[AT] Getting Allis done (Looooooong) was Finally done.

[Gene Dotson]

    Rob;
    Thanks for writing this story. It means a lot to me to be able to read these
stories. I hope other members can follow your lead and tell of their experiences
with old machinery and life in rural areas.

    Thanks again!!!!    Gene




----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob Wilson" <rowilson at infinet.com>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 12:35 AM
Subject: [AT] Getting Allis done (Looooooong) was Finally done.


: Thanks Gene,
:  As some of you may know, Gene was the one that
: restored my 1944 Allis-Chalmers C for me. My tractor
: was my Grandpa's first tractor that he bought to
: retire the horses on the farm back around 1949.
: It was bought originally by the State of Ohio to
: be used as a mower on the Ohio Turnpike. Since it
: was built during the war farmers couldn't get new
: tractors. The state found a way around this by
: buying tractors using them for a season and sell
: them. My tractor was originally painted white as
: far as we could tell. We know this because when
: Gene stripped it it had white paint under the rust
: er I mean Persian Orange :) I lived on a small
: farm owned by my father in law and my Grandma sold
: me my tractor since I lived on a farm. Well it sat
: outside behind our garage for quite a few years.
: Every time my parents came to visit my Dad would
: tell me to get it inside. Problem was I was already
: storing one of his cars in there as well as my show
: car 1987 Buick Grand National. My Dad sells tools
: for a living and stopped at the Rockwell Axle plant
: on a regular basis. He got to know Gene and they
: talked about tractors and Gene's love of restoring
: them. My Dad and he worked out an agreement to fix
: the old girl up. The day Gene and Dad came to get
: it we had already moved into our new house and they
: were having a lot of trouble getting in out of the
: holes in had worked it's way into. The rear wheels
: were loaded and had rusted through on one side and
: the other wasn't far behind. We couldn't get it up
: onto Gene's trailer since it had a belly mounted
: sickle mower and the tires were flat. We got the
: assistance of the local tow truck/gas station owner
: to help with his roll off. We already had the front
: wheels on the trailer so he used the roll off to
: lift the rear and push it on. Well the other rim
: finally let go and out gushed 50 year old calcium
: onto Gene's trailer. Gene shook his head wondering
: what he got himself into and saying that my Dad
: told him that it was in a lot better shape than it
: was. As from the pictures I have a link to you can
: see it wasn't exactly in pristine condition when I
: got it. But Dad remembered it as it was when he
: used to drive it to the neighbor's house to listen
: to big time wrestling on Saturday nights. Gene took
: it home and started in. Man what a mess. He said
: it was the worst looking parts tractor he'd ever
: seen :) He had it stripped down to the torque tube,
: engine and final drives in no time. He blasted,
: ground with wire wheels, needler and hot wrenched
: almost all the bolts out. A body man buddy of mine
: took on the sheet metal. He made the old parts
: look like new. Luckily for us Gene had a parts C
: at his place and he used a number of parts from it.
: The hood, gas tank and grille were saved and Gene
: located a good set of fenders. He pulled sleeves
: from the parts tractor and busted his butt getting
: our C looking as good as new. To be honest I was
: interested in it but not really into tractors.
: Well that was then and this is now ;)
: My Dad paid for part of the restoration and I paid
: for the rest. It took a long time for me to get
: the rest of the money I owed to Gene but I got him
: paid. By the way it was no way near what it was
: worth to have it done. Gene lost money on this deal.
: It also took a lot of talking to convince my wife
: why I needed this. Now there's no question.
: She's the best and she understands why it was so
: important. When Gene was done I went down and helped
: put the hood on and brought it home to decal it.
: Before I took it home my Dad came out to see it at
: Gene's place and he started to cry. He was so happy
: to see it done he couldn't believe it was his Daddy's
: same old tractor. My Son Robby was one of the first
: to drive it and was also hooked on tractors right
: off the bat. I met Duke Stambaugh through a woman
: that I worked bingo with when I was looking for a
: headlight lens to finish it. Duke didn't know me
: from Adam but he loaned me his dually and trailer
: to bring our newly restored tractor home. I soon
: found out that most tractor guys are just like Duke
: and Gene. They'll help you anyway they can even if
: they don't even know you. I got it home and I put
: the decals on it, then it was done. Man did she look great!
: The Plain City Threshers show was featuring A-C's
: so I loaded it up on Duke's trailer and headed out.
: My first tractor show. Gene was there and he was as
: proud as a new Daddy. Seeing it there was as
: exciting for him as it was for me. My brother in
: law stopped by to see it when Gene was there and
: made a comment on how good the old pig looked. I
: thought Gene was going to blow a gasket. He told
: my brother in law that this was no pig and those
: were fighting words (or something to that effect).
: My brother in law was very apologetic :) The
: icing on the cake was when my Grandma finally got
: to come up for a visit to our place. She was so
: happy to see it. She said it looked just like it
: did when they brought it home from the dealership.
: She too had some tears to shed. Memories must have
: come flooding back seeing it new again. My Grandma
: is now 91, my Dad 69, I'm 42 and my Son 15. Gene's
: work truly did touch 4 generations of my family
: and opened up a deep seated longing for the farm
: life for me. My Son as you saw from his WD45 is
: hooked too. Thanks Gene for all your work.
:
: Here's a link of just before I got it from my
: Grandma around 1985.
:
: http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~rowilson/UDonald&c2.jpg
:
: Here's it is done.
:
: http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~rowilson/acbarn1.jpg
:
: Rob Wilson
:
:
:
: -----Original Message-----
: From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
: [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Gene Dotson
: Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2004 7:55 AM
: To: Antique tractor email discussion group
: Subject: Re: [AT] Finally done
:
:
:     Rob;
:     Thanks for sharing the results with us. This is a fine example of
: dedication and a lot of hard work. It will be a proud big brother to the
: "C".
:     Knowing the 3 generations of the Wilson family involved with the
: restorations of these 2 tractors gives me a special pride in the
: accomplishments.
:     If you have time to write the story, I would imagine the list would
: be interested in the family history and restoration of the "C".
:     Good luck with your future plans on the farm.
:
:                         Gene
:
: