Details of Cars

Case L and LA: the Case tractors before the war

CASE

Case steam tractor outside a company branch
A Case steam tractor, the machines the L and LA followed. Photo by , Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The Case L and the Case LA are the two names of one Case farm tractor of the 1930s and 1940s. The old posts for both now lead to this page.

Case L and LA at a glance

Case L and LA key facts
Models Case L, Case LA
Maker J. I. Case Company, Racine, Wisconsin
Period the years between the end of steam in 1927 and the merger into Case IH in 1985
1928 the company took the name J. I. Case Company and bought Emerson-Brantingham’s farm business
1937 Case took over the Rock Island Plow Company
Related line the Case D series of the same period
Engine and output not stated in the sources used here

Only company-level facts are available for these models; the page is short for that reason.

History of the Case L and LA

After the steam engines

Case built about 36,000 steam engines before changing over to gas tractors in 1927, the year it also stopped building cars. The L and LA belong to the generation that came next, designed around a petrol engine from the start.

Buying up the farm trade

In 1928 Case bought the farm machinery business of Emerson-Brantingham and took the name J. I. Case Company; in 1937 it added the Rock Island Plow Company. Both purchases widened the range of implements and tractors the company could sell to a farmer.

What is known

The sources used here record the company’s course through these years but not the L and LA individually, so the page gives no power, weight or production figures. The two names come from the old posts that redirect here.

Design and features

  • Two names, one line: L and LA are the models described here.
  • Post-steam generation: petrol tractors of the 1930s.
  • Company in growth: built while Case absorbed Emerson-Brantingham and Rock Island Plow.
  • Open specification: no figures in the sources, none invented here.

Case L and LA versions

  • Case L: the earlier form of the tractor.
  • Case LA: the later form.
  • Case D series: the related line of the same years.
  • Case VAC: the smaller tractor that followed.

The related line is on the Case D series page and the smaller tractor on the Case VAC page. The earliest machines are on the Case 10-18 page, and everything is in the Case section.

Sources

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