[AT] Old tractor wool-gathering...

Tue Nov 19 22:07:59 PST 2019

I learned to plow on a MM Z with a 2-16 drag mechanical lift plow.  I 
bet one of those breakaway rope hook/latches is hard to find.
Cecil

On 11/19/2019 9:27 PM, Indiana Robinson wrote:
> I'm not super well versed on Minneapolis Molines I just have the 
> Universal R that used to belong to an uncle (my fathers oldest 
> sister's husband). If I ever drove another one I don't remember it. We 
> did have a nearby neighbor, a couple of brothers, who used MM stuff 
> pretty much exclusively.
> *****
> Veering off on a side road for a minute here.
> I was just struck as I was writing by the fact that in the 1950's 
> there were at least 4 modest farms within a mile of this one that were 
> farmed by 2 brothers. The one above was equipped with MM. Another had 
> almost all IHC and another had nice new John Deere's. The 4th, only 
> about 20 acres, had an old Deere B and almost no equipment.
> The thing that jumps out to me is the memory that a small farm of 
> those days could provide for two families. We had hired hands in the 
> early 1950's who lived here on the farm and one of them had a wife and 
> 3 kids. I don't recall how much cash we paid him but part of his pay 
> was a dwelling, heating oil, electric and vegetables from a large 
> garden we kept.
> *****
> Back to the MM-R. It is a good solid tractor, well built but the hand 
> clutch sucks. It does have excellent disk brakes, both pedals rather 
> strangely on the left side. You don't exactly sit to one side but 
> everything is all kind of cattywhampus. The seat which can be swung 
> from side to side as long as you watch and not get a finger in the 
> stop pin area and cut it off is center oriented. The jumpy clutch 
> lever is positioned like a Deere. The steering wheel sits a bit to the 
> left of center and the foot rest bars don't line up with anything. 
> It's all a little awkward. Just one more old tractor where the 
> operator was an after thought... I'll keep it and love it but It's not 
> one I use regularly by choice.
>
> .
>
> On Thu, Nov 14, 2019 at 7:19 PM Indiana Robinson 
> <robinson46176 at gmail.com <mailto:robinson46176 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     I was thinking about old tractors this morning and more
>     particularly about old tractors of my own general vintage. We
>     mostly desire the tractors we grew up with either on the family
>     farm or on the farms of neighbors or extended family. These days I
>     find myself mostly interested in stuff from around 1930 up to
>     around 1960. I was born in 1942. I don't throw rocks at stuff made
>     after around 1960, I just don't have the desire to collect any of
>     that "newfangled stuff"...  :-)
>     Starting with "A"...  :-)  I have a 1948 Allis Chalmers C (Serial
>     #522686) that needs a few hours of work but was totally restored
>     except paint many years ago and then I painted it and used to show
>     it occasionally, I think at Portland at least once. Back when we
>     decided it needed / deserved rebuilding we were really busy so we
>     acquired the parts and had a good local mechanic that we used
>     sometimes to do the rebuild. It got the full treatment, oversize
>     piston and thin wall sleeve set (claimed to raise HP from 23 up to
>     29 HP), Full valve set with all giblets, crank ground to .010
>     under with all bearings and seals etc., clutch etc. It was bought
>     new by an old family friend to replace an old homemade tractor
>     made out of a cut down truck from the 30's. He also used it as
>     transportation to the store (which I now own as a rental house) in
>     the village that bordered his small farm. He, like my grandfather,
>     never owned a car. The "C" has a strong personal attachment for
>     me. Three generations of close friendship on each side. The "C"s
>     main job was mowing with its mid mount sickle mower and powering
>     elevators and augers. It is a decent tractor but if I was picking
>     a small Allis of that vintage ignoring personal factors I would
>     choose a CA. Tractor data list it with a couple of more HP stock,
>     it has Live PTO and the spin out wheels were a big plus in this
>     row crop country. I'm also thinking that all of the "CA's" were
>     Snap-Coupler hitch?
>     I have a Allis WC chassis minus the engine and sheet metal. I have
>     owned several WC's in the past and they were a functioning 2 plow
>     worker but kind of crude, especially those hand brakes. The WD had
>     a lot of improvements but like many makers Allis failed to see how
>     badly farmers wanted more than a few extra HP out of a new model.
>     I have owned a couple of WD's over the years. The WD-45 did hit
>     the HP target. It had enough power to do some serious work on
>     larger farms. I never owned one but did some plowing with one and
>     it literally loafed with a 3 x 14" plow running deep in heavy
>     clay. I never much liked the off-set drivers station on any of the
>     Allis tractors made like that. I like to sit in the middle. The
>     other big failing on the WD and the WD-45 is what I call the right
>     foot "pit"... It can be pretty dangerous if you need to stop
>     quickly. It is nearly impossible to get a size 13 waffle-stomper
>     work shoe up out of the "pit" and on the brake pedals. I was
>     reminded of that when son Scott and I were pull starting a friends
>     WD to load it on the trailer a few weeks ago..
>     I liked the "D" series Allis tractors but they lean into the
>     "newfangled" class.  :-)
>     Allis Chalmers was well represented here and I used to see a lot
>     of them working in the 1950's and 1960's. We had a good Allis
>     dealer for a long time and they had a very good head mechanic /
>     shop foremen
>     .
>     If I get a chance I'll pick on another brand tomorrow. :-)
>
>
>     .
>
>
>
>
>     -- 
>     -- 
>
>     Francis Robinson
>     aka "farmer"
>     Central Indiana USA
>     robinson46176 at gmail.com <mailto:robinson46176 at gmail.com>
>
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> -- 
> -- 
>
> Francis Robinson
> aka "farmer"
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson46176 at gmail.com <mailto:robinson46176 at gmail.com>
>
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