Route 1, Box 332, Adena, Ohio 43901
In the fall of 1983, my Dad got a call from a lady near Mt.
Pleasant, Ohio who said that she had an old R. C. Case that she
wanted to sell which was in pretty bad shape. Pap told her that he
did not have room for any more tractors but then he made the
mistake of telling me about the phone call. I had been under the
impression ever since we started to buy and restore tractors that
there is always room for one more!
To make the story short, I went to see ‘Ole Casey’. The
head was off, the manifold was on the ground, the tires were flat,
a four foot tree was growing in the front of the right rear wheel
and the pistons, rods, and fan assemble were in the lady’s
basement. The hood was rusted so badly that a guess was the only
way to tell the shape. One fender was missing, bracket and all, and
to tell the truth, it was a ‘basket case’. Pap exclaimed
that he wouldn’t take it home. Well a challenge had formed. A
price of $30.00 was reached and we set a date to go after it.
After freeing up the brakes and cutting out the tree, we were
able to move ‘Ole Casey’ with the aid of our 4×4 Chevrolet
pickup where we could back the trailer up to it. After hauling it
home, we had a lot of things to do to get ready for the Stum town
show so we pumped up the tires and parked it for a winter job.
About Thanksgiving we got ‘Ole Casey’ in the shop and
got started. There was so much rust that only one or two places
showed that the original color was gray. Our first project was to
see if the engine could be fixed. We removed two coal buckets of
leaves, ground squirrel cuttings, snake skins, mouse nests and etc.
from the crank-case and clutch housing. Since everything was in
such bad shape, we decided to replace only one set of rings on one
piston until we knew if it would ever run again. Three of the rods
were original babbitt and one rod which had been broken and the
busted piston was replaced with an insert rod used on the 1936 R.
C. Case tractor. I have been told that 1935 was the last year for
babbitt and also the grey and red color scheme: The casting on the
housing reads August 4, 1935.
After assembling and filling up with oil and replacing the
missing carb with a John Deere L.A. carb we attempted to start
‘Ole Casey’. To our surprise the magneto was very much
alive and it easily started and sounded fairly good with good oil
pressure. We then removed rust with a chipping gun and replaced the
hood with a new one rolled in a metal working shop and built new
fenders and bracket. Then ‘Old Casey’ received a new red
& grey paint job.
We have shown it at a couple of shows this fall and I must say
it looks great compared to a year ago. In the future, ‘Ole
Casey’ will have to have the remaining three pistons installed
with new rings. Pap now thinks alot of ‘Ole Casey’ and it
has a permanent stall in the machinery shed! I wish we had taken a
before and after picture of ‘Ole Casey’.