9988 Boyer Road, Versailles, Ohio 45380
In 1970 when I bought my first tractor, a 1939 ‘B’ AC, I
was familiar with WC but, I had no desire to own one until I found
out that a wide front was offered as an option. I figured this
would give a WC a little class if I ever found one.
Meanwhile a Case collecting amigo of mine was on a tractor
hunting trip in North Dakota and he found an old rough WC with a
wide front axle. After finding out about it, I made a phone call
and bought the front axle assembly. As the tractor was pretty
rough, it would have cost more to have it hauled back to Ohio than
it was worth. A month later some friends going back to the same
area brought the front axle back for me.
Now I needed a tractor to put the front end on. So after
finishing the restoration of a 1938 ‘WF’ I started shopping
around for an unstyled WC. I finally bought a 1936 model WC that
had been sitting in a roofless shed. The only thing left on the
roof were the shingle lathe.
The tractor had originally come out on steel but, had been cut
down for rubber tires. Three of the tires were flat. The fenders
were beat up and the hood was mashed down. The carburetor was
missing, but the owner thought that he could find it. After hauling
it to my shop and dismantling the old beast I started hunting
parts. I found an excellent set of fenders in the loft of a
friend’s workshop. A radiator, manifold, and a set of 6.6 to I
pistons came from a salvage yard in Idaho. One rear steel wheel and
a pair of cut outs with good lugs came from a junk yard auction.
Trading some IHC parts to an antique dealer netted me the other
rear steel wheel. The front wheels came from a WC sitting in a
pasture field.
A retired AC dealer in southern Ohio having a lot of N.O.S.
parts filled my need for engine parts, including a new crankshaft
kit.
After rebuilding the engine, the clutch and transmission were
repaired, next I took the rear end apart and found the spider gear
thrust washers were gone. Also the bull gears and bull pinions had
to be replaced, because of apparent lack of lubrication. After
sandblasting the frame, sheet metal, and wheels with the help of
two of my friends Bob Christian the painter and Norm Smith, we
finally got the WC painted and reassembled in time for the 1986
Darke County Steam Threshers convention at Greenville, Ohio. The
show also happened to feature the AC line.
The wide front WC now fits in good with the rest of my AC
collection, all having wide front axles, except a 1939 RC which
will have one on it when I restore it.
