New Toy To Move Wood Around

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HybridFyre

HybridFyre

Burning Hunk
Jan 13, 2014
230
CT
Just picked up a '71 Case 444 garden tractor. Super pumped. These things have a cult following, especially the early models. I'm gonna restore her to her former glory over the next year. Came with a 48" mowing deck and 48" snow blower. The guy I bought it from showed me how she can pull 2k lbs in a trailer no problem once the front wheels drop and you get some traction. Not bad for 43 years old and only 14 horse power.
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That is outstanding! I love old small tractors. I hope you have some land so you can get some good use out of it.
 
Oldsmobile had a 442 but no blower attachment. very nice!
 
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Restore???

That thing looks like it just needs a coat of wax !
 
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Nice... When I was a kid my Dad had one... 442 I think? It was a 12 horse, setup for mowing and plowing the driveway. It was already old and used then... I had a lot of fun driving it around at 12 yr old mowing our couple acres.
 
Was that on Craigslist? I have been looking for a Case or a Bolens . Good find
 
Yeah I found it on Craigslist only an hour from me. It looks better in the pics but it's in pretty good shape. Some rust spots to touch up, gonna change the exhaust, carb needs a rebuild, headlights don't work, needs a full engine degreasing and I wanna put tri rib ag tires on it.

I have 2.5 acres and about 400 acres of forest behind me so I have plenty of space to use it in. A friend of mine has two big kubota's a few miles away if I need to do any heavy lifting.
 
HybridFyre said:
Yeah I found it on Craigslist only an hour from me. It looks better in the pics but it's in pretty good shape. Some rust spots to touch up, gonna change the exhaust, carb needs a rebuild, headlights don't work, needs a full engine degreasing and I wanna put tri rib ag tires on it.

I have 2.5 acres and about 400 acres of forest behind me so I have plenty of space to use it in. A friend of mine has two big kubota's a few miles away if I need to do any heavy lifting.
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Are you in northwest ct?
 
Just be careful after you get it restored. When I bought a new garden tractor 15 years ago I spent every night for weeks in the garage taking the old one that had served so well for 18 years hauling the wood and mowing the place all the way down to the frame. Body work, ton of sanding, new seat, paint job, new steering rods and ends, carb overhaul. The works.

Two weeks later the weather was supposed to be fine and I was tired and parked it outside at the edge of the drain field. The next morning it was sitting there busted in half by a 65 foot pine tree that came down exactly across the middle of it. Finally hauled it to the landfill with a little tear in the corner of my eye. <>
 
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That sucks Brother, I would probably have the same luck as you
 
BrotherBart said:
Just be careful after you get it restored. When I bought a new garden tractor 15 years ago I spent every night for weeks in the garage taking the old one that had served so well for 18 years hauling the wood and mowing the place all the way down to the frame. Body work, ton of sanding, new seat, paint job, new steering rods and ends, carb overhaul. The works.

Two weeks later the weather was supposed to be fine and I was tired and parked it outside at the edge of the drain field. The next morning it was sitting there busted in half by a 65 foot pine tree that came down exactly across the middle of it. Finally hauled it to the landfill with a little tear in the corner of my eye. <>
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That made me sad just reading about it.

Opposite end Enzo's Dad. I'm in S.E CT
 
find or fabricate a mount for some wight on the front for heavy pulling, 50-100lbs will be your best friend.
 
bobdog2o02 said:
find or fabricate a mount for some wight on the front for heavy pulling, 50-100lbs will be your best friend.
Click to expand...

Yeah already working on that one. Original wheel weights are hard to come by for the Case but I may fab some suitcase weights for the front
 
I thought I saw that on CL......good luck with it, looks like a beast of a tractor
 
The old Case hi-wheelers. Built like it was made to be a full grown farm tractor. The front ends were a bit bouncy if you were working them. Don't get too excited with front weights - the front spindles were the weak point of those. They WILL bend if you whack them against something solid...like say a cement horse tank...ask me how I know....
 
Jags said:
The old Case hi-wheelers. Built like it was made to be a full grown farm tractor. The front ends were a bit bouncy if you were working them. Don't get too excited with front weights - the front spindles were the weak point of those. They WILL bend if you whack them against something solid...like say a cement horse tank...ask me how I know....
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Haha sorry to hear about that. Yeah I won't go too crazy with front weights just enough to keep the wheels down on a heavy load. I still need to get a yard cart so no idea yet if I'll even need wheel weights based on how much wood I'll move at once.
 
I didn't need weights for this:
full trailersm.jpg

And that was probably in the range of load and trailer exceeding 3500 pounds.
 
BrotherBart said:
Just be careful after you get it restored. When I bought a new garden tractor 15 years ago I spent every night for weeks in the garage taking the old one that had served so well for 18 years hauling the wood and mowing the place all the way down to the frame. Body work, ton of sanding, new seat, paint job, new steering rods and ends, carb overhaul. The works.

Two weeks later the weather was supposed to be fine and I was tired and parked it outside at the edge of the drain field. The next morning it was sitting there busted in half by a 65 foot pine tree that came down exactly across the middle of it. Finally hauled it to the landfill with a little tear in the corner of my eye. <>
Click to expand...

I'm going to remember this story the next time I feel like I'm having a bad day!
 
Definitely don't build them like that anymore. I'd all but guarantee most of the "lawn tractors" built these days won't see 40 years old.
 
That's the truth - homeowner tractors back then were built really well. The designs were simple, solid, durable and easy to fix.What ever happen to that philosophy?

I still have a mid-60's Bolens running strong.
 
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