SP100 combine

March 1955 sounds about right. Norm Swinford's book is a little vague on 100 serial numbers, as several years are missing. However, the ending number for 1956 was 5600, so 1955 sounds right by me. 

The first few 100's were powered by Allis WD tractor engines, however it was soon apparent those engine were too small, so a few months later the WD 45 engine found its way into the 100. There were relatively few produced with the WD engine. If you find one today, unless it was one of the first ones built, it is probably a transplant engine. 

The WD45 "Power Crater" engine was used until the end of '58, when the Super 100's were phased out. 

The story on these combines more or less goes as follows....the original pull type All-Crop was a huge success, and it seems I read once Allis averaged 2 out of every 3 pull type combine sales in the US. Either way, the 60 was a huge success, with over 150,000 60's produced. Towards the end of the 40s, Allis knew the pull type was soon going to be replaced by a self propelled unit. They knew they had the market cornered with their All-Crop 60, and (in my opinion) their ego got to them, and they thought whatever design they came up with was bound to be a winner. They even built a whole new manufacturing facility in LaPorte solely for the SP-100, because it was going to be such a huge success and they were going to be cranking them out by the thousands, just like the 60s and 66s. (Allis bought Gleaner in 1955, and Gleaner built the model T combine in 1954, which was roughly the same capacity as a 100. Allis was so sure of the 100's superiority that they dropped the T immediately) They thought with the success of the 60/66, any self propelled design they came up with was going to be a monstrous success, and Allis would control the self propelled market as well, as long as they kept the threshing and separating system the same as in the 60/66. There was no way they could fail. Or was there...? 

Prototypes were built, and as I'm sure you can tell, a 100's threshing system is quite similar to a 66. Step up straw rack, 3 level shoe, saw tooth wind control valves, quick adjust cylinder speed, rubber cylinder and concave bars, etc. 

But they made one huge fatal flaw: they narrowed the cylinder. On the 60, the header is as wide as the cylinder, and the crop enters in a thin stream, with no bunching or bottle-necking. That system works great. 

Rubber cylinder bars work best when the crop is delivered in a thin stream. Not when it's bunched together. 60" header and 60" cylinder works fabulous. 

Now on the 100...108" header and 48" cylinder (Wait....48 < 60 )....well....it must've been a Monday when they drew that up. If you take a 4' swath, you have pretty good capacity, but try to take the full 9' swath (or a 12' swath if you have the fairly rare 3' header extension on the left hand side) and you run into problems. The cylinder just doesn't have enough capacity to handle a heavy swath of 9 or 12 feet of material, unless you cut the straw pretty high. Wide row crops don't tend to give as much trouble, but cut something heavy like wheat, and you'll find yourself slipping the variable V-belt drive in an effort to go slower.

Couple the lack of cylinder capacity with the WD45 engine, and you have a combine that sorta lacks in capacity for its size. If they had a larger engine, the capacity problem could be remedied to a great extent, I'm sure. 

I think they should've made the Super 100 a truly "super" combine and put a D17 engine in it, since it had its debut in 1957, but I'm sure by the time the Super 100 came out, they were just trying to use up parts inventory by giving the 100 one last push before dropping it and only offering Gleaner self propelleds. Plus, another obvious reason the 100 wasn't a good long-term design, is the cross-mount separator. It's already over 10' wide as it is and any upscale in size to increase capacity would certainly make it very cumbersome to haul. Allis realized the future of combines was going to be a straight-through design, which is mainly why they acquired Gleaner in 1955. 

You're probably thinking how can I still like these machines after the explanation I've just given? I'm not really sure, either. I first heard about these machines when I was 8, and when I saw a photo of one for the first time (It was a Super 100). I was captivated by this "big foot" like machine, as I'd never seen or heard of one. It was so intriguing to me, and I was just amazed as to how different it was from any other combine built, plus how rare they seemed. I just think they look awesome, plus the story of their "guaranteed" success, followed by their disastrous crash from the "top". (Plus the crash of a ship load of Super 100's in the ocean on a voyage to Brazil)

Sure, I know there are similar sized combines with more capacity out there (Like the Gleaner T) but I love Allis, orange, and consequently, the 100. I'll give a Gleaner T or E a run for its money with my Super 100 any day, even though I know who will win. Plus "100" is a nice round number. I even think the model number looks cool. I'll have to see if I can find a photo of my Super 100 advertisement poster I got at the Orange Spectacular this year....they really puffed up the 100's ego in that poster. It's just awesome! 

Anyways....after about 10 years of searching, my family finally got a Super 100 a little over a year ago, and we had it at the Orange Spectacular this year. It's my baby, and I once thought about putting a velvet rope around it. It's in pretty good shape, but it's a pretty basic machine, so I'm always looking for any of the attachments for it, such as the 3' header extension (different from a regular 100 extension) power steering, creeper gear, hydrotraction drive, rear straw chopper/spreader, lights, etc. 

So far I've got the pick up head that came with it, and that's it, but I'll get there someday. 

Anyways....sorry that's so long. Probably more than you cared to hear. Hopefully we can get a few photos here, and I can add this one to my registry (I have a registry of the 20 something 100's I know exist so far, and I'm always looking to add to it. Unfortunately I only have the serial numbers for about 12)

If you need any advice while you're fixing it up, there are several of us that have these machines, including one who is restoring a Super 100 down to the last nut and bolt. Get yourself an operator's manual, you've got us here to help you along the way, and you'll be geared for success! (Unlike the 100's initial design, haha) 

Thanks!

Uh...ok...yeah...them flotation tires you got will help you on soft ground. Regular tires, not so much. 

As far as the carb...it's just a WD45 carburetor, so it should be very easy to obtain. The correct place to post would be in the "Classifieds" section. People selling one may be more likely to see it there. There are also several vendors on this site who could help you out, I'm sure. 

Could the  price have been $5,000.00.