My Little C

By Staff
Published on January 1, 1999
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15 Winston Way, Redwood City, California 94061

I was born and raised on a farm in western Iowa, near Council
Bluffs. In the spring of 1947, my dad decided that I was old enough
to help with the field work on our 250 acre farm, so he went to the
Charles Rief Implement Company in Council Bluffs, where he
purchased a new Allis Chalmers model C, serial number C39764, for
$921.43. (I was 13 years old at the time.) What a memorable time!
Now I was a grownup, helping Dad with our farm work and
participating in the local threshing circle, which was soon to come
to an end.

After a few short years, I moved on to other things at Iowa
State College, but the little C continued to perform faithfully
until about 1970, when it was parked in the corner of the machine
shed and forgotten. My brother Paul still lives on the ‘home
place’ with his wife Leana and their son Davin. Some time ago,
Davin and his friend Tim Winner decided that it was time to restore
the little C, and it was pulled out of its hiding place in June of
1997. Unfortunately, no one thought to take any pictures of it as
it existed at that time. Fifty years of silent attack by the
calcium chloride solution in the rear tires caused tires and rims
to collapse before the tractor had moved more than a few yards from
its resting place. The front tires had rotted away as well. The job
turned into a father-and-son project as Paul searched for and
obtained missing parts and provided the funding for the project,
while Davin and Tim did the restoration work. The cost of the
restoration hasn’t been totaled up, but I suspect that it was
at least twice the original cost of the tractor!

Davin dismantled the engine, and did a valve job, replacing two
exhaust valve seats. The crankshaft was re-ground, and the rods
resized to fit. The magneto was rebuilt, the clutch got a new
pressure plate, and the brakes were relined. A new ignition harness
had to be handmade. The transmission, rear end, and final drives
were all cleaned and provided with new lubricants. Of course, new
rear rims were installed, and four new tires were put on. The final
touch was the paint job, which started with a complete sandblast
job, followed by a coat of DuPont Variprime primer, then a coat of
grey primer. Next a coat of DuPont Velvaseal sealer was applied,
followed by the final coat of Allis Chalmers Orange PPG Ditzler
paint.

As the restoration progressed, it was decided that the
‘coming out party’ for the C would be at the Carsten Farm
Show in nearby Shelby on September 12. Accordingly, my wife Margret
and I made arrangements to be at the Carsten show. Sure enough, the
restoration was completed at 5:00 a.m. on September 12, and Davin
and the C arrived at Carstens in time for the daily parade with a
few hours to spare!

Having been involved in the old iron hobby for many years,
I’ve seen probably hundreds of newly restored tractors, and a
few of them were perhaps even more beautiful than my C, but seeing
the C for the first time was a touching moment for me. I
couldn’t have been more proud if I had done the restoration
myself! Now, all I need to do is convince Davin and Paul that the
little C really belongs in California.

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