Harvey engine factory

Would you guys happen to know the history of the 516, aka 11000 series?

This was actually a Buda design that transitioned to Allis, correct?

We find it amazing that when it came out it was NA and well under 100 HP, and in its final run, it was turboed and intercooled, and pushing 270 HP in the N7 and R7 Gleaners.

We have thought about making a little "Powered by Buda" decal for the tail of our R7s. :)

Great info and stories guys, much appreciated, and keep them coming! Allways cool to hear about life at Allis.

GM Guy wrote: Would you guys happen to know the history of the 516, aka 11000 series? This was actually a Buda design that transitioned to Allis, correct? Yes We find it amazing that when it came out it was NA and well under 100 HP, and in its final run, it was turboed and intercooled, and pushing 270 HP in the N7 and R7 Gleaners. The NA's were called 10000's and with the turbo they were 11000's We have thought about making a little "Powered by Buda" decal for the tail of our R7s. :) Great info and stories guys, much appreciated, and keep them coming! Allways cool to hear about life at Allis.

Ernie, did you ever work in the engine test labs in West Allis? My great uncle, Arnie Carlson, worked there and got to go to the Nebraska test track a few times.

Another Amen to the earlier posts about A-C decision to dabble in the "Big Al" project.  From my perspective, the company had some excellent engineering and innovation, but spread itself too thin, so it never got into a dominant position in most of their fields.  They were leaders in small combines,  and the WD, WD-45 were ahead of most in their time.  Why try to compete with the established dominant companies in trucking engines, stick to ag and construction, and improvements there.  But that's easy to say in hindsight I know.  I suspect they felt they had to increase the volume in the Harvey plant to make it competitive, but.....

I hated testing the 844's that were built for power generators. They had oiled woodward governors and that was very difficult to set and you occasionally had a runaway. That made you want to run away.

Ernie Gerald wrote: I hated testing the 844's that were built for power generators. They had oiled woodward governors and that was very difficult to set and you occasionally had a runaway. That made you want to run away.

Ernie, are you still sporting the pork chop sideburns??? They're 'BOSS'!!   Did you test every engine that came down the line, or just a random sample?

Ed worked in experimental lab for many years and mostly performed experimental engine tests. However, I'm sure he did most everything they wanted. John also worked many years in the test lab and I'm sure you had seen him and don't remember.

Yes, walked through there several times. I had the enclosed V-12 test cell on the northeast side by the north door.

ernie

Brian Jasper co. Ia wrote: Isn't Harvey kinda on the south side? If it's where I think it is, that's not a good place to be in the daytime, let alone after dark. GM's training center is in Hinsdale and after class once I thought I'd go to the museum of science and history. It didn't register that I took a path straight through the ghetto. If you don't lay rubber the instant traffic lights turn green, they honk at you.

Was there back in '88 or '89. Was just exactly as you described back then too. Me and 4 of my friends were gong to catch the Twins and Soxs but they were sold out and in that day we didn't dare buy from the scalpers. Anyhow, we drove around and went to the museum and just drove around some more. I couldn't believe it when they instantly honked when the light was green and we once made a wrong turn down some back street past an alley and when we drove by there must have been 30 or more "Norwegians" in the alley. We turned around knowing we were in a bad spot and passed the alley again and not a soul was there. That was within 30 seconds or a minutes time. Also, being dumb hicks who trusted everyone we decided to drive to go eat at a pizza place and when we walked in we were the only real Norwegians in the place and it was instant quiet when we walked in. We sat down at a table and noticed everyone there was staring at us 5 guys and after about 5 minutes and when no one came to wait on our table we thought it best we leave so we left. Never did that again!

AGCO's main warehouse is still in Batavia. I assume it's just been updated through the years. It's good to see a little bit of Allis here and there. It's all we've got I guess. 

Thank you guys for all the pictures and information. It's sad to see the building go. It's sad when times change and such an industry powerhouse be reduced to almost nothing. Thank you to everyone who keeps the A-C family alive!

Harvey is on the southeast edge of Chicago.  Just north of I-80.  Halstead is a main north / south street.  High crime, high poverty area.  Please be very careful if you go there.