Today is a rather sad milestone in Allis-Chalmers History. On this day back in 1985 the last Allis-Chalmers tractors rolled out of the West Allis Works. The agricultural division had been sold off to Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz (KHD) of West Germany in May of that same year. The tractor plant was not included in the deal. Essentially KHD had bought production… Continue reading Allis-Chalmers Tractor Production Ends
Tag: Allis
Allis-Chalmers & Civil Defense Part II
As a follow-up to my previous post, I would like to fill you in on some new information that I received from the National Archives. I sent an inquiry to the archives about Allis-Chalmers' involvement with the development of the National Emergency Alarm Repeater system (NEAR). If you haven't read that post yet, click here.… Continue reading Allis-Chalmers & Civil Defense Part II
Allis-Chalmers and Civil Defense
I am beginning to turn up some very interesting material for my History Seminar project. I've gone through boxes upon boxes, folders upon folders. papers upon papers, and I have run into Allis-Chalmers a few times in the old Wisconsin Bureau of Civil Defense information. The company played two interesting roles in Wisconsin Civil Defense. One was devising a CD plan… Continue reading Allis-Chalmers and Civil Defense
City Man on the Farm
I was going through some photos on my computer, and I couldn't resist making a post about this after I found the pictures from last year. Last Summer my soon-to-be in-laws made a trip to our family farm. According to the dates on the picture, it was the last weekend in July 2011. I remember that being a really… Continue reading City Man on the Farm
#5 La Crosse Works
The humble beginning of the La Crosse Plow Company started in 1860, when John M. Barclay and I.S. Bantan started the Barclay and Bantan Implement Works in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In May 1865, Albert Hirschheimer bought the small shop and carried on making horse-drawn farm equipment there, calling it the A. Hirschheimer and Company.* Hirschheimer partnered… Continue reading #5 La Crosse Works
D-19 Restoration
In 2006, my dad, brother and I decided to take up a new hobby. Dad thought that getting some old tractors and machinery might be fun, and we could use them to make some small food plots near our woods. He bought a 1962 Allis-Chalmers D-17 Series II and, although we never really intended to, we started to… Continue reading D-19 Restoration
Allis-Chalmers Acquisitions & Growth
Here is a list of the factories and firms across the world that made up Allis-Chalmers and the vast amount products they made. This can be found in Norm Swinford's book Allis-Chalmers Construction Machinery & Industrial Equipment. I think there might be a couple more that should be added, but these are the ones that… Continue reading Allis-Chalmers Acquisitions & Growth
The IV Series of the Allis-Chalmers D-17
A common question/problem people have with the Allis-Chalmers D-17 is identifying the differences between the 4 production series that were made. There are certain cosmetic and operational features that switched between each production. While cosmetic details can betray the untrained eye, the mechanical features don't lie. Let's take a look at the differences so that… Continue reading The IV Series of the Allis-Chalmers D-17
Allis-Chalmers Trademarks Through the Years
While reading through Norm Swinford's book, Allis-Chalmers Construction Machinery & Industrial Equipment, I came across a small blurb about the history of the Allis-Chalmers trademarks. There are several variations of the trademark or logo that the company used, and this little excerpt on page sixteen touched on them. The article must have been written by Allis-Chalmers unless… Continue reading Allis-Chalmers Trademarks Through the Years
Allis-Chalmers Tractor Plant
Ever wonder what the Allis-Chalmers tractor assembly line looked like? Bet you wish you could have taken a tour of it when the plant was humming with activity and churning out the beautiful Persian Orange tractors they were known for. Let's take a tour back in time.. We will begin our tour with a… Continue reading Allis-Chalmers Tractor Plant
The Weekend Historian 