I know my John Deere's, TOO!!     Hi! My name is Alice Chalmers. I'll be your substitute teacher whenever a Persian Orange tractor is the subject of discussion. In 2000 at the Central Mass. Steam, Gas & Machinery Association show, the theme was NOT John Deere!! Oh yes, there were plenty of green tractors there and it was a good chance to compare them side-by-side with the orange ones. The Allis Chalmers Model C was made during the same time period as the John Deere Model B.

The Allis Chalmers Model C

    In 1940 Allis Chalmers introduced the Model C. It was basically an upgrade of the Allis Chalmers Model B. For comparison, the AC Model C was slightly smaller in size and weight than a John Deere Model B, but it had about the same horsepower.
    While the AC Model B used a wide front axle, the Model C featured a narrow front as standard equipment. This tractor was quite popular. It had a four cylinder engine of 125 cubic inches and retailed in 1940 for about $595. When equipped with an adjustable front axle, it was only $15 more! You could get the engine in an "all fuel" version, with low compression, or in "gasoline only", with high compression. Electric starter and lights came as standard equipment, but the rear power-take-off and the clutch-type belt pulley were extra cost options. The hydraulic pump and hydraulic ram were also optional.
    By the end of it's production run in 1950, over 84,000 Model C's had been sold. By that time the retail price had increased to over $900.
    During this period in history the patent rights to the three-point hitch still belonged to Ford/Ferguson so the "C" didn't have one and any integrally mounted implements were propriety to the Allis Chalmers tractors. You have to be lucky enough to find Allis Chalmers mounted cultivators and plows, otherwise you have to use drawbar-drawn implements of other makes.
    Many different implements were available for the model C tractors, and they are not TOO difficult to find today. There were the 80 Series cultivators, the one-way and two-way pick-up plows, a semi-mounted disk plow, 300 series bedder planters, the 800 series streamlined planters, and the No. 860 4-row and 6-row vegetable planters. By 1949 the "Quick-Hitch" cultivators had been developed. These could be mounted or dismounted in ten minutes as opposed to the HOURS of back-breaking work it took to mount the older implements.
 
Model C
    This is an Allis Chalmers Model C.
 


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6/10/04