steel wheels B

I have a 41B and a 38B and a full set of steel wheels.

Without doing any deep research, my bet would be that the '41 would be most likely candidate for steel... hand-start/magneto and no lights... basically, no rubber or electricals... as they were pretty dear as war material...  There's better sources of historical data than me, so let's see who else answers.

...and then you could use the cast iron valve cover, cast iron oil pan, and cast iron final drive covers used during the war years as well.

Sorry,  I forgot to talk about the air cleaner inlet being higher.  When a tractor used steel wheels in a dusty field it created more dust than rubber tired tractors.  The higher air cleaner moved the intake somewhat above the dust cloud so that cleaner air would be taken in.

Forgot to answer your original question. I would put them on the 38 because the 41 does not fall into the wartime serial #'s so I would go with the older one.

That's an excellent question, and I although I can't answer it with direct certainty, I can suggest the scenario that I've seen in other aspects of manufacturing history...

During wartime, most of a manufacturer's line area was converted to building war machinery.  In the case of A-C, they reconfigured to manufacture the M4 high-speed tractor...  but Never forget that Allis-Chalmers was not primarily a farm-equipment manufacturer- they were predominantly a large-scale electrical power equipment manufacturer... they made large quantities of electric motors for everything from torpedos and submarines, to hoisting equipment, steam turbines, and reciprocating steam engines.  Liberty ships were powered by Allis-Chalmers steam engines!

What this meant, was that the FOUNDRY operation was put to very high production volume.  Steel was costly- takes extra trips through the furnace, and metallurgy to make.  High-quality steels came cheaper from outside sources, and they reserved steel for very imporant parts- shafting, gears, etc... not stamping it into tin covers... but they could pattern and cast thin pans all day long, and not have to run a stamping machine or waste resources making 'soft' steels for covers.

From what I've seen, the pressed-steel WC rear axle was supposedly sourced through Studebaker.  If one were to compare it with military trucks of the same timeframe, you'll probably find that, aside from a few brackets, that it's the identical twin.  Also keep in mind that a LARGE contingency of engineers in heavy manufacturing... particularly automotive, had apprenticed at Allis-Chalmers... during the teens, they had a program not unlike a college 'graduation'.  Fred Zeder, Owen Skelton, Carl Breer... all came from Allis, all wound up on staff at Studebaker, then Chrysler Corp.   During wartime, guys like these, and many, many others- they were working for different companies, but they were all birds-of-a-feather- friends, and shared not only in experience and expertise, but realized who had the best facilities to do a certain operation.  Skelton was a transmission/gearbox/drivetrain wizard.  Breer did steam engines and electricals.  Zeder did industrial process and materials.  I don't know for certain (and I would've loved to been a 'fly on the wall' here), but I'd be willing to bet that these guys would meet for lunch at the local diner every Tuesday and Thursday, and they'd figure out ways of upping production in ALL by 'trading' resources... subcontracting out components in lieu of opening up more contracts that could be filled cheaper-better-faster at others.

And keep in mind that the reason why many things continued to be manufactured DURING wartime, when they weren't part of allowed production... is because ENOUGH PARTS were in standing inventory to CONTINUE ASSEMBLY without actually casting and forging the big stuff.  Any company that had a stockpile of parts, big or small, would exercise sensibility- assemble all the rest that we can  1) to have available for sale to the non-mil AND mil market (think the snow-tractor) and 2) open up floor and inventory space for war production.

I looked up this string again and just had another thought. 

Brad,  Some tractors during WWII came through as "half breeds" - steel rear and rubber front.  You sound like you are aware of all the items that were a full War Time B.  I do believe the hyd pump was available.  However, we got unusual stuff with wartime tractors.  Some had starters, Some had lights, Some had pressed steel oil pans and valve covers etc.  As I said we never knew what we were getting.

I know this is an older post but I was looking around on the net and ran across this post. My dad has a factory steel wheel B that has been in the family since in the 60's. We have never had the steel wheels but the rest of the tractor is complete. I was wonder how rare the tractors are because we still use ours on the farm. Thanks for any input. Nick

Ed

I own an original 38 B SN2541. It was bought new with full steel wheels from The Banting  Co. in Toledo, OH. I bought it from the family of the original owner. Through the years the steel was replaced with rubber tires so they could drive it down stone or paved roads. The family gave me a copy of a picture taken in 38 when the tractor was new. I have the rear steel, but had to find correct front steel, as the originals were misplaced. The original steel wheel tractor had thicker rear hubs to support the jarring effect of steel over rough terrain. I have yet to find a pair of them as i only have one currently. The original ones for my tractor were used as wheel weights on a WC, and went with the tractor when sold. The thick hubs, wider fenders and the steel themselves would be all you need to be correct for the 38. The taller air stack was for dusty or sandy soil conditions. Mine has has a short stack as the picture verifies. Most all of the cast parts were specific to the war. What ever you choose, I'm sure it will look great.

Ed

Ed, When you and Ken get together don't be telling no stories about me behind my back. LOL