A 1941 Case SC is still in its working clothes on the Stonecipher farm near LaCrosse. That’s because it’s still used weekly just about all year-round.

“It always starts in the winter, even when the big ones don’t,” says Nancy Stonecipher. She wanted to share the history of not only the tractor, but also how the tractor has connected generations in their family.

“My husband’s father, Wilford, bought it new in 1941,” Nancy says. “He bought a two-bottom plow and two-row cultivator at the same time, all for $1,200.

“It was the main tractor on his 400-acre farm from 1941 until 1951. He used it to plow and do other field chores.”

The tractor passed to Nancy’s husband, Kenneth, in 1985. It’s not restored because it still puts in a good day’s work whenever it’s needed, Nancy says.

HARD AT WORK: Wilford Stonecipher farmed 400 acres for roughly 10 years with the SC, plowing two bottoms at a time.

According to tractordata.com, 1941 was the first year J.I. Case, Racine, Wis., sold the tractor. It continued making the popular model through 1954. The SC was a row crop version of the S model line. By the time the last tractor came off the assembly line in the 1950s, it listed at $1,700.

It was designed as a two-plow tractor. Case rated it at 19 hp on the drawbar, but in tests it produced over 27 hp. It was rated at 22 hp on the PTO. It also featured a belt pulley, which tested at just under 32 hp.

Statistics provided by tractordata.com indicate it could run on gasoline or distillate, and came with a standard 14-gallon gas tank. The model Wilford purchased in 1941 came with manual steering and the old-style steel pan seat on spring suspension. A padded seat with torsion rubber suspension appeared after 1952.

If you would like to share a story about your favorite tractor, write to: P.O. Box 247, Franklin, IN 46131, or email [email protected].