Why Allis Chalmers

When I was young we had a TO30, good tractor but small.  Dad went to town one day and bought a brand new D-15 series 2 with factory 3ph.  I drove that tractor for now telling how many hours square baling hay for day.  We custom baled almost 50,000 plus a year with that tractor and a 303/NH 273.  If I could find one I would buy another D15 to restore.  I own a 185, 2 CA used them in tobacco for years, Dad now owns a 175 and a B.

No farming stories from me. I chose allis because I learned to drive tractor on a allis when I was three. I fixed that B all up for a school projects. It's the one tractor I will never sell

I grew up on Allis and learned to drive a WD at about age 9. Dad, however, grew up on a Case DC that my Grandpa had and later a new Super M and new Super C and an older M when he lived with his step aunt and uncle. Then after he got out of the Army and later out of IBM he went and bought a VAC Case. That VAC never ran right so he bought a WC in the late 60's and soon after, bought a WD then a WD45. It was the WD45 that sold him on Allis. He says it was soooo much more gutty than the old Super M  and M he grew up on. He always called it a bucking Bronco because it wouldn't give up and the front end was in the air most of the time while plowing gumbo soil with 3 sixteens. He always says an M would have never done what that 45 would do in those conditions. His favorite tractor was and still is his trusty D17 which he traded the 45 for.

From 1973 through 1997 that D17 hardly went a day without doing some kind of chore on our dairy farm. Loader work, such as bucketing mountains of snow before the milk trucker would come for a pickup and bucketing silage and cutting hay with a 390 and later a 460NH, moving round bales, baling with several NH balers over the years, cultivating, planting, pulling a MM and later an Oliver corn picker, plowing, disking, pulling a 14 foot Deere Field cultivator that pulled the snot out her. That's really the tractor that set Dad as a permanent Allis man.

Sounds like that d17 got a work out. lol.  a fella I worked with said the same thing when his dad bought a wd45.  His comment was "now that's a tractor".

When my wife and I got married (25 years ago) we bought a small acreage in the country, got a few head of livestock of every different species you could imagine, and had jobs in town. I needed a loader tractor, and I found a D19 with a farmhand F11 loader on it that I bought for one reason : it was the cheapest thing I found. I was very reluctant to buy it, because my whole life, all I had heard was horror stories of how bad Allis Chalmers was. At first, this D19 confirmed all of the horror stories. Brakes didn't work, took 3 quarts of oil to grind a load of feed, I wasn't accustomed to using the PD to obtain live PTO, loader fit on the thing like a saddle on a sow, and I hated it. Had no choice but make it through the first winter with it, but I vowed that it was going to be gone before the next winter. Late summer/early fall, I hadn't found anything to replace it yet, and by some fateful spur of the moment decision one Sunday afternoon, for reasons un-explainable, I decided that I was going to make a tractor out of it. I pulled the loader off of it, and took it up to the West Plains Implement, where I worked. The resident allis expert overhauled it for me (he could do it in his sleep) in exchange for a bunch of welding that I did for him. Overhaul kit at that time was under a thousand bucks. First time I heard it run after the overhaul, I was all smiles. Figured if it ran good, it better look good. I went through that thing, fixing all that was wrong with it, and then I did all the prep work, and a buddy of mine shot a fresh coat of paint on it, and then it got all new decals. Operating that tractor without the loader was just plain difference of night and day. Needless to say, the loader never went back on. I bought an old farm all M with a loader cheap, for my loader tractor. I loved that D19 after that. Next was a D14, then a D17, and on, and on, and on......lol. My tractor experience growing up, was a John Deere R, which I thought at the time was the holy grail of tractors, and an 8N ford, which I always hated. (Sorry Creston). Looking back, I think that the R took 110 percent of its power just to pull itself, and after running a D14, that just amplified my hatred towards that little ford. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Darrel

I grew up on em!  end of story!

The power that the WD45 had was heads above ANYTHING else at the time.  Just the sound of it alone would make your hair stand up.  I always said that when I had the money, I'd buy one of my own!  Well, life has many twists and turns and about 30 years later, I got the chance.  Now I own 3 of them!

If it's eating gas, you better check your carb setting and timing.  They will run all day on a full tank!

We had AC as my Great uncles were AC dealers. We rotated Thanksgiving,Christmas, New Years, some birthdays, and 4th of July between the different family members. When you pushed back from the table after dessert, everyone got up and took a stroll around the fields and buildings to settle your dinner. You had better have orange in the shed when it was your time for inspection!

Tbone95 wrote: CrestonM wrote: Ted J wrote: I grew up on em!  end of story! The power that the WD45 had was heads above ANYTHING else at the time.   x2 on the 45!  I grew up green util I got smart enough to take off the green-tinted glasses and stop drinking the green Kool-Aid long enough to realize that just because Deere has hype, and the notorious "they're still in business" quote, doesn't mean they're better. Just means they've got good sales gimmicks. (As a kid, I'd ride in the L3 every summer for hours, and I enjoyed it, but I thought "the Deere's the custom cutters had were SOOO much better! They don't break down as much!" Then as I got older and got more educated in the workings and mechanics of the thresher body, I realized it wasn't necessarily the combine's fault....well....I'll put it this way....it's like shooting the dog, then complaining that it's dead...)   After going orange, my eyes kept opening, and I realized that most of the stuff Deere sold over the years was copied off of other people (For example....the --00 series combines came from JI Case....compare a 6600 with a 1660 Case and it's obvious...also copying the round baler from A-C, as well as the All-Crop harvester....do a search on a JD No. 6 combine....it's a backwards and pretty crude All-Crop, for the most part....just with more moving parts, like always). That is what led to my distaste for Deere. (Y'all will be mad, but regardless of that, I'm going to have a Deere 4020 and G in my collection someday, just because both my grandpa's have/had 4020s and Dad grew up on a 1949 G....more sentimental reasons than anything...everyone knows a One-Ninety will send a 4020 packing at plow days) I ran a WD45 for the first time last summer, and I agree, it's got tons of power! It'll lug a little, then when that governor kicks in, it kinda gives you a chill. Then it buckles down and really goes! The JD letter series I've seen run just seem to putt along till they get a load, then they start popping louder and slower, then stall. Creston, I'm not going to disagree with all your opinions, you're entitled. But how can a conventional combine introduced in 1970 be a copy of the axial flow style introduced by IH in 1977? Who must have "copied" from the New Holland rotaries introduced in 1975? People have be-otched about those Deeres copying Massey with the offset cab....maybe a little more argument to stand on, but whatever.

A 1660 Case not a 1660 CaseIH

TimNearFortWorth wrote: Creston, don't feel bad for wanting a 4020 as they sold so many of them for a reason. Countless times I have explained to folks how A-C chased that darned 4020, tough when a model like that had/built such a strong foothold on that market segment but the 190XT in my opinion gave the JD boys a run for their money. Never gave the 3020 or 4020 much thought until I used them and those later models are a decent machine. When word gets out it is hard to change folks minds but I think A-C did a pretty good job promoting their line, watching some of the promo videos posted on here shows they put forth a great effort. JD marketing now is interesting to say the least and gold dust must still be mixed in that paint!

    

If only Allis Chalmers had Deere's way of marketing and better management of AC in general, they likely would still have been around today selling AG tractors. BUT in the day, Allis did do a good job of marketing and selling the brand. Love reading the AC advertisement books that were put out by Putt Putt puzzle's a few years ago. Some very nice painted pictures and a wonderful way to advertise the brand. Would have taken some time and effort to hand paint all those paintings for the AC advertisements. You would not see that today.       


Jason

I got interested in Allis tractors entirely by accident. Bought a C in the early '80's because that's what a local farmer had for sale when I went looking. I just wanted a small tractor that would tow a small trailer on our lot.........then I got busy and the C sat until the engine stuck. Found another farmer through my church who was a pretty good shade tree mechanic to help me fix the C. Turned out he had a WD that he used at tractor pulls. Of course, he got me interested in pulling once the C was back on its feet. And from there I added a WC (needed a larger tractor for pulling), a D14, then a CA, a G and finally a WD45. Every now and then I take one of them to my friend's farm to give it a workout - and the WC to pulls!

Dad bought a very well used RC when he decided to sell the horses.  I was very young, but remember him coming to the house to get me so I could see the horses leave in the stock truck.  Tractor, mounted mower and cultivators just arrived.  Neighbors had JD, and I asked Dad why we didn't have one of those.  He said they were too expensive for the same size tractor he bought. Used the tractor for quite a few years doing everything, until you couldn't complete any work without changing oil fouled plugs.  We had it overhauled, and aside from that overhaul, maintenance was minimal.  Dad always maintained his equipment well.  We only had 40 acres, and that tractor did whatever was asked of it.

When I was growing up, most boys liked whatever their Daddy had. I don't think Allis Chalmers was as popular in the south, so my friends used to tease me a lot. Most of them liked John Deere, International, even Massey was cooler. However, I never wavered, still orange til this day.

I to grew up on AC. Started with my grandpaw buying a new 1956 WD45. Of course I wasn't born yet, but I can remember my dad and uncles using it for everything from plowing, to seeding, to harvesting, to sawmill work. It is still in the family. I do remember my dad buying his first new AC, 1968 series II D-15. He bought a used D-14 some years later. He still has ithe D-15 and I restored it a few years back. It just needed fresh paint. It's on Sandy Lakes website. The D- 15 did so much work on the 250 acres we farmed. In 1981 while I was plowing, I backed up over the furo I just finished too fast, it snapped the lift arm shaft. As we sat at the local dealer ordering parts, dad was concerned about getting the fields done before the rain set in that weekend. Kenny looked at dad and said no problem, i have a new tractor I want to try out, no better place to try it than pullin a 3-16 bottom plow. Dad laughed and said, I am not buying a new tractor so let me borrow the used D-17 out back. Well, before you know it a new 6060 was on the roll back heading to our farm, to test of course. By the time dad made 3 rounds he kept upping the gear selection, he was grinning ear to ear. I think this tractor has endless power! Needless to say, dad bought it and we still have it. The CA has been a good little tractor to. We use it with a 6 ft woods belly mower to keep the grass mowed on the river bottom picnic area. Dad has full cultivator set, 2-bottom plow for it, and a sickle bar mower. The only Allis dad sold was the D-14 when he bought the 6060, and he regretted it. Just did not have Room in the shed. It was also a hard worker, amazed at the power that little tractor had. Only down fall was no power steering. Now I have added a 190XT and I am enjoying it. Biggest tractor on the farm now. Mowed hay using a AC 390 haybine this past summer and I was impressed how nimble it was making the turns with a little right brake pedal. Of course the power director is a huge asset. Powerful turbo engine and good looks. Doing a restoration now, not a show piece, as she will have to earn her keep on the farm. The D-15 I would have to say has been my favorite. I have seen that little tractor work hard and not ever complain. Has had a clutch and power director rebuild, brakes. But that's it. Rock solid reliable. I love all of our AC's. each has it's own strengths and weakness, but they all share one thing. Reliability. I am still so damned mad with AC going out of business. Will never get over it. I bleed Orange just like so many of you and if there was some way they would come back, well life would be just awesome.

Grandpa Carl was old fashioned, I've been told. Always bucked change, always preferred doing things the old fashioned ways, even if it meant more work.

Finally, in 1948, he gave up on the horses, and ordered a John Deere (A or B, I think) from the dealer in town. He made the trip into town a while later to pick it up, and lo and behold, the dealer had sold it to someone else! (Would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that conversation)

Grandpa walked across the street to the Allis dealer, slapped the money on the barrel head, and drove home on a shiny model B with a sickle mower under it!

Here it is at age 69. Still working around the family farm.



My Pa quit farming when I was real young, so the B was our firewood tractor, nimble in the woods, and boy, the wood we've hauled with that thing.....

Fast forward 50 years. Big brother decided he wanted to plant food plots, and bought a D-14 for himself. He asked little brother to fix it up, and while little brother was searching for "Allis Chalmers" on the internet, the autosuggest feature brought up "Allis Chalmers garden tractor".

Whoa! Allis made a garden tractor!? I live in town, and can't justify a full size tractor. But a garden tractor? Now we are talking! Didn't take long before I had a few of those....


Pretty soon I found the simpletractors website, and not long afterwards I popped up on here! Then I started moving on to the bigger tractors.

Just think if they had held that green thing for my grandfather. Funny how life works.

I am now building my Allis collection so someday I can farm the original Sommer family farm, 80 acres of popple purchased from the railroad for $400, cleared and broken by my great grandfather, around 1895.

Edited by littlemarv - 02 Mar 2017 at 8:52pm

Grew up with Allis tractors. Before my time my grandfather had a Rumley tractor. I am not sure which one. My dad bought a new WD in 1948 then traded on a new WD45 in 1954. In 1962 he bought a D17. Traded that on a new 190 in 1964. As us boys got older and he got more land he added to the fleet with a D17 series IV and a two D19's one gas for winter work and a diesel as a second field tractor. He traded both d19's on a 200 and eventually traded it on a new 7040 the last Allis he owned. When Allis went out of business in 1986 he would have nothing to do with AGCO and moved on to John Deere.