[AT] Old tractor wool-gathering...

Indiana Robinson robinson46176 at gmail.com
Thu Nov 21 18:17:39 PST 2019


My MM-R is I think a 1952 or close to that. I would have to look and that
would require me getting out of this recliner.  :-)  My seat is square with
a fairly low back and a thick square padded cushion. My uncle only had a
very small farm, less than 30 acres I believe. He worked with a very close
and very good neighbor. My uncle owned that R and a set of cultivators for
it. and I think earlier a 2 x 14" plow. He also always kept a 2 ton truck
and did some hauling. On the other side of the road and between him and the
other neighbor were some relatives of his that he also worked with at
times. Those were the days of sharing tractors, implements, tools, kids,
dogs etc.   :-)  I never knew that part of his family but I did become
friends with his neighbor.  I asked his neighbor about the clutch and he
said that it had been jumpy when it was new.
******
Cecil... Did that Z have a hand clutch?
I do see one of those break-a-way plow rope links at a show now and then. I
never owned one. We generally used mounted plows and the few pull types
were hydraulic.


.

On Thu, Nov 21, 2019 at 1:11 PM Kyle Sands <willys_46 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Farmer - my experience with the M-M R is about the exact opposite from
> yours.  I can't say I've done anything on my RTU but pull a trailer loaded
> with firewood, but the cockpit layout isn't awkward at all to me. The hard
> pan seat notwithstanding, I'd go so far as to say it's "comfortable."  I
> also like the hand clutch, which I think is very smooth.  Mine is a '47
> model so perhaps the earlier years were different?
>
> As they say, "Your mileage may vary." I guess ours did.
>
> Regards,
>
> Kyle Sands <>< Brandon, MN
> ------------------------------
> *From:* AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> on behalf of Cecil
> Bearden <crbearden at copper.net>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 20, 2019 12:07:59 AM
> *To:* at at lists.antique-tractor.com <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [AT] Old tractor wool-gathering...
>
>
> 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>
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> --
>
> Francis Robinson
> aka "farmer"
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson46176 at gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing listAT at lists.antique-tractor.comhttp://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
>
> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/ghei36>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> on behalf of Cecil
> Bearden <crbearden at copper.net>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 20, 2019 12:07:59 AM
> *To:* at at lists.antique-tractor.com <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [AT] Old tractor wool-gathering...
>
>
> 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>
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> --
>
> Francis Robinson
> aka "farmer"
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson46176 at gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing listAT at lists.antique-tractor.comhttp://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>


-- 
-- 

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com
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