The J.I. Case Threshing Machine Company was founded in 1842 – a result of a farming family’s abhorrence for the hand-work of flailing grain all winter, only to find themselves in the cycle of planting and harvesting as soon as spring broke. Fortunately, Caleb and Deborah Case had a son, Jerome Increase (anyone know the etymology of Jerome’s middle name, “Increase”?), who was ambitiously inventive. At 20 years old, Jerome was hauling his family’s primitive thresher – called the “Groundhog” and invented by John and Hiram Pitts – to nearby towns to flail grain for neighbors. He was only 23 when he moved to Racine, Wisconsin with six Groundhogs, selling all but one. Racine was the edge of the frontier, and plenty of farmers needed equipment. He designed and built an improved thresher; business grew exponentially with the westward movement. Case began producing portable steam engines in 1869. The inconvenience of hauling steam engines with horse teams led to appending useful attachments to said engine – the beginnings of the tractor. J.I. Case died in 1891, having become a beloved politician, breeder of horses (lucky enough to own one of the world’s most famous horses, Jay-Eye-See, with two careers in trotting and pacing), founder of banks, successful industrialist, father and husband. Today’s fine example of J.I. Case’s energetic efforts to transform farming is listed here on facebook Marketplace at a price of $3000. I almost want to own it just to have a small kinship with this fabulous founder; if you’re inspired too, the tractor can be retrieved from Portage, Indiana. Thanks to NW Iowa Kevin for this inspiring tip!
The Case L tractor was made from 1929 to 1940. About 31,678 were sold. Tractors from this era have little in the way of creature comforts – in fact the tractor will be uncomfortable to anyone used to today’s John Deere, with virtually no suspension and the barest of seating, open to the weather. This example is on steel “self cleaning” wheels, but rubber was available and offered a slightly cushioned ride.
She’s a crank start tractor, of course; this photo is a still lifted from the video supplied by the seller. The manual transmission provides three forward gears and reverse. The radiator is new; it serves to cool the 6.6 liter four-cylinder engine, good for a whopping 45 hp at the belt and 40 at the drawbar. That was a seriously beefy rating for the day; this tractor could pull a three or four bottom plow, allegedly through hard ground. Consequently the tractor cost about $1500 new. This example is nicely restored, but given comparable sales, the price might be a bit high. The tractor show scene is thriving, and some collectors use vintage tractors on the farm routinely. Fans might want to subscribe to Antique Power – but beware: you might get hooked!
Can’t contain myself here. Another expert summary, and may I boast once again, Wisconsin, and still operates today in Racine,Wis. The tractors they produce today are a far cry from these humble beginnings. Case was huge. Always seemed to play 2nd fiddle to the green and yellow, but pretty much 2nd place to all others. The wheels, known as “on steel” as opposed to “on rubber”, was much more common back then. There was no reason to drive a tractor on a road, and these needed the traction those spikes provided.
The real kicker here is,,,when I was a kid, you’ve heard me mention my parents lake cottage, the next door neighbor had a tractor just like this. My brother will be blown away as I am seeing this. I was just a lad, maybe 3 or 4, brother a bit older, but the neighbor used it to pull stumps from the area, say 1958?. He would cut the tree, blast the stump with dynamite and yank it out with this. It had incredible torque. When he was done with all that, he parked it on the side of the road, and for the next 30 years, it sat. We would play on it, and one day it was gone.
What a great find, and, thanks to the author, it really is what the site is all about,,to me. I’d like to say, Antique Power and sister publication Vintage Truck are also fun sites, and I believe our own Geomechs writes for them some. You like stuff like this, Antique Power is for you.As far as “Increase”, that was actually quite a popular name for the time, kind of like Howard,,,
Thanks for the compliment, Howard, and thanks for the story! Much appreciated.
This is really something else. I’m unfortunately not any kind of an expert on these, but I have childhood memories of one like this I saw as a kid at a museum. I just remember how huge the fenders with the Case logo were with the huge steel wheels. When your a little kid, it’s impressive. This is a great write up Michelle, I learned a lot, and I also enjoyed Howards comment too, this is what makes Barnfinds great, a little bit of everything. And I mean c’mon, what is Barn Finds without a tractor thrown in every once in a while. I mean, tractors are usually found hanging around in Barns!!!
Thanks! And yes good point, barns are rarely without tractors… many times not runners, unlike this one which runs by itself!
I grew up in a small town in upstate NY and the mayor of our town had a couple old steam powered tractors. He used to bring them out for parades and special occasions.
It’s amazing how much work they did year’s ago with these old dinosaurs.
I can picture the mayor now blowing the air horn as that big iron monster went by.
That was an awesome story. I really really appreciated it.
Thanks, DEANO, makes my day when readers are happy!
Three years later (1939), you could buy a new Ford 9N with “car-like” controls and the Ferguson three-point hitch system – an invention that saved countless lives by preventing rear flip-overs common to drawbar-style tractors like this Case. Of course, the Ford was only a two-bottom tractor, a bit lighter than the Case.
This is a nicely-done restoration, though, and should be a magnet at tractor shows.
When I saw the picture I thought it was a Hoyt Clagwell from Green Acres.
The Green Acres tractor was actually a Fordson. Ford was a sponsor of the show, but didn’t want to show their tractor falling to pieces!
WOW, in my children’s book TONIO IS ALWAYS IN TROUBLE. I write about this tractor which was at the orphanage were I grew up Leavenworth Kansas Ours had a side pulley for filling solos. Ity was the 1st tractor I ever saw I was 5 years old in 1937.
I grew up on a farm in the “Thumb” of Michigan. We had a Case Model “CC” which was a 2-3 plow tractor, next size down from the one featured here. As I remember it was rated at about 28-32 HP at the bar. We also had a later model “DC” which was rated at about 38-42 HP and was considered a 3-4 plow tractor. We used both tractors extensively when I was young. The “CC” looked a lot like the featured tractor. The “CC” was old when we acquired it by trading a heifer which was sick from a prized cow, the farmer hoped the heifer would survive long enough to produce aa calf . These tractors had a worm style steering gear. This one had worn out and my Dad simply removed the gear and turned it around. The kick was that now when your turned the steering wheel right, the tractor went left. Since we mostly used the “CC’ as a stationary ower plant, it didn’t matter much. However, one spring we had a short window to get the land prepared for planting and we put the old “CC” to work in the field. That took some getting used to as we reached the end to the field and had to turn around. It did have tremendous torque and would pull at very low rpm and literally could count the barks.
Increase was a fairly popular name among the Puritain founders of the New England colonies in the 1600s. It’s a literal English translation of the name Joseph, which is actually Hebrew. Since Caleb was also a popular Puritain name, I’m guessing the family could trace their roots back to the northeast.
You are correct! Increase is a masculine name, roughly “gift from God” and was popular among Puritans. The family was from NY, so about as northeast as you can get. Good job!
Thanks for the fantastic write-up, Michelle, and the heads up. Because I was raised on a farm in far NW Iowa, I love old tractors. It brought to mind an early inventor in my hometown. Hessel Roorda Sr. was the first to put rubber tires on farm tractors in 1921. I recall my dad saying it was hard rubber as opposed to pneumatic, but not sure all these years later. Fuzzy memory, you know. I found his obit with some info. Today, the city office is located in the original Roorda building on North Main Street.
https://iagenweb.org/boards/sioux/obituaries/index.cgi?read=700473
CLASSIC, back then they made machinery to last.