Post
by timmy » Tue Sep 21, 2010 11:19 am
XL: I've done duty on a few of those, as well!
I've driven Hs and Ms, and also an F20 (predecessor to the H). Another one I've driven was Mr. Schreiber's Coop, which was made by Oliver. This was the monster of the area, being the only 6 cylinder tractor around and the largest as well. Still, there were some farms far down the road where one, at least, had a big Massey Ferguson diesel. But I never got near that one. Mr. Becker was the loner who had John Deeres. You could always hear Mr Becker doing the plowing, as the sound of his "Johnny Popper" was plainly audible for over a mile when under load.
One of my tricks was one of the Hs I drove -- as you say, by my times they were used for haying and for other jobs, since they didn't have a 3 point hitch like the ACs did. Anyway, this one H was pretty old and tired, and it was nearly impossible to use road gear (5th) as the engine wouldn't pull it. I managed to use it on long runs for empty hay wagons by double clutching - a neat trick with the hand throttle! Actually, I think those old cogs were so worn... but when you're young, you know how it is. I thought it was funny, then, when the wheels would spin because they were flying off bumps. Now, I know it was stupid and am thankful I didn't spill the thing.
The farm I worked on used this H for hay wagons, as I said, and also for running the flat belt to the silage chopper for filling the silos. Another job it had was to haul the hay up into the mow before the elevator was bought. There were four large forks on chains that would take up 10 bales at a time. When this mechanism reached the truck rail at the peak of the barn roof, it was unhitched from the lift and could be taken into the barn hanging from that rail.
My Uncle Harold was, perhaps, the fiercest Allis Chalmers fan around, and as his favorite nephew, I am obligated to retain his approving look from that great back 40 in the sky and maintain my loyalty!
He had an old WD and later on, a D17, which was a really interesting later derivative. Rather than just the hand clutch, that same lever controlled a 2 speed auxiliary, so the middle was neutral and the ends were 2 separate speeds. I loved driving that thing!
Regarding the technical aspects, I really liked that novel way Allis Chalmers had for adjusting the rear wheel width. I liked the hand clutch and especially the great engine, with its liners and huge iron pistons -- with the "Power Crater" -- remember? (I didn't know it was called a "Heron head" after the great British aero engineer who invented it.) Also, changing hitches and attachments was very nice. I can recall sitting for hours as a little kid on the tool box on the fender -- I just liked riding the things and would do so for hours if allowed.
I would love to have one today -- a WD 45 -- and maybe some day, I will!
You mention "walking beans" -- My most hated farm experience. One year, sorghum got mixed into the bean seeds and grew up in clumps with the beans. Since they were in rows, they couldn't be rooted out with the cultivator and the only thing was to dig them out with shovels, since their woody stalks would plug up the bean picker. We would get to the fields before 8, when the humidity was so thick, and start walking the rows of over waist high beans. We were soaked about 20 feet in from the dew, at it was just plumb nasty work all day in the fields, digging out that sorghum and occasional jimson weed. I did hate that.
I so often regret that I wasn't able to provide my kids with that kind of experience growing up. Maybe they would not have liked it. My brother hated farming and wanted nothing to do with it at all, for instance, and I know others didn't like it, either. But I sure did.
I am so hoping that I can get enough ground in New Mexico to raise some corn and chiles. My "tractor" for this will be my little Honda tiller -- a very modest little machine, but I do like its tiny little 4 stroke motor.
If I can't have an Allis Chalmers, maybe I should shoot for a jugaad. If I'd have had one of those as a kid, I would have been in 7th Heaven!
I've never driven one of those tractors with a cab, much less air conditioning. I think the biggest one I ever drove was an IH 806, a gas tractor. It was too new for me; my heart belonged to those ACs!
Thanks for sharing your experiences, I could smell the fresh dirt just reading your words. Ahhh!
“There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know”
Harry S. Truman
(pun intended)
