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OrangeKiwi(NZ) 
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: NEW ZEALAND
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 Topic: 1954 WD45
Posted: 03 Mar 2012 at 3:05pm |
This 1954 WD45 has been displayed in the South Island of New Zealand, recently. It's serial number is 183845 and it has a power crater 45 engine installed. At first look, I thought it had been badged wrong (decals) because it features parts common to the model WD. No snap coupler, no hydraulics, straight gear shifter and the 3 bolt front axle. Could this be a factory setup or one of these mix and match tractors that seem to appear in NZ ? 
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Rfdeere
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Location: Idaville, IN
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Posted: 03 Mar 2012 at 3:29pm |
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By serial # it is a 1954 WD45. If the engine has no plate on the right side, it is a WD45 226 cu. in. block. Is there a plate where the hydraulic pump should be ? No lift arms ?
Edited by Rfdeere - 03 Mar 2012 at 3:34pm
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JohnCinMd
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Posted: 03 Mar 2012 at 3:34pm |
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Has it been repainted?
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Orange Blood
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Posted: 03 Mar 2012 at 3:41pm |
I am not sure about what went over the pond, but at least part of it looks repainted since the decals seem to be in the wrong place, kinda sounds like a WD Transmission, with a WD45 engine, with a PIN hitch, (I think that was possible still) There is a hydro control lever, but I don't see any lift cylinders. Still a very nice straight tractor, I would own it!! :-)
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Still in use:
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OrangeKiwi(NZ)
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Posted: 03 Mar 2012 at 3:46pm |
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I haven't seen this tractor. Was just given this photo. It's claimed that the tractor is restored so I would say it's been repainted. I can't say what is in place of the hydraulic pump. It's definitely a 226 engine (no r/s plate)
What I'm really asking is whether it is a true WD45 with no hydraulics, no snap coupler and the 3 bolt front axle ? The curved gear shifter could have been changed and it's definitely been lengthened.
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Gary
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Posted: 03 Mar 2012 at 3:52pm |
Have never seen a WD without hydraulics on this side of the pond. But in your picture can't see the bracket on the L/H side rail for the rear lift cylinder. The location of the WD-45 decal is no where close to the Factory location for the 45 decal. I have a picture of me at 7 years old on the first WD-45 my Dad received when he started selling them in 1953. Gary
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OrangeKiwi(NZ)
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Posted: 03 Mar 2012 at 4:00pm |
 Gary wrote:
Have never seen a WD without hydraulics on this side of the pond.Gary |
There was 20 WD's sold in the South Island of NZ and of the 11 I have seen, none of them have hydraulics. That's why I first thought this tractor was a WD. It was only after I found out the serial number and saw the right side of the engine that I believed it was a WD45.
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LionelinKY
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Posted: 04 Mar 2012 at 8:40am |
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There have to be some AC experts on your side of the pond to answer this for you as it seems markets were different at that time. Over here, the hydraulic system was one of the defining improvements on the WD which made it a WD and not a WC which only had manual or at best mechanical lifts. Again, over here, the snap coupler system was one of the defining improvements on the WD45 which made it a WD45 and not a WD which all came with the pin hitch. Early WD45s did come with the 3 bolt front axle which was changed later to the 4 bolt design after problems surfaced. Our "Old Faithful" WD45 has the 3 bolt which was drilled out and retapped for larger bolts back before I was born(1971) and has never been a problem as far back as my memory goes. The shifter issue is a new one to me as we usually think of straight vs curved with some overlap with late WDs. This tractor's shifter is not stock at all to those of us over here and could have started out either way when new. Perhaps homemade or someone went through the trouble to straighten an originally curved shifter. One could speculate that farmers there wanted/needed new tractors to pull their equipment but weren't buying into new technology such as hydraulics which would require costly purchase of new equipment or retrofitting of existing equipment. I, for one, do not have a hard time believing that AC would fill a special order(20 units as stated above) to make a sale in what appears to be an isolated market.
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"My name is Lionel and I'm an Allisoholic"
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Posted: 04 Mar 2012 at 8:47am |
I also have an early 45 with a three bolt wide front end. The non curved shifter would seem an oddity because late WD's had the curved shift tower. I would say if I saw that tractor here I would most likely assume its a mongrel. But being across a big pond, Who knows what variations there were. Bottom line, its nice to see any of them that aren't going to scrap imho
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OrangeKiwi(NZ)
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Posted: 04 Mar 2012 at 1:31pm |
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The tractor in question is now in the ownership of a vintage tractor club and both the original owners and the restorer are now deceased so their knowledge is gone. As for the gear shifter as stated above, it could have been straight or curved as it's definitely been altered. I know another NZ WD45 owner didn't like the curved shifter on his tractor and he had it straightened. I own both a WD and a WD45 and my preference for driving them would be with a curved shifter on both tractors.
As for the question of no hydraulics on the tractor, I'm unsure whether Allis Chalmers would make a special specification just for us ? I have never seen any snap coupler equipment in NZ and only 1 or 2 hydraulic units such as ploughs. The New Zealand Allis Chalmers distributor also held the countries agency for a NZ built range of cultivation equipment. It probably didn't want the competition from AC or there may have been government tariffs or regulations not permitting their sale ?
This tractor may just be one of the oddities that have appeared in the range of AC tractors in NZ ?
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