Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

I’m going to look into acquiring an older 448 possibly with a blown engine and repower it with a Honda 20 hp ohv engine. Then attach a 60” mowing deck on it. My daughter lives next door and their lot is as large as mine. Looks like I might be taking care of more lawn mowing. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and get a zero turn with a big deck. Any ideas men? Harry

I would say it depends on how much grass you will be mowing, and how much you like to mow it!

I can only speak from my experience of course. I guess I mow between 2 and 3 acres a week. I was using a craftsman lawn tractor. I switched to a 60” zero turn. Much faster. It cut my mowing time in half. The only thing I wish I had is an air ride seat as it’s a pretty jarring ride on rough ground.

JSinMO wrote: ↑Tue Mar 11, 2025 8:43 pm I would say it depends on how much grass you will be mowing, and how much you like to mow it!

I can only speak from my experience of course. I guess I mow between 2 and 3 acres a week. I was using a craftsman lawn tractor. I switched to a 60” zero turn. Much faster. It cut my mowing time in half. The only thing I wish I had is an air ride seat as it’s a pretty jarring ride on rough ground.

Yes probably in the 2 to 3 acres with both yards. Currently doing mine with a 46” deck which takes me about 2 hours. I almost purchased a zero turn when I purchased the 46” deck LT. Salesman talked me out if it. He said they were rough to ride in a bumpy area which part of mine is. Can not tow a trailer, which is not a problem now because I have other GT’s to do that. He also mentioned no bagger unless you weight the front. I was planning mowing in two days which is still sn option. Harry

The Case Ingersoll 60" decks are timed decks. Some people have reported having to fix the blade timing after hitting things.

I'm not sure if all 60" decks had a fixed chute making the deck 72" or so wide. I think some people have chopped off the chute. You could chop it and add a hinge...

I don't own a 60" deck but @Spike188 does.

@Harry Have you ever tried driving one of those zero turns ? Many older people , like myself who do not video game find them very difficult to drive . I myself can not drive a 6' wide zero turn though a 10' opening without hitting both sides . Yet my grandson can drive one like it's a ballerina . They are not for everyone . Their kinda a love or hate thing. As for the ride , I have worked on ones with suspension on them for ruff Terran.

DavidBarkey wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 7:04 am @Harry Have you ever tried driving one of those zero turns ? Many older people , like myself who do not video game find them very difficult to drive . I myself can not drive a 6' wide zero turn though a 10' opening without hitting both sides . Yet my grandson can drive one like it's a ballerina . They are not for everyone . Their kinda a love or hate thing. As for the ride , I have worked on ones with suspension on them for ruff Terran.

You make a valid point David, I should test drive one before purchasing one. Harry

@MattA Yes, I do have a 60".The 60" cuts mowing time of 2 acres down by about a 3rd. We use the 48" for rough terrain and rocky areas. The 60" will reach under trees better.

Personally I really like the C/I tractors for their versatility. You already have GTs, purchasing another GT specifically to do an engine swap and mow with seems like an awful lot of work to me for subpar mowing performance. Nothing wrong with it if you want to use big wheel to mow, but it sounds like a zero turn would really save you a lot of time. Not to mention being more comfortable.

When you're looking at ZT units I would seriously recomend checking out a used Walker. Walker basically invented the idea. Their mowers are front deck, rather than mid deck like most others. That gets you better access getting under shrubs and such, and they're more stable. They cling on to side hills far better than you can stay in the seat. I had to get the arm rests to help with that. Also, you can collect the clippings. Most landscape crews around me have a Walker for fall cleanups if nothing else. My father collected all the grass from around 4 acres in PA for around 20 years with one before the engine just wore out (Kohler 18). Dropped a new engine on (Kohler 19), and it's still at it (though I don't collect now, and put a bigger deck on it) The collection system is very good, and pulls it in to a hopper that then dumps like a dump truck. (most are manual dump, not powered) They have two different hopper sizes. The larger is a better choice for the acres you're looking at, but the regular would work just fine, it's just more trips to the compost pile to empty.

Beyond that, I had gotten him another used one for his suburban house in NJ. That unit was from the late 80's or early 90's, and ran just fine with its Magnum 16. Sold it to a friend, who promptly ran it in a pond... I dried it out, swapped fluids, and it's still going fine.

Their controls are a little weird to learn. They're not the push forward, move forward like most. You set forward speed with a single control on your right, and then operate 2 small levers with your left hand that slow down the drive motors, and eventually pull them in to reverse. It takes time, but once you learn it, it's extremely comfortable to run that way since your arms aren't hanging out in front of you the whole time.

Yes, ZT units ride kinda hard. They sell a suspension seat for Walker, but it's thousands of dollars. They have a bonus cushion seat I'm told is very nice, but I'm still running with the stock seat. I don't have back issues, so it isn't too bad, but yea, you will know it at the end of a long day cutting.

Both of ours were the MC model (or just C these days) that's basically their smallest commercial machines. They have bigger engines, and decks that go up to at least 60". We had 42" decks. Since I don't bag now, I run a 54" side discharge deck in tall grass with no issues. Most of the decks are timed and run through gearboxes, with a shaft PTO feeding it. They do have some belt driven decks with a shaft PTO feed, but I've never run across one. Cut quality is generally outstanding.

Biggest thing with them is keeping them greased, and doing all the fluids once a year. You've got 2 final drives with gear oil, 2 hydrastatic drives with synthetic engine oil, and the engine. There are a couple dozen or more grease zerks, plus a few pivot points to drop oil on. The yearly service is a headache, but if you do it, they'll run forever in your kind of application.

Harry , Silly question . How much in the way of obstacle do you have ?
You Have a number of tractors . Why could you not put a larger motor and pump in one of them and run a belt drive mid mount deck and a hydra rear finishing tag along off set to give large swath on both yards .Then take off the rear mount and fish up around obstacles . It is something I have been thinking of doing but not had the time . Or just pull one of these . If you can find someone that knows how to weld , you could get them to make you one up from a Case deck and small lawn tractor engine .

I use a Walker. Not a chance to go uphill forward, but great to back up hill. Maybe not an issue for many people, but I live in an area called Albion Hills. Also, if you get the collection type and mow 2-3 acres, plan on lots of trips to clippings storage. When the grass gets long, I can only do one strip before I have to dump clippings.

Even though I cut with a Walker, I was going to suggest a big front deck. My dad cut 3+ acres and used a JD FD935 diesel with 72" deck. It took about two hours, maybe less. It was heavy and comfortable, it had a full suspension seat. Also, didn't use a lot of fuel.

I have to agree with the recommendations for the Walker zero turn. Before Ingersoll added the 5000 series, we knew that we needed to add a zero turn to our offerings and after looking at many brands settled on the Walker. This would have been in the late 80's/early 90's, most we sold had the M16 Kohler single with 42 or 54" decks or 42" decks with the grass handler (vac) system. The controls are unique and different than most, they were a great selling point. As mentioned, the RH lever is basically your ground speed control and stays where you set it like a cruise control. You operate the two steering levers with your left hand, slowing down one side or the other to turn. You literally operate the machine with two fingers, and if you take your hands off the levers the machine continues rather than stopping. Two lever machines make my arms tired after a few hours, I think the next best design is the joystick control, at least you have one hand free to scratch your nose or hold your beer.

Bob

The cheap cub cadet zero turns don't even have springs under the seat. Some sort if molded plastic bump stops...

DavidBarkey wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 4:13 pm Harry , Silly question . How much in the way of obstacle do you have ?
You Have a number of tractors . Why could you not put a larger motor and pump in one of them and run a belt drive mid mount deck and a hydra rear finishing tag along off set to give large swath on both yards .Then take off the rear mount and fish up around obstacles . It is something I have been thinking of doing but not had the time . Or just pull one of these .image.png If you can find someone that knows how to weld , you could get them to make you one up from a Case deck and small lawn tractor engine .

Thanks fir the ideas David, your aways thinking about solutions that’s great. Harry

No need to dream anything up, just find yourself an old 2486 wing mower to go full 1980s mowing machine

Remember Harry. If you get a bigger deck or faster mowing mower or both, just think for a minute.
That means less seat time !!!!!

In some cases, people want more tractor seat time. !!!!

Just a thought. Think it over carefully.


Noel