I literally grew up around an Allis Chalmers CA. My mother photographed me in 1952 as I sat on Dad's brand new 1952 wide front end CA; I was two years old at the time. That was the beginning of a long-standing relationship with that particular tractor and the CA model.

Dad had purchased that tractor, a two-bottom pick-up CA plow, two row front and rear mounted cultivators, and two-row pick-up corn planter. In the early days of the tractor, Dad did not have a corn picker, so he and my two aunts picked corn the old fashioned way, by hand. They would husk and throw the ears in a wagon equipped with "bang boards". My first remembrance of ever driving the tractor was when I was about three years old. My Dad was picking corn by hand, and to keep me occupied, happy, and out of my mother's way while she was caring for two younger siblings in the house, Dad would have me sit on the CA seat firmly gripping the steering wheel. When it was time to move the tractor to be able to pick more corn, Dad would stand on the draw-bar, pull the hand clutch, turn on the ignition key, pull the starter pull rod, and after the tractor started, he would release the hand clutch to pull the tractor forward. The tractor was already in first gear, so the tractor and wagon would move forward slowly as Dad said, "Steer her straight Bobby". I would put 100% of my concentration on doing just that, all the while thinking that I was "big stuff" when actually Dad was in control of the whole situation. I loved what I was doing, stayed out of trouble, and got to spend the whole day outside with my Dad. Today the "do-gooders" would probably have put Dad in jail for child endangerment.

About the time I was eleven, I could reach the clutch and brakes and fully control the tractor. Dad had the CA hitched to the two-gang six foot wide drag disk. He told me to get on and drive while he stood on the draw-bar and checked out my work. He instructed me in the fine art of disking "stalk ground" in preparation to sow oats. After one round, he got off the tractor and motioned for me to continue on. I disked the whole field of seven or eight acres once with the half lap method and then did it again. By this time the sun had almost set, and even though I wasn't wearing a watch, my stomach told me that I had missed supper. I was just finishing the last lap as Dad appeared out of the dusk. He asked me what I was doing. I said that I was disking. He then asked why I had not stopped and come in. I said that I figured he would tell me when to quit. He praised my disking job and suggested that I wear a long a long sleeve shirt and hat the next day when we sowed oats. I had to ask, "Why?" Little did I realize that I was sunburned to the point that I looked like a lobster. The next day was miserable because of the sunburn, but I learned that a tractor driver has to protect himself from the sun. I also learned that driving a tractor is enjoyable, but it is also work.

In 1955, Dad had purchased a used, maybe even abused All-Crop 40 combine. He meticulously reworked the straw walkers, cleaned all the dirt from the cylinder, and realigned the shaker arms for the straw walkers. The wide front end CA seemed to pull the combine very well in the hilly country of Monroe County, Ohio. The small 12 bushel or so bin would start to run over sometimes before could complete a full round in some hilly fields. Actually the grain was running to one side of the bin and running out. That's when my brother or I would ride on the combine and level out the grain in the bin to keep from losing it. Today' do-gooders would have objected to that.

The first time I ran the 40 combine, I took note that I was taking a four foot swath and circling the field at an amazing 1 1/2 miles per hour. I mentioned these facts to my Dad one day and he replied, "Sure beats the old threshing machine."

In May 1964, Dad bought a used Allis Chalmers rotobaler. I thought he was going to get a square baler like all the neighbors had. The first time we used it, we may have baled one good bale out of a hundred. Dad talked to the former owner, who suggested that every zerk be greased, and every slide oiled. Surprisingly, it baled okay from then on.

Dad did not enjoy what the baling did to his neck when constantly looking to the left into the pick-up elevator. I became the designated baler. He would do the raking of the double windrows; one in each direction placed side by side. He had a steel wheeled side delivery rake that he had rescued from the scrap yard. After a couple of seasons of baling, we really appreciated the fact that the rain did not hurt the bales' quality and when baling on the other farm, where Dad ran beef cattle, we did not haul them in. The cattle would eat the green fescue first, then eat the bales. Dad must have been the first farmer in Monroe County to do winter pasture with round bales.

In April 1966, Dad purchased a used narrow front end Allis Chalmers CA. Since haymaking was the biggest part of the farming effort, we could really go to town, because, Dad would rake, and I would bale. I did a little tuning on the baler, and had it to the point that as Dad raked, I could stay on his heels with the baler especially in the big fields on the beef farm.

As far as I was concerned, the CA was the right size and right power to run the rotobaler. The hand clutch on the CA was in the right position in relation to the brakes, steering wheel, and seat to make the constant hand clutch action required for rotobaling, convenient.

In January 1967, Dad was able to purchase a used CA-8 (Freeman Mfg. made for AC) front-end loader to fit on the narrow front end CA. It was like a dream to completely haul the manure pile from the dairy barn in a day. The long loafing shed on the beef farm was a lot easier to clean, than by manually forking. The CA really shined on loader work.

I always enjoyed plowing with the wide front CA. It would pull the two-bottom 14 inch pick-up plow in the heavy clay sod in second gear all day long. In stalk ground it would pull the plow in third gear most of the time. To start a new series of furrows, just pull up even with the last furrow, drop the right front wheel in, release the clutch, and drop the plow. Immediately two ribbons of dark moist earth were exiting the moldboard and the earthy smell of the fresh furrow was country perfume. The only bad situation that I ever got into while plowing was the one time I was running right along in sod, when the plow hit a big buried rock. The impact stalled the tractor, and slammed my chest against the steering wheel. I think I still have the impression of the steering wheel nut on my sternum bone.

Time has moved on. Dad has passed on to his reward. My brother farms the home and other farm in Monroe County. He has both of Dad's CA's, plus another used one that Dad bought after I left home. Even though my brother had other Allis tractors on the farm, I don't think Dad ever used any tractor but a CA, and then 9 out of 10 times, that original CA.

I now live in suburban Fairfield County, Ohio, but I still have a couple of CA's to use on my small acreage. I will never forget the experiences of growing up in the hill country of Ohio and farming with my family and Dad's CA's.

After going to some shows, I have noticed what I perceive as a problem with restorers and the rear tire sizes they select for their restorations. the problem seems to stem from the progression of numbers used in tire sizes over the years.

Having worked for Good Year at their tractor tire manufacturing plant in Freeport, Illinois for 17 years, and on tractor tire molds in particular for a number of years, I would like to share what I have learned over the years regarding rear tractor tire sizes.

When rubber tires were first mounted on tractors, nearly all were mounted on eight inch wide rims, and the numerical sizes on the tires reflected this. After rubber tires on tractors became more accepted, it was discovered that wider rims contributed to better tire performance. The wider rims actually made the tire wider, because the beads were no longer pulling the tire together. Now tires labeled 11.25 were 13 inches across at the shoulders. The tread was allowed to flatten out some and the tires became more efficient. The industry resized the numbers on the tire to reflect the new recommended rim width.

As an example, lets use an 11.25-24 tire as used on the early WC’s with eight inch wide wheels. This became a 13-24 when used on a twelve inch wide rim. This seems to be the same exact tire, from basically the same mold as the old 11.25-24, but renumbered to reflect the recommended use on the wider rim, and the corresponding increase in effective tread width gained by the wide rim. Later on, in the late 50’s or early 60"s, the tire manufacturers again renumbered their tires. Now the numbers referred to over all carcass width when mounted on the recommended rim width. Now our 13-24 has grown to a 14.9-24. Keep in mind this is still the same physically sized tire from basically the same mold, just an new numbering system.

A rundown of the evolution of a few typical sizes are as follows:

old 8" rim wider rim new measurement

11.25-24 became 13-24 became 14.9-24

12.75-28 became 14-28 became 16.9-28

13.5-28 became 15-28 became 18.4-28

The tires on each line were the same size, were formed in basically the same molds, but were numbered differently to reflect, first, the increase in recommended rim widths, then to reflect over all carcass width rather than shoulder to shoulder width across the tread. If you will notice, some real old tires will have both sizes on them. I have a pair of Goodrich that show 13-24, replaces 11.25-24. It should also be noted that the tire industry adopted a more aggressive tread pattern about the time the first size change went into effect. Also you must remember that rear tractor tires evolved from existing sizes used on aircraft. So there may have been a slight increase in physical size when molds used exclusively for tractor use came about.

Most restorers are aware of the second change, but few are aware of the first change. They go to the original owners manual under tires and see 13.5-28, and purchase a set of 14.9-28 tires thinking they have the proper original size, not realizing the 1937 13.5-28, is now actually an 18.4-28. If this seems like a big jump, you must remember, the 18.4-28 has a recommended rim width of 16 inches, DOUBLE the width of the original rim used for this tire in 1937. You squeeze those beads together by eight inches, the tread shoulders will probably come in that inch and a half. Remember the first two sizes are based on TREAD width, the last is based on overall CARCASS width.

I hope I have shed some light on rear tractor tire sizes, and their evolution over 65 years or so, and if you thought some tractors at shows looked odd because the rear tires seemed small, you were probably right. The restorers used the best information they had, and should not be faulted for this common mistake. Although I am no expert, I am someone very familiar with the rear tire industry, and have come to these conclusions from studying tire sizes on old tires for a number of years.

In conclusion, if a tire looks to be small when put on your tractor and looks odd, you may be justified in using a larger size, without feeling you are not putting an "original" size on it.

Happy restorations

Ted Buisker