1936 Case Model CC TractorPreferred share of the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, issued 29. August 1911A Case row-crop model, circa 1940sCase Model 830Case Model 2090
The Case Corporation was a manufacturer of agricultural machinery and construction equipment. Founded, in 1842, by Jerome Increase Case as the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, it operated under that name for most of a century. For another 66 years it was the J. I. Case Company, and was often called simply Case. In the late 19th century, Case was one of America's largest builders of steam engines, producing self-propelled portable engines, traction engines and steam tractors. It was a major producer of threshing machines and other harvesting equipment. The company also produced various machinery for the U.S. military (combat engineer equipment for the USMC,[1][2] full-tracked tractors and scoop loaders for the U.S. Army,[3][4][5][6] etc.). In the 20th century, Case was among the ten largest builders of farm tractors for many years. In the 1950s its construction equipment line became its primary focus, with agricultural business second.
Case's corporate entities and brands changed repeatedly in the 1980s and 1990s. When its corporate parent, Tenneco, bought International Harvester's agricultural equipment division and merged it into Case, the J. I. Case Company continued, but it began using the Case IH brand. In the 1990s it changed names several more times (each name including "Case") before its merger into CNH Global ended its history as a distinct entity. Various CNH brands continue to make use of the Case name, such as Case CE and Case IH.
Name details
Founded by Jerome I. Case in 1842 as the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, the company operated under that name for most of a century, until 1928. In some of its advertisements the name was styled J. I. Case T. M. Co. for short. Another business founded by Jerome I. Case, the J. I. Case Plow Works, was an independent business. When the Plow Works was bought by Massey-Harris in 1928, the latter sold the name rights to the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, which reincorporated as the J. I. Case Company. That company, which became majority-owned by Tenneco in 1967 and a wholly owned subsidiary in 1970, was often called by the simple brand name Case.
In 1984, Tenneco bought International Harvester's agricultural equipment division and merged it into Case, and the farm equipment brands were combined as Case IH, although the corporation legally remained the J. I. Case Company. It continued as such until 1994, when Tenneco divested it as the Case Equipment Corporation. Case Equipment became Case Corporation and later Case LLC.
In 1999, Case LLC merged with New Holland Agriculture to form CNH Global, a Fiat Group division, which has since been demerged into a corporation that is majority-owned by Fiat Industrial. The name Case lives on in two CNH brands: Case CE (from "Construction Equipment"), which is the world's third largest brand of construction equipment, and Case IH, which is the world's second largest brand of agricultural equipment.
History
Founder
"Old Abe", the famous eagle of the Wisconsin 8th Infantry, was the J. I. Case mascot.State Street, Racine, Wisconsin, looking east toward Lake Michigan. The Case building is on the left with the statue of Old Abe on the front.
Jerome Increase Case (1819–1891) was born to a farming family in Williamstown, New York. As a young child, Case read about a machine that could cut wheat without people needing to use their hands. He developed an interest in agriculture at that point.
Case took small, hand-powered threshing machines to Wisconsin in 1842, where he improved the design and established a company to manufacture them. In 1843, Case moved the business to Racine, Wisconsin, in order to have better access to water power, and opened the Racine Threshing Machine Works. In 1863, Case partnered with three of his top employees, Massena Erskine, Robert Baker and Stephen Bull. Case was also involved in politics and horseracing. Over time, the company grew.[7]
J. I. Case introduced an eagle logo for the first time in 1865 based on Old Abe, a Wisconsin Civil War Regiment's mascot. Case constructed his first portable steam engine in 1869, an engine used to power wheat threshers. This engine is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Case won first place at the 1878 Paris Exposition in France for his thresher[citation needed]. This was the first thresher sent abroad by the Case company and was the first of thousands which would later be exported internationally. It is at this time that Case created his first self-propelled traction engine, with a drive mechanism on one of his portable engines.
Meanwhile, in 1871 the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the McCormick factory. Despite Case's offer to help McCormick with the manufacturing of their machines, McCormick Company refused the offer and a new facility, called the McCormick Works was built, in southwest Chicago. The McCormick company introduced the first of many twine binder machines in 1881, leading to the so-called "Harvester Wars" that gained the attention of the farm industry during the 1880s.
Case tractor.
In 1884, Case made a visit to a farm named after him in Minnesota upon receiving news that one of his thresher machines was not working. Infuriated by the fact that he could not fix the machine himself, he set it ablaze the next day, and sent the owner a brand new thresher machine upon return to Wisconsin.[8][9]
In 1890, the Case Company expanded to South America, opening a factory in Argentina. In 1891, the company's founder died. By this time the Case company produced portable steam engines to power the threshing machines, and later went into the steam traction engine business. By the start of the 20th century, Case was the most prolific North American builder of engines. These engines ranged in size from the diminutive 9 HP, to the standard 15, 25, 30, 40, 50, 65 HP and up to the plowing 75 and 80 HP sizes. Case also made the large 110 HP breaking engines with its notable two-story cab. Nine massive 150 HP hauling engines were made, in addition to steam rollers. Case engines were noted for their use of Woolf valve gear, feedwater heaters, and the iconic "eagle" smokebox covers. Case had built a total of 36,000 steamers by the time it switched to gas tractors in 1927.
By 1895, the Case Company had begun to produce gasoline engines. By 1899, the Case Company entered the Russian market.
In 1904, Case introduced the first all-steel thresher machine. Case sold their first gasoline tractor that year, and established a continuous presence in Europe when the company won the first place in a plowing contest held in the so-called "old continent". Case at this time developed a wide line of products: threshers, binders, graders, water tanks, plows, buggies, and even automobiles.
Case manufactured automobiles for a few years. A Case 1920 7-passenger touring car.
The advent of oil engines by the start of the 20th century, suggested a change on the horizon. From Froelich's first tractors to Hart-Parr products, oil tractors seemed the way ahead. Case hired Joe Jagersberger, and he tested a motor by racing in the 1911 Indianapolis 500. Case began production of the 30-60 oil engine in 1912. Case also produced kerosene tractors in the teen years, similar to the Rumely oil pulls. During World War I, Case's sales and demand grew dramatically in Europe. These increases were directly connected to the war; as many farm laborers became soldiers, each remaining farmer needed to become more productive, and machinery was the way to make this happen.
In 1919, John Deere entered the harvester business, and International Harvester's reply to their new competition was to purchase P&O Plowing of Canton, Illinois, and the Chattanooga Plowing company of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Henry Ford also entered the tractor business with his Fordson Tractor produced at the massive Rouge River plant. An economic downturn during the early 1920s dampened tractor sales; price-cutting to stimulate demand sparked a price war in the tractor industry (called the tractor war). Ford, with a massive advantage in manufacturing capacity and distribution, had the upper hand, producing an estimated 73 percent of all American tractors, with IHC in a far away second place at nine percent, and several other companies sharing the rest of the percentages. In 1923, the IHC Farmall entered the agricultural industry, and Ford's stranglehold began to slip. That same year also, the 100,000th thresher machine produced by Case made its way out of the assembly line, marking an important milestone for the Case company.
In 1927 the J. I. Case Company ceased building its legendary steam engines. Case steam engines, of which over 30,000 were produced, were painted in black with green machinery, while the gas tractors were painted grey. In 1939, Case changed its color scheme to Flambeau Red, with the excavators being a ruddy yellow. By 1929, Case had expanded to Australia, Mexico, Sweden, and other countries. Also that year, the J. I. Case Company produced its first crawler tractor. S and V tractors were introduced in 1940.
Automobile production
Automobiles produced by Case during the period 1911-1925/1927 include: the Case Jay-Eye-See Brougham (named for Case's horse) and Case Touring-Y.
Work in the Second World War
Case evolved as World War II arrived by becoming involved in the manufacturing of shells for the United States and allied forces military, as well as airplane parts for the B-26s, bombs, and doors for the Sherman Tank. Three new plants were opened across the United States during that year, and, in 1942, the company produced its first self-propelled combine. That same year, Case released the company's first cotton picker, which is currently preserved by the Smithsonian society. A protracted 440-day strike in Wisconsin of the Case factory weakened the company.
For the next 31 years, the company went through more globalization, becoming a well-known company in the agricultural markets of Australia, Japan, and other places. Many other companies joined Case during this period.
Modern mergers
In 1957, Case bought out the American Tractor Corporation (ATC). ATC was founded in 1950 and was a producer of small crawler tractors. Their production of dozers (marketed as Terradozers) and development of an integrated backhoe was of particular interest to Case. Case dropped the ATC name in 1959 only retaining the Terratrac name for the drive trains. This led to a hybrid tractor being rolled out of the Burlington Plant in 1957. This model, the 320 Construction King, would become synonymous in the United States to the name backhoe loader. Since then Case has released other models such as the T-Series which includes the 580T, 580ST, 590ST and 695ST. In 1998, a jury awarded a construction worker over $17million in damages after a defect in the design of the 580 backhoe led to him being crushed and being paralyzed from the waist down while operating the machine.[10][11]
In 1961, Case Corporation signed a deal with RyCSA and Metalúrgica Tandil (in Buenos Aires), to make Case tractors and agricultural implements under licence in Argentina. The models built were the 830[12] and the 831,[13] made until 1964 when RyCSA closed down.
1964 brought the acquisition of Colt Garden Tractors. This was the first garden tractor powered by 'Hy-Drive", a form of hydraulic propulsion that allowed for various heavy duty attachments and eliminated the need for transaxle drive belts. The Kern County Land Company, using oil money, bought the Case Company. In turn Kern County sold Case to Tenneco Company of Texas.
In 1972, Case bought the British tractor builder David Brown Ltd. In 1974, Case acquired most of the French construction equipment firm, Poclain.
In 1983, during purchase of International Harvester assets, Case sold its garden tractor division to Ingersoll Power Equipment. Ingersoll tractors would continue to carry the Case brand name until 1987.
In 1984, Case parent Tenneco bought selected assets of the International Harvester agriculture division and merged it with J. I. Case. All agriculture products are first labeled Case International and later Case IH. They used the 94 Series Case Utility, two- and four wheel drives for Case IH's first tractor together as a company. The first tractor developed by the new corporation was the Magnum. Introduced in 1987, the Magnum began production and the 94 series line was dropped.
When Case IH bought out Steiger in 1986 they also continued the Steiger branding, and still do today.
In 1996, Austrian tractor builder Steyr Tractor was purchased.
The Case Corporation joined with New Holland N.V. to become CNH (Case-New Holland), now CNH Industrial, in November 1999. Because of the merger, CNH was forced to release its production plants in Doncaster, England and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Doncaster site was bought by the ARGO-group, owner of tractor builder Landini, and brought back the McCormick brand. The plant in Winnipeg was taken over by the Buhler family to start Buhler Tractors.
In Europe the merger with New Holland (including the former Fordson and Fiat tractor lines) was the success Case IH expected. In 2006, Case IH came with a plan to bring back the "International" feel to their products. They brought back the old International Harvester logo, and made more technical difference between the two brands. Montgomery Design International redid the industrial design and styling of the MAGNUM and several other new Case IH products as well as the New Holland "Cat's Eye" styling on all New Holland tractors and the revised Steyr tractor styling.[14] These styling themes continue to this day.
Cub Cadet is an American company that produces outdoor power equipment and services, including utility vehicles, handheld and chore products as well as snow throwers.
The International Harvester Company was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It was formed from the 1902 merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company and three smaller manufacturers: Milwaukee; Plano; and Warder, Bushnell, and Glessner. Its brands included McCormick, Deering, and later McCormick-Deering, as well as International. Along with the Farmall and Cub Cadet tractors, International was also known for the Scout and Travelall vehicle nameplates. In the 1980s all divisions were sold off except for International Trucks, which changed its parent company name to Navistar International.
Allis-Chalmers was a U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various industries. Its business lines included agricultural equipment, construction equipment, power generation and power transmission equipment, and machinery for use in industrial settings such as factories, flour mills, sawmills, textile mills, steel mills, refineries, mines, and ore mills.
Case IH is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. It was created in 1985 when Tenneco bought selected assets of the agricultural division from International Harvester and merged it into its J.I. Case Company. Today Case IH is owned by CNH Industrial, an American-Italian corporation.
Tenneco is an automotive components original equipment manufacturer and an aftermarket ride control and emissions products manufacturer. It is a Fortune 500 company that was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange since November 1999 until it was taken private in November 2022 by Apollo Global Management. Tenneco is headquartered in Northville, Michigan.
Case Construction Equipment is an Italian manufacturer of construction machinery. Along with CASE IH, Case Construction Equipment is a brand of CNH. Case produces construction equipment including excavators, motor graders, wheel loaders, vibratory compaction rollers, crawler dozers, skid steers, and compact track loaders.
Farmall was a model name and later a brand name for tractors manufactured by International Harvester (IH), an American truck, tractor, and construction equipment company. The Farmall name was usually presented as McCormick-Deering Farmall and later McCormick Farmall in the evolving brand architecture of IH.
New Holland is a global full-line agricultural machinery manufacturer. New Holland's products include tractors, combine harvesters, balers, forage harvesters, self-propelled sprayers, haying tools, seeding equipment, hobby tractors, utility vehicles and implements, and grape harvesters. Founded in the United States, New Holland is based in Turin, Italy.
The Advance-Rumely Company of La Porte, Indiana was an American pioneering producer of many types of agricultural machinery, most notably threshing machines and large tractors. Started in 1853 manufacturing threshers and later moved on to steam engines. Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. purchased Advance-Rumley in 1931. The company's main works would become what was later known as the "La Porte plant".
The Avery Company, founded by Robert Hanneman Avery, was an American farm tractor manufacturer famed for its undermounted engine which resembled a railroad engine more than a conventional farm steam engine. Avery founded the farm implement business after the Civil War. His company built a large line of products, including steam engines, beginning in 1891. The company started with a return flue design and later adapted the undermount style, including a bulldog design on the smokebox door. Their design was well received by farmers in central Illinois. They expanded their market nationwide and overseas until the 1920s, when they failed to innovate and the company faltered. They manufactured trucks for a period of time, and then automobiles. until they finally succumbed to an agricultural crisis and the Depression.
McCormick Tractors International Ltd. is the agricultural machinery company formed in 2000 when Case IH divested assets in order to gain European Union regulatory approval to merge with New Holland Ag. The initial assets of McCormick bought by ARGO SpA were the Case IH tractor manufacturing plant in Doncaster, England, the rights to the Case IH model C, CX and MX-C and a licence to build MX Maxxum tractors. Most of the remainder of the Case IH and New Holland assets became CNH Global. The tractors are named for the McCormick family of Chicago and Virginia.
ARGO SpA is a family-owned Italian holding company owned by the Morra family that manufactures agricultural machinery. Founded by Valerio Morra in 1980, the company is based in Fabbrico, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. ARGO main products are tractors and combine harvesters.
The Oliver Farm Equipment Company was an American farm equipment manufacturer from the 20th century. It was formed as a result of a 1929 merger of four companies: the American Seeding Machine Company of Richmond, Indiana; Oliver Chilled Plow Works of South Bend, Indiana; Hart-Parr Tractor Company of Charles City, Iowa; and Nichols and Shepard Company of Battle Creek, Michigan.
Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that they tow or operate. Diverse arrays of equipment are used in both organic and nonorganic farming. Especially since the advent of mechanised agriculture, agricultural machinery is an indispensable part of how the world is fed. Agricultural machinery can be regarded as part of wider agricultural automation technologies, which includes the more advanced digital equipment and robotics. While agricultural robots have the potential to automate the three key steps involved in any agricultural operation, conventional motorized machinery is used principally to automate only the performing step where diagnosis and decision-making are conducted by humans based on observations and experience.
CNH Industrial N.V. is an Italian-American multinational corporation with global headquarters in Basildon, United Kingdom, but controlled and mostly owned by the multinational investment company Exor, which in turn is controlled by the Agnelli family. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and on Borsa Italiana: it is a constituent of the FTSE MIB index. The company is incorporated in the Netherlands. The seat of the company is in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with a principal office in London, England.
The agricultural machinery industry or agricultural engineering industry is the part of the industry, that produces and maintain tractors, agricultural machinery and agricultural implements used in farming or other agriculture. This branch is considered to be part of the machinery industry.
Case IH Axial Flow Combines are a type of combine harvester that has been manufactured by International Harvester, and later Case International, Case Corporation and CNH Global, used by farmers to harvest a wide range of grains around the world.
Erb, Dave, Eldon Brumbaugh, and J. I. Case Company (1993). Full Steam Ahead: J. I. Case Tractors & Equipment 1842–1955. St. Joseph, Michigan: American Society of Agricultural Engineers. ISBN0-929355-42-3.
Stonehouse, Tom, and Eldon Brumbaugh (1996). J. I. Case Agricultural & Construction Equipment 1956–1994, Vol. 2. St. Joseph, Michigan: American Society of Agricultural Engineers. ISBN0-929355-76-8.
Wendel, Charles H. (2004). Encyclopedia of American Farm Implements & Antiques. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. ISBN0-87349-568-3.
External links
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