consider (if you don't already have a set) is a crow's foot line wrench set... If you are lucky the hose and fittings are smaller than the nut on the end, and you can wiggle the crow's foot down the hose, and then use a long extension and ratchet to spin the nut. Choice words are usually spoken regardless - especially if you have to remove hoses starting at one end so you can get to the leak in the middle.

Toolslinger wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2024 8:35 am Huh... And just like that, a NOS unit hit my Ebay search...
Should have it in hand in a week or two.
That factory paint is going to look out of place on this tired old warrior...

On a lark, I checked to see if I could get the plastic spacer that is associated with it, and to my absolute amazement it too was available. I would suspect that failed at some point due to age, and the use of a hydraulic breaker on the machine. It was never replaced, and with that line loose, either a branch got under it, or the hose got caught on something and pulled it back. Ordered one of those as well. The associated hose clamp that supports it all is not an issue, I've got those (just not painted a pretty yellow).

Next up is figuring out the backhoe bucket mess. The 12" that is mounted is not a JD unit. I really wouldn't care, except it wobbles around on the pins enough that it might become an issue. Also, when they put the mounting ears on (it was a QD unit) they got some geometry wrong, and the bucket can't curl in as far as it should. I'm not loading dump trucks, so that doesn't matter, but that also means the teeth can hit the boom bottom, and that isn't right. It's in good shape otherwise, so I imagine I will add some bushings to fix the wobble, and keep it for small trenching.

The 24" bucket is beat pretty bad. I expect that was on the machine for the majority of it's life when not running a breaker. The two outer shanks are worn down to nubs, and will not hold a tooth. I had the same on the 646 buckets, but my welding can hold up to that machine. I don't think I could get a tooth to stay on either of these via weld. So, either I have to do shanks, and likely the cutting edge, as well as possibly some patching on the sheet metal, or I have to pick up another 24". My feeling is the 24" is what I'd want to have on for most applications, and since I have to have the specs on hand before I order the Amulet HoeClamp, making those decisions is going to be high on the list as I'd really like to get that thumb on there to deal with another project in the near term rather than years down the road.

The 36" bucket also has badly worn shanks, and cutting edge. I might just cut the shanks off, and put a straight edge on there. If I ever use a 36", it would be to do some dredging in the ponds. I don't need teeth for that operation, and probably would be better off without to keep a smooth bottom. The machine really isn't heavy enough to be digging with a 36 unless it was silt, sand, or loose gravel. I have silt in the ponds, but everything else here is rock, and high clay content. Smaller buckets will work, just take a little longer. 36 is at the bottom of the list, and will likely just get set in the woodline for a future year.

Finally will need to get some more hydraulic lines for the loader. I should have pulled them with the last batch, but I was thinking of a quick turnaround then. They're a little harder to get to, and in a horribly filthy area under the machine. I had hoped to powerwash it, and then get after them, but the delay in hoses means the water lines out to the fields have been drained, and winterized. I don't want to wash this thing right in front of the house, so I either have to haul a tank of water out to a field on a nice day, or wait on that until spring comes around in lateish April when I turn on the water.

Finding that NOS line was lucky. I was surprised at what you can still get from John Deere as well. I couldn’t believe they still had the wood pitman are for my sickle mower from the 1950s! Although I think It’s probably about the last one around.
Sounds like that backhoe has done a heck of a lot of work in its life. My 648 came with 3 buckets as well. None of them show much wear. It spent most of its life digging for swimming pools so I bet it was a lot of fairy easy digging.

Apparently this one started out it's life with a local water department. Lots of breaking through streets to work on mains I guess. After that when it was retired after a few decades, it got grabbed by some kid in a vo-tech out here. He rebuilt the engine for his final. Engine seems good. Everything around it is still struggling a bit, and the electrical is a train wreck, but it's coming along. Then it spent 3 years with the guy before me. Don't know where the 12" bucket came in to the mix, but there's no way that arrangement came from the water dept.

My 646 had an equally rough life. It was literally broken in half when I got it. The buckets were far more worn than I would imagine possible on a machine this weight.

It would appear I do in fact have one seeping line. It's not ina good spot, but it isn't the worst. When I swap out the rear tires, I will have better, if not good access to try to get wrenches on it.

RoamingGnome wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2024 6:43 pm Backhoe control valves were never nice, regardless of using pilot control or old school mechanical linkages to move the spools.
One thing to consider (if you don't already have a set) is a crow's foot line wrench set...

If you are lucky the hose and fittings are smaller than the nut on the end, and you can wiggle the crow's foot down the hose, and then use a long extension and ratchet to spin the nut. Choice words are usually spoken regardless - especially if you have to remove hoses starting at one end so you can get to the leak in the middle.

I've got crow's foot from 3/8" to 2"... Also have a few crow's foot line wrenches, and actually the right size for this... Sadly the line version is too tall to slip over the access point. The regular were invaluable. I was debating having to grind something thinner, but in the end, the rough language apparently was sufficient.

Never underestimate the hidden power of colourful language
(as long as the or the nice lady from HR / Front office isn't within earshot)

My crow's foot line wrenches were one of the more frequently items borrowed by other tech's in the shop, I think you could tell which senior mechanics had field service experience by the number of weird, one-off or specially modified tools in their toolboxes.

Just remember guys when ever you feel bad about , or someone gives you grief over using colourful language at a inanimate object when frustrated . It is gods way of letting us release that anger in a non distructful way instead of beating something or someone to death with another inanimate object. Like many inanimate objects that can injure another person be careful who or what you throw them at . They're only words until you hit someone hard with them .
you may keep the change .