1958 CASE 400 COM

A guy advertised a CASE 400 for sale. When I called him he said it is a gas 1958 COM with 3 pt hitch, P.T.O., and power steering. Is this possible? I know nothing about a COM but he explained how it worked. I asked for a serial number but now he's gone for 2 weeks. When he gets home I'll go see it but was hoping for more info.
Thanks Dave

It's got to be the small 400 if it's a 58. The big 400's never had COM that I heard of and they quit making them in 57. As for the 3 point, if it's original it is an eagle hitch, not a standard cat 1 three point.

3 pt was available from Case for retrofit on Rock Island models (2,3,400's) starting by at least 1959. I have a parts book from '59 that shows factory 3 pt for them. Nick

I would like to add the following info. I have a 1958 211B owners manual....printed 11-57 (along with the original tractor) that clearly shows the Rock Island series of tractors could all be ordered with a 3pt. hitch option. ( mine has the eagle hitch) I do not know if the round nose tractors had this hitch option also available or not...Paul

Dave,

What is most certainly being described is a 400B, which was made from 1958 to 1959. They are approximately a 35 HP tractor, and it sounds like the one you are referring to is well equipped with power steering and possibly a factory 3-pt hitch. The COM system is essentially a torque converted instead of a standard dry clutch. It is desirable, very capable and requires very little maintenance. However, if the converter needs repair.... I would keep looking. You can get upside down on the value of the tractor very quickly, and parts for the converter are no longer available from Case.

Another benefit of the 400B is it needs and has live PTO because of the COM setup.

Case offered a three point hitch....see picture from the 300B/400B Operators Manual... However, it didn't become standard on these types of Case tractors for a couple of more years. The patent for the three-point hitch was owned by Harry Ferguson, and Case chose to develop their own hitch (Eagle Hitch) rather than pay royalty fees to a competitor. When the patent expired, the three point hitch became the industry standard, and Case, Farmall and others abandoned their proprietary hitches for the three-point.

When you look at the 400B, make sure the three point is indeed a factory setup. I've seen several Eagle Hitches "modified" in the field to emulate a three point. The lateral swivel at the top of the vertical lift arm is the easiest way to tell if it is indeed a factory setup. The Eagle hitch at that juncture does not swivel laterally.

What is COM? I'm pretty sure all 400B tractors originally had the Eagle hitch.
I know a guy that tried to convert his 400B to a 3pt using Ford parts. He also changed it to category 2 without any kind of sway bars. It was very hard on his tractor. The lift is all welded up now. And he broke some of the castings.

We saw a Big 400 com at a show in Penfield Il a few years ago. It ws painted flambeau red. You can see one pulling on youtube by searching 13kelseysue and clicking on Kelsey Meyers. Scroll down until you come to a 3 plow 6500lb class at Effingham County Fair. Please feel free to enjoy all of the pulls one her site. Cases sometimes win.

Case-o-matic.

Thanks everyone for your reply. I can't wait till the guy gets back from his holiday. I'll send pictures.
Dave

jerry, do you think that was a factory original or a retro-fit?

(quoted from post at 22:58:38 04/06/15) We saw a Big 400 com at a show in Penfield Il a few years ago. It ws painted flambeau red. You can see one pulling on youtube by searching 13kelseysue and clicking on Kelsey Meyers. Scroll down until you come to a 3 plow 6500lb class at Effingham County Fair. Please feel free to enjoy all of the pulls one her site. Cases sometimes win.

Click to expand...

Most likely a 800 with 400 tin on it.

The one pulling is a very early 800 from the front of engine to the rear. Front tubs are different than the 800. We also have a diesel the same way. in 400 sheet metal The one we saw at Penfield I was not sure about as it was painted flambeau red. There was also an LAI there with a Detroit in it that was painted green. John Deere had bought and tested this tractor looking for some big diesel power.

Most likely this is the tractor your talking about
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