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<p>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.<br>
Cecil<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/19/2019 9:27 PM, Indiana Robinson
wrote:<br>
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<div>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. <br>
</div>
<div>*****</div>
<div>Veering off on a side road for a minute here.</div>
<div>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.</div>
<div>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.</div>
<div>*****</div>
<div>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.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>.<br>
</div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Nov 14, 2019 at 7:19
PM Indiana Robinson <<a
href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" moz-do-not-send="true">robinson46176@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
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<div>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"... :-)</div>
<div>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?</div>
<div>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..</div>
<div>I liked the "D" series Allis tractors but they lean
into the "newfangled" class. :-)</div>
<div>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<br>
</div>
<div>.</div>
<div>If I get a chance I'll pick on another brand tomorrow.
:-)</div>
<div><br>
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<div><br>
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<div>.<br>
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<div><br>
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<div><br>
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<div><br>
-- <br>
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<div>-- <br>
<br>
Francis Robinson<br>
aka "farmer"<br>
Central Indiana USA<br>
<a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">robinson46176@gmail.com</a><br>
<br>
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-- <br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
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<div>-- <br>
<br>
Francis Robinson<br>
aka "farmer"<br>
Central Indiana USA<br>
<a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">robinson46176@gmail.com</a><br>
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