Howson 25-75 J.I. Case Steam Engine
Year: 1913
Model: 25-75
Manufacturer: J I Case
Serial # 29676
Boiler Serial #
Donated By: Robet Howson of McCreary MB
- It has a triple riveted lap seam boiler.
- Harvey Mundock of Franklin is believed to have been the earliest owner of the machine, he used it mainly for threshing
- about 1933 Art Curtis of Osprey bought the machine which he used for six or so years solely to power his custom threshing outfit. Art gave the machine good care and was an excellent operator. He was proud of the machine for its “Alberta” boiler which was felt to be a higher quality boiler and well riveted.
- About 1940 George Battershell, who had threshed with Art Curtis and knew the machine, became the owner, George lived in the Salisbury district and did some stump pulling and building moving with it.
- In October 1945 Robert Howson of McCreary purchased the Steam engine. It was driven from the Salisbury district to Neepawa by Robert Brown, loaded on a rail flatcar and transported to McCreary. Robert Howson used it for approximately 3 seasons to pull stumps
- In about 1951 Zanuks of Elkhorn Ranch area moved the engine to that area to power their sawmill. They used it for 2 years
- It was repossessed at the end of that time.
- Robert Howson drove the machine through the Rolling River district, down highway #19 and back to his farm.
- In 1967 Mr. Howson donated it to the museum.
- Research and history by Mildred (Howson) Allan
- Currently taken care of on behalf of the MAM by the Beamish Family: Robert, Thomas and Andrew.
J.I. Case was a very early manufacturer of farm equipment. Jerome Case established a company to manufacture a small hand powered threshing machine in 1842. The company went on to become a leading manufacturer of threshing machines. By 1869, J.I. Case had begun the manufacture of steam engines. J.I. Case went on to manufacture over 30,000 steam engines in a variety of sizes with production of these machines by Case ending in 1927. J.I. Case manufactured a wide range of farm equipment such as threshing machines, binders, hay rakes, seed drills, plows, buggies, water tanks and so on. With the advent of internal combustion engines the company began to manufacture kerosene tractors and later gas tractors. J.I. Case even manufactured an automobile for a period.
J.I. Case still exists today as CaseIH which is part of the CNH Global N.V.
