CA allis with loader questions

I Have been kicking around the idea of procuring a CA allis with a loader to replace my reversed WC loader. I have a few questions though.

I understand that a reversed WC is much more capable than a CA will be but I live in town and have little further need for such a large loader as I am nearing the end of my "building boom".
I have always kinda liked allis for the neat engineering and serviceability and figured a CA would be great for me for a few reasons-

1-It can be converted easily to a three point hitch which is very useful.
2-It is fairly compact and powerful on its PTO for its size.
3-Live PTO. While not designed for hard use like a WD it would allow me to run a 3 point tiller on occasion which would be a backsaver.
4-Fuel efficient.
5-In my area a CA is a bit rare. I like odd stuff.
6-It appears one can put a power assist on the steering fairly easily.

My questions are,

Can the loader lift 800lbs?
Primarly it will be used to lift much lighter loads such as dirt and rocks for landscaping and moving trailers and such around but I do occasionaly need to pull old style American V8s and reinstall them.

How bad is the steering on these? I have played around with WCs through WD45s and find them fine to steer even with a loader. Is a CA comparable?

Will a CA run a 4' tiller?

In general how bad is parts availability?

Does a loader off of a B or C fit on a CA?

The other tractor I am considering is a 8N ford. Which lacks the ease of power steering and almost no chance for a live power. They are knowen to be poor loader tractors but are quite cheep to purchase, own, and repair.

Thanks for any help.

The hand clutch (for live PTO) is quite different than that on a WD. The WD clutch runs in oil but the CA hand clutch is dry. You can slip a WD hand clutch all day long and the oil will cool it, but if you are continually slipping the CA clutch (such as to slow the ground speed to do rototilling) it will get hot. Your arm will also get very tired. The hand clutch ties up you right arm, and controls for every thing else (throttle, PTO, and hydraulics) are also on the right side.

The CA wouldn't be very good for what you say you want to do. A series II or III D10 or D12 with true independent PTO would work better if you want to stick with AC. Otherwise, I'd be looking at a compact diesel for what you want to do.

I have a CA with a loader I never use it I find the WD45 is a much better loader tractor. It is just about as manauverable a lot easier to steer and much better with a three point. The CA will lift way more than it should. Has plenty of power but is hard to steer even with an empty bucket. The Pto is to high for normal 3pt equipment. And the hand clutch is kinda fragile. You can buy two Wds for what a single CA will cost you. WD trip bucket loaders are very durable, cheep and easy to find. My CA has a model 108 loader a very strong loader but hard to find and costly. I had no problem putting that 5X6 Straw bale on the wagon. its about 800 lbs.Power steering was never avaliable for a CA and would be very hard to self engineer.

Edited by Dakota Dave - 08 Sep 2015 at 9:37pm

If you do find a CA and want a loader let me Know. For the right  price i'd let mine go . I took me two years to find one thats not all welded up. But there not common up here in ND. Actualy small tractors are real rare up near grand forks. Our yard tractor at the farm is an IH 1086. I havent seen anything smaller at any of the other farms around.

 I like the CA a lot and miss mine since I tore it down and can't seem to get back to it. It used to steer hard but I cleaned up the front end and replaced a bearing or 2 and I could steer with one finger with the Woods mower hangin under it,
 That said, the CA would be a very poor choice for a tiller unless all you want to do is lightly cultivate.
 I also looked for several years for a CA Freeman loader and when I bought the one I have, never put it on. Prolly have to sell it one of these days.

With everything working as it should, any decent CA would laugh at 800#.
Father used to dig out stones large enough that he had to stand on the drawbar to have enough weight on back so as to drive/push/roll the rock to a hedgerow a couple hundred feet away. Had loaded 24" rears and no rear cast weights and he only did this in tilled ground as he did not want to wipe out the front end.
Have told this story before; picked up the rear of a Ford 5000 Orchard far enough to put it on blocks with the rear tires off the ground.
Comments about heavy use using Lambert hand clutch are spot on but handy little loader tractor, especially if you want to build forearms like Popeye . . . .