How To Remove The Break And Shaft From A Case 444 Garden Tractor

Well, I got the Case 446 dug out, loaded onto a trailer, and brought it home...

It isn't pretty...

Perhaps to you it isn't pretty but to me, it's beautiful. First off, all of the tin looks to be in nice shape. The fenders are not all bent from the improper use of tire chains. None of the tin seems to be butchered in any way which will make the restoration fairly easy. The only oddball item is the switch on the right side of the dashboard but that is easily filled in with a welder and ground flat. The new dash decal will cover minor scars.

The Snow plow is rusted out at the bottom center.

The Utility Blade is a mystery to me. I have never seen an early-style blade that uses channel iron for the yoke. All of the early-style blades used heavy-wall pipe. I don't know if that blade is worth the effort to repair. For sure, it is possible to patch the rotted section with some 1/8" steel sheet welded over the damaged area but such a patch does not aid in getting snow or dirt to flow over the blade when it is angled.

The Snowblower is missing a shaft that goes from the belt drive pulley
in the center to the chain drive on the side that runs the horizontal auger.
The Auger won't turn... I knew it needed new bearings though.

The snowcaster seems to be missing the chute crank handle, as well. The missing shaft and sprocket are not a big deal but the missing pulley is because it is rather expensive. Rarely do I ever see a snowcaster being parted out on e-Bay. Whether you can find a low cost substitute pulley at a local supplier is hard to say. We can get into that later. I think that the snowcaster is a Model H, which is the first one that uses the Snap Fast system which Case introduced in 1971.

It has some Frankenstein exhaust setup, that needs cutouts for the hood.

You have no idea just how lucky you are. The exhaust system is not only perfectly correct for this year of tractor but it is in excellent shape. Those mufflers and pipes have been obsolete for about ten or more years. The last time they were available, the cost was more than $200.00 per side. Case used that cut-out hood and muffler system from 1972 until early 1976.

I included a picture of the hydraulic valve on the left of the dash; I still think
it's the valve that is normally on the rear of the tractor. I don't know what else
to make of it.

Once again, you have introduced a mystery to me. The valve on the left side of the dash tower is called a Flow Control Valve kit. Once again, I have never, ever, ever seen this valve installed on any Colt, Case or Ingersoll tractor unless the rear PTO valve was also installed. How that happened boggles my mind because the Parts Manuals always show the steel hydraulic lines which connect the two valves together. A Flow Control Valve or FCV gives the operator finite control over the forward motion of the tractor at very low speeds. It is an option which is recommended by Case whenever a Buyer wishes to add a rototiller to the tractor package but you cannot power the tiller unless the optional rear PTO kit is also added. It does come in handy when blowing snow and perhaps that was the reason for it being there. I am curious as to whether this valve is connected to steel lines or whether one or more hoses were used.

There's just a ball hitch on the rear of the tractor.

It is very common for owners to put a trailer ball there.

Someone splashed yellow paint on the hood, fenders and mowing deck; I
would have preferred flames myself

Essentially, the paint scheme on this tractor is correct. Originally, the hood, fenders, seat pedestal, fuel tank and seat shell were all painted Desert Sunset. Pretty much everything else was painted Power Red, including the mower deck, utility blade, snowcaster and rims. Only the grille area and the engine were painted black. However, you are correct that someone has splashed what seems to be Federal Yellow on certain areas. This colour was used on the 600 Series loader tractors and it is a common mistake made by owners when they go to the Case dealer to buy paint.

The rear tires seem to have Calcium Chloride in them, in addition to the
wheel weights, I can hear it rattling around in the tires.

IF.... the tires are loaded with CC and no tubes were used, then that is a bad thing. CC will destroy the rims if allowed to come in contact with it. Look at the valve stems to see if tubes are used. Hopefully, the tires were loaded with windshield washer antifreeze, which is not corrosive.

The mower deck spins easily... Now to check if the mower will turn over
by hand...

The mower deck is an H-Series which is the very first Snap Fast style of deck offered by Case. Therefore, it is correct for this year of tractor. When you flip it over, there should be a hard rubber roller at the rear of the deck in the middle. Quite often, the brackets that support that roller wear through, thus releasing the roller when the deck is raised off the ground and the roller is lost forever.