The death of Ingersoll as a line of tractors?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I think that it would be remiss of me to not advise those who own Colt, Case or Ingersoll products that Eastman Industries, the current owner of Ingersoll is all but out of business. Eastman no longer has a known business address because their former landlord has taken over the space Eastman formerly occupied. Everything inside those premises were loaded into highway trailers prior to the end of March, 2016. Where those trailers are parked is unknown at this time. The good news is that Central Power Distributors will continue on supplying all of the small repair parts for the foreseeable future. While Eastman Industries is not officially bankrupt, how does one describe a company in this state of limbo? They are apparently unable to supply the parts that CPD does not handle. They are apparently unable to manufacture tractors, attachments or optional equipment. They apparently have no access to important corporate archives. And to top it all off, Eastman has apparently failed to inform their dealer network of any of this. Will we see a White Knight swoop in to save Ingersoll from a certain death? Not bloody likely.

Those who are familiar with the Colt, Case and Ingersoll brands know that they are all well-made, long-lasting garden tractors and it is tragic that 2016 may be the bitter end of this once-proud marque. I certainly wish that none of this was happening but the writing has been on the wall since 2004 when the Rothenberger run Ingersoll Tractor Company went into Chapter 11. The day of the garden tractor is over with and that is truly a shame.

Well I've got 3 of them, and I'm sure they will out last those "cheap" MTD made tractors. I finally got to the last one I bought, My grandson told my wife it didn't have a clutch so she could mow the lawn with it. The previous owner told me it needed to be rewired. Every wire on it the mice had eaten the insulation off. He said it needed a new coil, wrong, after rewiring it has a nice strong spark. I did find that whoever did the last oil change didn't screw the oil filter on tight which made for a lot of oil and dirt on the cooling fins and most everywhere else on that Onan engine. I got her all cleaned up changed all the fluids new filter and rewired then I squirted a little gas in the carb and it's running now. I just drive it around the yard once in a while I put some Sea Foam in the tank and hoping that will clean the carb a little bit. It starts easy and sounds good but who knows how long it sat with the old gas in it.

Dave, Sherburne is where I went to school. My brother lives in the metropolis of Smyrna. He runs the family farm with his son. Small world!

Tom, I enjoy quality equipment and as you know I also enjoy owning several of the Hydriv line. They are good tractors but anyone who priced an Eastman built tractor recently could see this coming plain as day. The value just wasnt there when other options were considered. Sales numbers were next to zero and thus costs go way up and,,,,,. Luckily there are plenty of tractors being parked due to the cost of rebuilding an Onan or just because the owners want something new. The supply of parts from the well known suppliers plus parts machines should keep everyone going who wishes to do so.

And you have a nice looking Economy in the background too! Tell us about that one. I have a 72, 14 hp with 24" rears, two transmissions, and hydraulics. It looks similar to yours.

Are you trying to hijack this thread, 4wdtom?

Thjanks Tom, As you know I too have three and now I won't mess around when a parts tractor comes up for sale. Although down here we lost most all dealer support when case sold off the GT line. Tom

That's too bad. Makes me wonder if they didn't cheapen them up enough to remain competitive. All of the Ingersoll tractors I've seen were still mostly metal with a real frame. Cub Cadet being an MTD product has a lot of plastic and looks like mostly stamped steel frames, if you can really call them frames. Deere is kinda the same, lots of plastic. Wisconsin Engines went the same way. No cheap pot metal engines, everything they built was built to last too long. Being built to last doesn't seem to work in today's throwaway society...