[InTroubleAlltheTime]

So I have been working my butt off the last few weeks, little time for stuff at home. Peeked out back the other day and I noticed the grass was growing real thick and green. I looked at it yesterday and it was almost a foot. I think all the dog poop built up last winter has turned the grass into a growing monster. I scooped up buckets of poop after the snow cleared. :thumbdown: So I said let me try the Case Ingersoll 446. The heck with the push mower. So I did a little grading on the RCA portion of the driveway and then dropped the blade in front of my run in shed and wheeled out the N44 deck. This deck actually has chains to hook up to the lift. I drove over the deck and then grabbed the tractor and helped it under the rest of the way. I engaged the PTO and put the belt on. Hooked up the chains and lifted the deck. Hooked up the belt and mule. I then noticed the mule drive adjuster nut was missing. So I called Brian and ordered one. In the meantime I had to mow. So I put a two by four up to the mule and put some tension on then cut the two by four. I slipped it in and it gave it enough tension so the belt was tight enough. I did the first runs with the deck up. Then dropped it down for the golf course look. :mowlawn: Covered everything near the grass with grass clippings. Its kind of overkill for a suburban lot but now I'm spoiled. The old beat up deck I got does a nice job. Some nice having 18 real HP too.
:usa2: :usa2: :usa2: :usa2: This tractor was going to head to Virginia but not so sure now.
:222: :446: Best Regards, Rich :usa:

 

[Snotrocket]

I'm still about a week away from mowing. My lawn is nice and green though. I finally got around to dragging the deck out and sharpening the blades before hooking it up on Wednesday.

 

[eBoyDog]

Mostly wet here in Missouri which is working out ok with me, I'm still working on hydraulic lines to connect the rear PTO so I can use my new tiller.

From the look of things in SE Missouri, it's not going to be dry for a long time. Corp of Engineers is preparing to break a levee in the boothill to flood a 1/3 of Missouri's boothill which right now they estimate by this time next week, over 200,000 acres of the best cropland in Missouri will be flooded (roughly 60,000 is already flooded). :thumbdown:

 

[mjodrey]

I am not going to be able to mow for a while yet,even though the grass is coming on strong.We have had so much rain lately,that the lawns are incredibly soft,and most have big "lakes" on them .



Maynard :canada:

 

[Hydriv]

Look on the bright side Maynard. You will get some Sea-doo time in the interim. :sidelaugh:

 

[mjodrey]

Look on the bright side Maynard. You will get some Sea-doo time in the interim. :sidelaugh:

So what you're saying is go buy a Sea-Doo. :sidelaugh:

Maynard :canada:

 

[InTroubleAlltheTime]

Mostly wet here in Missouri which is working out ok with me, I'm still working on hydraulic lines to connect the rear PTO so I can use my new tiller.

From the look of things in SE Missouri, it's not going to be dry for a long time. Corp of Engineers is preparing to break a levee in the boothill to flood a 1/3 of Missouri's boothill which right now they estimate by this time next week, over 200,000 acres of the best cropland in Missouri will be flooded (roughly 60,000 is already flooded). :thumbdown:

eBoyDog/Group: That's amazing and sad that they are going to intentionally inflict harm on all those who live within and farm that area. Sounds like a future class lawsuit. And you know who will foot the bill. I guess they looked at the $$$ and figured the total damage would be less to structures in the rural area. How long will it take USACE to design and rebuild that levee, 30 years? Sounds like this should have been addressed many years ago with perhaps floodgates for controlled release......:wtf:
:222: :446: Best Regards, Rich

 

[drhulv]

Yes, it is! I've already mowed twice with my 446. I sort of went the opposite route that CASE220 went, with my N46 deck. Unlike my tractor, I have not "restored" the deck yet, but went through it mechanically instead. It was pretty rough (rusty, some bends and dings, missing the belt cover, no discharge chute, broken replacement aluminum spindle housing, another cast iron housing with stripped threads, a frozen spindle bearing, sheared woodruff key, etc.).

I located two used cast iron housings, bought 6 new Timken bearings, then spent alot of time trying various washers/machine bushing combinations, taking measurements, to get a consistent stackup on all three spindles, to make sure the blades cut in the same plane.

All I can say, is that after mounting it to the 446 and cutting the lawn for the first time, is that the cut was beautiful. Even with an "ugly" deck! I will restore it like I did my tractor (and make it safer, once I locate a belt cover and chute), but really like using it for now! Although my...uh...cough... JD165 did a pretty good job, this cut is so much better.

 

[Bart]

I got my new Meg Mo blades set up on one of my tractors and look forward to giving them a try--still not enough grass but that should change this week.

 

[InTroubleAlltheTime]

DR/Group: I was going to sell this deck with the intention of getting a rear finish mower for the 446 for my place down south. I still like this idea, but the money doesn't seem to be there for me. Except for the missing part my N44 seems to be 100% mechanically. On this small suburban lot its probably not a bad thing for clearance.
The cut is really nice. I was down to my place in Virginia a couple of weeks ago and also did the first mow of the season with my Case 224. It's a really impressive cut on the 1 acre lot.
And even though a little rough from age these attachments are so durable. Everything in connection with these tractors has weight to it and is well constructed. Always impressed by our CI GTs.
:222: :446: Best Regards, Rich

 

[CASE 220/4]

I got my new Meg Mo blades set up on one of my tractors and look forward to giving them a try--still not enough grass but that should change this week.

Bart, my blades should be here by the middle of next week and I cant wait. ,y grass needs to be cut now and I have no choice but to use my push mower. I dont want to test out the blades and deck on thick tall grass. I had a hard time understanding Roy on the phone but he said something about having to add washers or something to get the blades at the right height. Can you shed some light on what he was talking about?

 

[Bart]

The washers (provided) go underneath the blades (when the deck is upside down) so that the blades end up at the same level as the cutting edge of the original blades. I used two under each bolt. The washers also provide clearance for the weld in the center attachment plate.

 

[CASE 220/4]

The washers (provided) go underneath the blades (when the deck is upside down) so that the blades end up at the same level as the cutting edge of the original blades. I used two under each bolt. The washers also provide clearance for the weld in the center attachment plate.

Ok, thanks. I just came inside to take a break from cutting the grass with my piece of shit push mower. It just make me appreciate my Case that much more.

 

[GoldenCove]

I cut the grass for the first time today at Golden Cove....nothing works as good as a Case / Ingersoll with the hydrabagger!

:mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn:

 

[InTroubleAlltheTime]

I cut the grass for the first time today at Golden Cove....nothing works as good as a Case / Ingersoll with the hydrabagger!
:mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn: :mowlawn:

Tom: Golden Cove couldn't look any better!!!! :usa: :usa: :usa:
:222: :446: Best Regards, Rich

 

[Bart]

The washers (provided) go underneath the blades (when the deck is upside down) so that the blades end up at the same level as the cutting edge of the original blades. I used two under each bolt. The washers also provide clearance for the weld in the center attachment plate.

Ok, thanks. I just came inside to take a break from cutting the grass with my piece of shit push mower. It just make me appreciate my Case that much more.

I should have added that you will also need some new bolts to attach the blades and they should be 1/2" longer than the old ones--make sure they are grade 5 or better.

A little update on my installation. The Meg Mo system includes a disc with 4 short blades attached for each spindle. The diameter of the disc and length of blades are varied depending upon the desired cutting width or length of the original blades. On the set of three blades I received for my 48" deck the two outboard discs were larger than the center one and all three used the same sized blades. I encountered a problem with the center disc as the mounting holes in the disc were too close to the blades and caused the inboard end of the blades to bind with the bolt heads. This caused two problems: there wasn't enough clearance to tighten the bolts and it limited the blades ability to swing if they hit an object. I spoke with Roy about the issue and he immediately dispatched a new center disc to me free of charge. The new disc has a larger diameter but shorter blades and installed easily.

Yesterday I installed the deck and started it up only to find that there was a clearance issue that caused the center blades to hit something. I removed the deck and carefully spun the blades by hand in an attempt to figure out what was wrong. It appears that there is more than adequate clearance between internal baffles and the blade tips and there is no evidence that the blades hit the baffles or housing. The ends of the center blade tips were clearly dinged up from striking something and it appears that they may have hit the tips of the outboard blades. Since the blades swing there can be a slight difference in the effective diameter of the cutting circle depending upon the position of the blades plus there is a small amount of play in the blade pivot bolts so which may allow the blades to move slight outboard when spinning. I spent a fair amount of time turning the discs by hand with the blades in different positions and was unable to get them to contact one another so I believe there is just enough slop in the blades that the centrifugal force enlarges the circle just enough to permit contact of the blade tips. It may be necessary to slightly shorten the blades to fix the problem and I will be contacting Roy tomorrow to discuss this issue.

I am explaining all of this so that others are alert to the possible problem. As far as I know I'm the first person to actually test the Meg Mo blades on a Case deck so there may be a little engineering refinement required. I am not trying to criticize the design as I am confident the issue can be resolved and Roy has been very willing and interested in working with me to get it right. If any of you have installed the blades and can provide feedback on what, if any, issues you have experienced it would be helpful in getting the bugs worked out.

 

[tss8690]

I'm new to this forum and wanted to add that I've had to mow my lawn four times already. Between the rain and the warmer temps we've had here in the DC area, my lawn has been growing well and given me a chance to use my Ingersolls a few times which is making up for the "lame" winter we had here (< 5" of snow). I have to take advantage of these great growing conditions because by late June, this area will be about 10 degrees cooler than the surface of the sun with a million percent humidity and very little grows except the mosquitos!

BTW, really liked the pictures of the lake front property. Is that in CT? If so, where?
Thanks!

 

[CASE 220/4]

Bart, that is not what I wanted to hear. I should be getting my blades in this week and I will be using them on Saturday. I guess all I can do at this point is cross my fingers and hope for the best.

 

[Hydriv]

Seems to me that Bart has a 46 Series deck but you have a 45. You probably won't have his problem.

 

[InTroubleAlltheTime]

BTW, really liked the pictures of the lake front property. Is that in CT? If so, where?
Thanks!

Tim: Tom G is in CT.
:222: :446: Best Regards, Rich