The Case 10-18 is a small Case tractor of 1919, filmed at work in the video below. It comes from the years when the J. I. Case company, famous for its steam traction engines and threshing machines, was moving over to petrol tractors.
Case 10-18 at a glance
| Maker | J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, Racine, Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| Company founded | 1842, by Jerome Increase Case |
| First petrol tractor | 1895 |
| Steam engines built | about 36,000 by the time Case switched to gas tractors in 1927 |
| Company in 1919 | also building cars and ploughs; the Grand Detour Plow Company was taken over that year |
| Eagle trademark | in use since 1865, after Old Abe, mascot of a Wisconsin regiment |
| Example filmed | a 1919 tractor, shown working on a farm |
| Model specification | not described in the encyclopedic sources used here |
The model itself is not described in the sources; the page gives the company history around it and says so plainly.
History of the Case 10-18
From threshing machines to steam
Jerome Increase Case founded his company in 1842 to build threshing machines and moved it to Racine, Wisconsin, the following year. A portable steam engine followed in 1869 and self-propelled traction engines soon after; by 1886 Case was the largest manufacturer of steam engines in the world, and its engines were sold in sizes from 9 to 150 hp with the eagle smokebox cover that became the company trademark.
The move to petrol
Case built its first petrol tractor in 1895, but steam remained the main business for another three decades: about 36,000 steamers had been built when the company changed over to gas tractors in 1927. The 10-18 of 1919 sits exactly in that overlap, a small petrol machine from a maker still best known for steam.
What is known about this tractor
The sources used for this page describe the company and its products as a whole, not the 10-18 itself, so no power rating, weight or production figure is given here. What the film shows is a complete, working example of the model, kept and demonstrated by its owner.
Design and features
- Steam-era maker: the 10-18 was built by the company that had produced more steam engines than any other in America.
- Early petrol design: it belongs to the generation of Case tractors that replaced steam on smaller farms.
- Surviving example: a 1919 machine is still run and filmed today, which is the best evidence of the model available here.
- Documentation gap: the encyclopedic sources do not give its output, weight or production numbers.
Case 10-18 versions
- Case 10-18 (1919): the tractor shown in the film on this page.
- Case steam traction engines: the engines the 10-18 followed, built until 1927.
- Later Case petrol tractors: the gas tractors that took over the range after 1927.
Other early Case machines are described on the pages for the Case C and the Case VAC. More Case tractors are collected in the Case section.
Video: 1919 Case 10-18
Video by karinia12 on YouTube.
Sources
- Case Corporation, English Wikipedia: steam engines, founding, production totals
- Case Corporation, German Wikipedia: first petrol tractor, company history
- Case IH, English Wikipedia: company timeline
