WANTED: WWII Case SI Airborne Stump Puller

I am in the process of restoring a 1943 Case SI Industrial Airborne tractor. This particular model was a stump puller. The tractor was built on December 20th, 1943. The tractor initially went from the JI Case factory in Racine, Wisconsin to the Evans Clearing Corps plant out east, then to Pearl Harbor where it was used to pull PBY Catalina seaplanes out of the water. After the war it was assigned to Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio Texas where the previous owner purchased it at government auction. The tractor was equipped with an Evans Clearing Corp gear box mounted on the right side where a belt pulley would normally be mounted. I am seeking information on the stump puller. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
John Schroeder
Waukesha, Wisconsin

So how does one get interested in such a niche item? Please don’t get me wrong. I think this is awesome and had to look it up after your post. Barn find from estate sale? Memories from childhood on a farm? Good luck with your restoration.

i saw a red SI (not airborne) at an auction in the early 70's , I recall thinking how rugged it looked despite its size because it had same engine as the larger row-crop 1941 SC we had here for 20 years.. The hand clutch was literally handy.. The SI's and SC's had a long production run, 13 or 14 years, and just over 3700 SI's were built but of course the ABN version is rare. I have never seen the ABN version in the northeast during my auction travels the last 55 years, let alone the stump puller attachment . You are saying the entire attachment was built/installed by Evans ?

I’m extremely interest just by reading brief description and history! Would love to see some pictures, as well as finding out more about stump puller as well, or even just the tractor. Most of us can just go out in the garage if we want to check out “modern” military equipment

HoveringHMMWV said:

So how does one get interested in such a niche item? Please don’t get me wrong. I think this is awesome and had to look it up after your post. Barn find from estate sale? Memories from childhood on a farm? Good luck with your restoration.

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When I saw the ad for it at a farm tractor sale I figured it was the standard issue Case SI Airborne used to tow graders, dump trailers, etc. Once I won the auction I started to research it and discovered it was the stump puller variant. When I met the owner in Nebraska he gave me the history that it served at Pearl Harbor with the air wing and then at Laughlin Air Force Base. It makes sense that the military bought it as a portable winch for pulling PBY aircraft out of the harbor. The winch operates one way only in low and high gear, I did pick up a 1/2 ton Converto dump trailer to haul until I can find the winch.

msgjd said:

i saw a red SI (not airborne) at an auction in the early 70's , I recall thinking how rugged it looked despite its size because it had same engine as the larger row-crop 1941 SC we had here for 20 years.. The hand clutch was literally handy.. The SI's and SC's had a long production run, 13 or 14 years, and just over 3700 SI's were built but of course the ABN version is rare. I have never seen the ABN version in the northeast during my auction travels the last 55 years, let alone the stump puller attachment . You are saying the entire attachment was built/installed by Evans ?

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Evans built the entire stump puller attachment. I have a request with the museum in Gloucester for more information on Evans Corps and to see if they have any pictures or diagrams.

Jbulach said:

I’m extremely interest just by reading brief description and history! Would love to see some pictures, as well as finding out more about stump puller as well, or even just the tractor. Most of us can just go out in the garage if we want to check out “modern” military equipment

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Before I started the weeks-long process of getting rid of the layers of yellow, olive drab and Case red paint with the needle de-scaler and wire wheels.

This is what the stump puller looks like. These photos are from an example of one here in the midwest.