Jerome Increase Case was born in New York state and lived during a time when farm machinery was booming. He learned about McCormick’s mechanical reaper and another machine that would change the way farmers harvested: threshing machines.
In 1842, young Case left Oswego County, NY, with 6 threshing machines bought on credit and headed west to Wisconsin. Eventually, he founded Case Threshing Machine Works in Racine, Wisconsin. Read more on the history of Case from the experts at Certi-Pik, USA.
The Company’s History
Case began his life in Williamstown, New York, where he was born in 1819 to Deborah and Caleb Case. He studied at Rensselaer Academy before he departed to pursue his career in the farm equipment industry. During his time there he learned about the thresher and other machines that would change the way he thought about machinery and farming.
His first invention was the crude thresher machine that was driven by a horse-powered treadmill. This crude machine could thresh more than the average man in an hour, and it was this innovation that helped Case decide to become a manufacturer.
Eventually, Case moved to Racine, Wisconsin where he built Racine Threshing Machine Works on the shores of Lake Michigan. By 1848, the company was producing 100 threshers a year.
He also developed a series of steam engines for his threshers and other farm equipment. These steam engines worked much faster than the horse-powered threshers, and they were easier to operate.
By 1869, Case had improved his thresher so that it could separate straw from grain. This new thresher was a major improvement over the existing apron-type threshers that used a slatted endless belt to carry straw away from the thresher.
The thresher he designed in 1869 would also withstand higher temperatures and produce more grain per hour than the horse-powered threshers of the day. After several trials, the new thresher became an industry standard.
With the help of his wife, Lydia Ann Bull, Case established a family and grew his business. He was a very active member of the community and helped to establish several local agricultural societies.
Case was also a horse enthusiast and owned his own farm called Hickory Grove on the south side of Racine. He had a beautiful, white, stallion named Jay-Eye-See that was a huge hit with his customers.
In his early years, Case’s focus was on developing his own threshing machines. He built crude models to test their durability and efficiency before he started selling them.
In 1892, Case began experimenting with gasoline-powered units. Although they were not successful, the company did not stop experimenting with different designs. In 1912, they began to produce 30-6- oil engines. They also produced kerosene-powered tractors.
Old Abe
The Case Company has a long history of emulating the best of American culture. Our motto is “In the Name of America” and our company mascot, Old Abe, stands for the ideals of patriotism, bravery, and love of country.
Old Abe’s story is one that has captured the imagination of many Wisconsinites and travelers around the world. From his arrival at Camp Randall to his brief flight at Corinth, he became a national symbol of the Civil War, the state of Wisconsin, and the ideals of courage and patriotism.
During the war, Old Abe was the unofficial mascot of the Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment and served as a symbol of their loyalty to the Union. He accompanied the men on their march and during their time at Camp Randall, where he was kept on a tether.
After the war, Old Abe continued to make appearances at events throughout the state and beyond. Some of these events were reunions of Civil War veterans, while others were fundraisers for various charitable causes.
As time went on, rumors began to circulate about whether Old Abe was a male or female. This led to a great deal of debate among those who knew the eagle. Some believed that he was actually female.
There was also a great deal of speculation about how to properly honor the eagle. Initially, it was thought that he should be buried in Madison’s Forest Hill Cemetery. However, in 1881, Governor William E. Smith decided to place him on display in the Capitol building.
While there was a lot of controversy over how to properly care for the bird, some things were agreed on: it should be mounted. A caretaker should be appointed, and the eagle should be displayed in a glass case.
Some of the other decisions that needed to be made included the appropriate location for the bird’s burial, if any. Most people seemed to favor a monument at Union Rest in Madison, but debates continued.
In the end, the debate was settled by a group of men who took the eagle to the Capitol building and placed him on display in the rotunda. Sadly, Old Abe passed away in 1881. His remains were eventually reburied in Madison’s Forest Hill Cemetery.
Steam Engines
Steam engines use the energy that steam (the gas that expands when heated) to provide mechanical power. This type of engine has been in use since the early 1800s and has been used to power everything from trains, ships, factories, and even cars.
The first successful steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1705, but it wasn’t until James Watt improved upon it in 1769 that the modern day steam engine began to take shape. Watt’s new design allowed expanding steam to be pushed through a piston. This made the machine much more powerful than Newcomen’s condensing engine and it was the beginning of a revolution in the world of power.
It also gave steam the ability to be transported at a higher pressure than Newcomen’s condensing version. However, this also meant that steam was more likely to explode if the boiler or engine was not built correctly.
Fortunately, improvements in metallurgy and engineering enabled a more reliable high pressure steam engine to be created. American Oliver Evans and British Richard Trevithick worked on this design and built some very successful industrial single-acting high pressure steam engines.
Another major advancement came with the introduction of double-acting pistons, in which the steam was admitted to one side of the piston and then expelled through the other. This increased the speed and efficiency of the steam flow and helped to improve thermal efficiency.
In addition to this, the double-acting design also enabled the cylinder to be positioned horizontally or at an angle and increased the overall speed of operation. In addition, it also reduced the need for linkage mechanisms that convert reciprocating motion to rotary motion and produced smoother rotational forces on the output shaft.
Although it has lost some of its appeal in recent years, steam locomotives still remain an important part of American culture and are a popular tourist attraction. This interest has resurfaced with a renewed focus in the 21st century, with large steam locomotives like Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 #611, Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 “Big Boy” #4014, and Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 #1309 slated for restoration.
Gasoline Tractors
John Froelich in 1849 sat in his blacksmith shop and decided to build an engine to use to thresh wheat in Northeast Iowa. He had already been in the oil business and wanted to create a new way of powering an engine.
He partnered with some other people and created what was called the “Froelich Tractor.” It was a gasoline powered traction engine. It worked with the same pto as a steam tractors and was capable of pulling 72,000 bushels of wheat at a time!
However, the market was not ready for the switch to a gasoline powered tractor at this time. The primary power of the day was steam engines and Case shelved its plans for almost two decades until the industry was ready.
During that time Case continued to produce threshing machines and steam tractors. Eventually, the market was ready for petrol tractors and the company went back to work on them.
One of the first models was a Model V series with a drawbar rated at 18 horsepower. Another was the Model SC series with 27 HP.
The next in line was the Model VC series with a drawbar rated at 31 HP. These tractors were produced from 1940 to 1955.
When the Model VC series was replaced in 1953, the company introduced a new diesel engine powered model that produced 56 HP on the drawbar. This was the beginning of a long line of successful and respected diesel tractors from Case.
While some are nostalgic about these older gasoline tractors, they do have their disadvantages. For example, most scoop and blade type implements cannot be used on a gasoline garden tractor because the drive train limits its ability to pull these types of implements.
Also, gasoline engines typically have their peak horsepower at around 3,000 rpm and it falls off quite quickly below that point. This is why they need to be at full throttle when going up hills or mowing.
Finally, the main issue with gasoline tractors is that their engines tend to wear out very quickly and they can be difficult to maintain. The parts that commonly wear out in a gasoline engine include the rotors, spark plugs and points. A diesel engine is built to last much longer than a gasoline engine and it is easier to maintain.
