[devincj]

Hi all,

Can anyone point me to where I can find a parts interchange (if it exists) for our newly acquired 1969 Case 444 to later years/other models? Or, any interchange advice, mainly on hydraulics and attachments, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

John

 

[Hydriv]

1969 was the year that Case introduce the new 200 and 400 Series tractors to replace the earlier 100 Series. In hindsight, I'd have to say that they did not have their act together because in 1971 Case introduced the Snap Fast system of connecting attachments to the tractor such as mower decks, utility plow blades for snow/dirt as well as snow blowers. So....... for two years, Case used the same attachment system as they did on the earlier 155/195 models. What does this mean to you?

Well, it means that your tractor cannot make use of the huge pool of Snap Fast decks, blades and snowcasters that are out there unless you can find the adapter kit that would convert your tractor's frame to accept the Snap Fast models. All of those attachments start with the letter H in their model number and progress to J, K, L, M, N, P, R and S. The attachments that will work with your tractor are the F and G Series and they are a bit more involved to mount and dismount compared to the Snap Fast models.


You tractor will accept a three point hitch or a sleeve hitch for rear-mounted attachments and a hydraulic PTO can be mounted back there to power attachments that need hydraulic power.


If you go to the Tech Library/Parts Manuals, you will find manuals for G and H Series tillers, decks, snow blowers and blades and that will help you understand what those look like.


If you go into the FAQ's section, you will find documents that deal with changing out the hydraulic oil, trans-axle oil and what oils you should select. You may find several documents of interest in the FAQ's that will educate you further about your tractor.

As for parts interchangeability, that is determined this way.

You examine the Parts Manual for your tractor and locate the part number of the item you seek. You can then move to the next manual and the next manual to see if the part numbers match. There is no such thing as a cross-reference index. Case changed the way they built these tractors over the years and that's why there are so many manuals for each model. Those manuals express the various changes made. However, you should also be aware that Case often changed the part number whenever they sourced essentially the same part from a new supplier and that adds confusion to the mix.

If you are confused about something, then that's what the forum is for. ASK.

 

[devincj]

Thanks Hydriv!

Sorry for the delayed response-been out of town. Info on the attachments much appreciated. Too bad to learn that there is no parts interchange, but I'll start looking through the manuals in the FAQ section to see what'll fit as far as hydraulics.

 

[Hydriv]

Thanks Hydriv! Info on the attachments much appreciated. Too bad to learn that there is no parts interchange, but I'll start looking through the manuals in the FAQ section to see what'll fit as far as hydraulics.

Perhaps you are taking my response too literally. I did not say that there is "no parts interchange". What I did say is that parts interchangeability must be looked at on a part-by-part basis and by using the Parts Manuals carefully, you could figure out what will work and what won't.

What you also must realize is that your tractor is more than 40 years old. Who knows if every part on your tractor today were the exact same parts that were on the tractor when it left the factory back in 1969? Case was pretty clever. They may have made changes to a certain part but those changes were often made with backward compatibility. Let me give you an example.

The original steering wheel and steering shaft on your tractor are held together with a nut on the end of the steering shaft. There is a half-moon keyway cut into the shaft that keeps the shaft and steering wheel turning as a unit. Years later, Case stopped making these items in this fashion. Instead, the steering wheel came with a plain hole in the hub with no keyway. The shaft also had no half-moon keyway cut into it nor did was it threaded for a nut. Case held the two items together with a "roll pin" fastener that was driven through a hole cross-ways in the hub of the wheel that lined up with a hole in the shaft.

Let's say that the pinion steering gear that is welded to the other end of the steering shaft, finally wore out in 1995. The decision was made to put a new steering shaft and quadrant gear into the tractor so that it could be put back to work once again. The dealer discovered that the older, threaded shaft with the keyway is no longer available. So he orders in the newer cross-drilled steering shaft and installs that instead. It fits perfectly but now the dealer is faced with a decision. Is the original steering wheel still in good shape or not? If it is, then he can cross-drill the hub of that wheel and install it on the replacement shaft. If it is NOT in good shape, then he and the customer may opt to installing the newer wheel that is designed for the cross-drilled pin.

Now we come to 2011 and YOU own this very same tractor. YOU want to do a letter-perfect restoration to it. After dismantling the tractor to the bare frame and studying the Parts Manual carefully, you discover that the steering shaft is incorrect for the year of your tractor. It's one of those things that a meticulous restorer would find annoying because he knows that sooner or later someone like me will come along at a show and remind him that his steering shaft is not correct for the period. In order to fix this issue, he would buy a length of cold -rolled steel, take it to a machine shop and pick it up the next day after they threaded the end and cut the keyway in it. He would then look for the correct steering wheel and put it on.

There are many, many, many other examples I could give you. For instance, I could take the fenders off of a 1988 444 and put them on a 1972 446. Would they work? YES. Would they be correct? NO they would not. However.... they would interchange. Case and Ingersoll made changes to the tractors when it suited them to do so. That's why the Parts Manuals are DEFINED by the serial number spread and not by the YEAR of the tractor. As another example, the holding valve feature was built into the travel/lift valve instead of being a separate valve. Some of the 1985 446 models came with the old travel/lift valve up to a certain serial number and then the 446's that came after that serial number were fitted with the newer travel/lift valve with the built-in holding feature. A minor change in the position of the valve's mounting holes was made to the frame at the same time. The newer valve can be installed into older tractors just by drilling two new holes. Would that be period-correct? NO.. but once again... interchangeability is possible.

I do not know what your concerns are regarding hydraulics. If you express those concerns, the members will clear them up quickly.

 

[mikebramel]

Beautiful machine, you have