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How not to store your tractor..or... My other tractor.

4K views 14 replies 15 participants last post by  Uncle Wayne 
#1 ·
I thought I'd share a story with you all. I grew up in the "cities"and the closest I ever got to the country was my fathers family home in northern WI. He grew up in a small town and his brother and sister still lived in the family home. The family also had a cabin on a small local lake and a couple of 40 acre plots out in the woods. I loved to visit Aunt Nina and Uncle Harry. When our family would go up to visit, I always wanted to stay at the cabin and canoe and fish on the lake.

About 1967-68, my Uncle Harry bought a 1950 Allis-Chalmers B tractor. My uncle and Dad used it during deer season to haul supplies into the woods to the hunting shack on one of the 40 acre plots they owned. It had a pretty easy life for many years. I was too young to go deer hunting then, but I did get to drive the B around the yard. One year, I drove it the 10-15 miles out of town to the start of the trail back to the shack. I rode with my dad. half on the seat, half on the fenders. I'll always remember that day!

Dad on the B in the woods...
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About 1970-71, my Dad had a trailer built. It was 4'x8' and very heavy duty.

Here's my Dad and Uncle... I'm in the new trailer...
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Fast forward several years. I left home... Got married... Uncle Harry and Aunt Nina pass away... Dad's health declines. We talk about the tractor and how he wished he could have cleaned it up and painted it... Eventually my Dad passed away. The home, cabin and both 40's become my Mother's... In the process of settling the estate I rescue the tractor and get one of the 40 acre plots. My sister gets the cabin and we sell the old home and the other 40 with the hunting shack on it. It was a mile and a half off the closest gravel road, through the woods on a trail that could keep out even the most determined 4x4.

I brought the little B home and put in a new battery. I kept it covered and ran it around the block frequently, much to the delight of the neighbor kids.

Life continues and I get divorced, Mom passed away, yet the tractor still followed me. Always garaged, always ready to go... A few years ago I took an opportunity to retire early. I moved up to Cable, WI. It's between Hayward, where my father was from and Ashland, where my mom was raised. When I moved, it was winter and I couldn't get my little B up here as fast as I wanted to. So I asked one of my farm-boy type friends from work if he had room in his garage for my B. He said, sure no problem... I'll store it for you... On one of the last days before I moved, he came over with his car hauler trailer and took it way...

That spring, I called him up and he said, sure come and get it. I was heart broken when I got to his place. I found my B siting uncovered under a big pine tree. Then I noticed that the exhaust pipe was uncovered. I usually kept an old orange juice can over the top of the pipe if it ever sat outside. I knew right away that things were got going to be good. We dragged it up onto my rented trailer and I hauled it home.
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My worst fears were confirmed when I tried to turn it over with the hand crank. It wouldn't budge. I pulled the spark plugs out and stuck my Mity Vacc in the hole and sucked rusty brown water out of 2 of the cylinders. I drained the oil and watched watched drain from the engine. Clear water not green anti-freeze! Here's what I found when I pulled the head. I tried the ATF/acetone soak, PB Blaster, WD-40, Diesel, everything... It's stuck
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It will get new liners, pistons, rings... It WILL live again!!!


Until that time, I bought a new 1025R with a 47" snow blower, a loader, a 54" MMM, and a ballast box. My little B could never do all the things the new Deere can do, but I would never get rid of the B... there are too many good memories..



Oh, and the trailer? It got a new life! I rescued that too. I had it sandblasted, then I painted it and gave it new lights, floor and sides.
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#3 ·
Great story, hope you can bring that tractor back to life and post pics when it's running again...Good luck w/ the rebuild
 
#4 ·
That's the spirit! :good2:

Keep that B running. Not that many around anymore.
 
#5 ·
Great story, so sad to hear about the B setting outside without a can or something over the exhaust pipe. That will ruin your day for sure.
 
#6 ·
Sorry to hear about the condition of the tractor once you finally got it to your place. I happy to hear that you are going to put it back together.

When my grandfather was young he was qualified as a NRA sharpshooter. No one else in my family liked to shoot. When he went into a nursing home his 1939 Colt Woodsman went into a wood cigar box then into a cedar chest. It sat there probably for some 20 years untouched. I finally uncovered it while looking through some of my grandmother's stuff. I was hart broken to see that there was one spot on the barrel where someone had left a drop of sweat or blood and it had badly pitted the finish. Anything left for to long will begin to fall apart.

The pistols is now in caring hands and much like your father and uncle's will get the care it deserves. Good luck on the restore.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#7 ·
Very sad, you just can't assume that everyone knows about tractors. Good luck with the restoration.
 
#10 ·
Great Job - Keep it Going!

Great story and I encourage you to continue the restoration, you'll never be sorry:yahoo:. . . . You'd always be sorry for not and who has a greater connection and appreciation than you, no one.:thumbup1gif:

A couples years back I gave my oldest son my '67 350 SS Camero. I knew I wouldn't be able to so I sold it to my son Rich for $1. He's doing a 'frame-off' restoration with new motor, transmission, interior, etc., while still looking the same for the most part. It's a 'multi-year' project to control the costs.

We await updates!!:munch:
 
#11 ·
You definitely have to bring the Old AC back to life. Way too much history in that tractor. I always joke with people when they talk about Orange vs. Green I am quick to point out that the first orange tractors were Allis Chalmers. Besides AC's were made in your home state. There's a ton of old promotional videos on youtube of Allis Chalmers.

A little fun fact is that Allis Chalmers built the generators for the Hoover Dam in the 1930's and are still in use today. Really sad that the company isn't around anymore. AC was just as synonmyious with farming as Deere ever was back when it was in business.
 
#12 ·
That AC brings memories for me too. I cut my teeth on two AC WC models from way back in 1937!!!!! It was pretty hard to fault a tractor that you never had to spend a dime on for repairs. I remember one of them that my dad brought home was still on steel wheels, but he soon converted it to rubber. Then I had a 54hp Deutz Allis in 1991 for a while till I moved back to the city.

Dave
 
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#13 ·
When I was growing up we had a Allis "B" that was our utility tractor / mower / & snow plow. Dad made a seat and put it on the fender for me to ride in, until I got big enough an learned to operate it myself...:yahoo: To me that was the best tractor in the world.

Sorry to hear about the storage problem but it sounds like the tractor is back in the right hands.

Good luck with the re-restoration. Thanks for the post and keep us updated.

I sure wish I could have rescued our old B.
 
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#14 ·
First tractors my Dad bought after we broke away from the Amish was a WD45 and a AC-C. I got to operate the C as my first tractor. Dad showed me the clutch, brakes and gears and said go. And off to the field I went. I was in Heaven. That's an orange I'll always love. I was 13 at the time. My next older brother was on the WD45 and in another field. I had the cultipacker, he had the plow. Good times! :thumbup1gif:
 
#15 ·
Really enjoyed your story and the pictures. Thanks for sharing those with us. Bummer about your tractor though. But that's life.
Best of luck with the restore.
 
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