Model A
We are long overdue for a feature tractor story so hopefully this one will inspire you to send in a story of one of your Allis' for a future story.
This tractor is solely responsible for my interest in Allis Chalmers Tractors. This Model A was purchased from Lanes Motors in 1937 after my grandfather, Gordon and his brother Neil sold their team of ten Clydesdale Horses for their property, Tyrrell Downs in Sea Lake Victoria. The tractor was the first Rubber Tyred tractor in the Mallee area with several photos of the tractor taken due to it's novelty. The photo below shows Neil behind the wheel and Gordon on the scoop behind.
When World War 2 hit the tractor remained a workhorse on the family farm in Sea Lake in the hands of Neil whilst Gordon served in the army in the Pacific. On return from War Gordon was offered a soldiers settlement property in Bamawm near Echuca Victoria which he took up as a small dairy farm. Neil retained the tractor over the years, moving to Wangaratta in Victoria and eventually restoring the tractor in the 1980's. After Neil's passing the tractor was kept by his family along with his other Allis' being a WD45 and an English Model B. Gordon tried to reacquire the tractor when it appeared in the Weekly Times for sale section around 1990, but an eagle eyed reader had been quicker to reach the phone and it was seemingly lost to the family. Gordon then decided to purchase a Model U to restore as he saw the enjoyment that Neil had in restoring and collecting Allis'. Several more Allis' were bought and restored by Gordon and his wife Joy over the years but an eye was always kept out to purchase a Model A even if it wasn't his original.
The photo below is the Model A tractor after Neil's restoration work.
Sadly Gordon passed away before finding an A of his own but the restoration bug had been passed onto myself at an early age, from sitting on the tractors to later helping with the restorations and buying my own tractors to restore alongside him. I had always chased every lead we had on a Model A even asking around at Rallies and Clearing Sales with the limited details we had of who had purchased the Model A and the approximate location of the buyer.
Eventually at the Lockington Vintage Tractor Rally in 2014 a man by the name of Mac Turner was introduced to me and he was from the area the A had sold to. It was a few days after the rally that Mac had a lead on a collector from the area that wasn't known to him but could be it although he had a big clearing sale a number of years prior. A phone number was found and after a few attempts contact was made and the owner did in fact own a Model A Allis he bought from Wangaratta many years earlier. An appointment was made to view the tractor in June of 2014 and a surprise road trip for my elderly grandmother was arranged with the mystery trip and lunch somewhere a good excuse for a day out. We entered the shed and there it was, my grandmother mentioned to the owner that they had one the same they bought new, to which he replied this was in fact the very same tractor! After the initial shock, photos of the tractor taken when new were shown and an understanding that if ever the tractor was to be sold it would be offered back to our family. Below is a shot from that reunion with myself, my mother and grandmother.
Contact was maintained over the years and in March 2017 an agreement to sell the tractor was agreed upon. The big day finally arrived and on April 9th 2017 the Model A returned to the same family it was purchased by new 80 years earlier in 1937.
After a busy couple of weeks cleaning and replacing the front tyres the tractor was taken to the 20th Lockington Vintage Rally for a surprise reunion with my family.
After a bit of work we tow started the tractor and got it moving under it's own power once again, which you can see some videos of it
here and
here
In the meantime the tractor will be pulled down for further maintenance and restoration work.
