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East of Broken Bow | I have a 685, used as a chore and auger tractor. It would start reliably every morning without being plugged in as long as there was no frost on the ground. A mild frost, and it would have to crank a bit longer, a hard frost and you better have a good battery.
Plug it in long enough, and it never failed to start, even down to 20 below. It was one of the better tractors to drive when it was real cold because while a bit sluggish, everything still 'worked' and it didn't have a terrible hydraulic buzz like some other tractors. Shifting and steering worked well in cold weather. I also used to have a Case 1896 with the 5.9 Cummins engine. One time it started without being plugged in when it was cold enough the diesel gelled. Ran for a minute or two and started bucking. First place it would gel was the long skinny line between the fuel tank and the lift pump. Some early ones had a sediment bowl at the bottom of the tank, it was notorious for gelling up there, as well. Now the 1896 was a bear when it was run in real cold weather. Hydraulics would buzz and jerk, and the power shift was so harsh you almost had to experience it to believe it. We used it very rarely in the cold of winter, and the few times we did, I thought something was going to break when we stepped the clutch down. The engines were not the worry in cold weather with the 3 speed Case Powershift. My brother still has it, but it more or less stays parked when it gets below 20.
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case tractors in the cold
