Would an Allis make a good rake tractor?

Over the winter, we picked up an old New Holland #57 rake to help bale the neighbor's straw. For those who don't know New Holland rake numbers, it's a PTO-powered rollabar rake. Last year, we ran the rake with the neighbor's Kubota before we bought it, but he's selling a bunch of stuff this year after the disaster we had out here last year. That leaves us in the spot looking for something cheap to pull the rake with. I've noticed a lot of cheap Allis tractors at auctions. I know the usual third gear problem, but my question deals with the power director. I've never run one outside of our 7040, but I know if you push the clutch in, the PTO stops. How would one go about running a PTO rake with this setup? Would it be a good tractor, or am I better to look for something that isn't orange this time?

How does the Power Director work on those? I know on our 7040, you don't touch the lever unless you're stopped

I've rake a lot of hay with a WD45. Use the hand clutch to stop they are pretty cheep and stone reliable. In my opinion the styled tractor were some of the best looking tractors ever made. For raking I liked the NF tractors. If you put the seat flip hinge on I think mine came from Tony's tractors it corrects the seating position moving it 2" left and back. I wear a sun hat and shades. If you have to get off and on a lot it's a little inconvenient but once on I can drive a long time.

I thought those rakes were 3pt? While a NF Wd 45 with factory power steering is my favorite raking tractor, I don’t think this is what you want. I’d look for a 170-175D or later because they have a very nice 3pt set up or replace your rake with a 256.

Like everyone else has said a series iv d17 or newer (100 series) would be good as they would have position control for three point so the rake would be at the same level each time you set it down.

The one thing you will find that will be frustrating is when mowing around the yard with an Allis is going from forward to reverse. All of mine will shift from a stop using the hand clutch only. But they all need to be well warmed up and the d14 is kind of tricky, has to be idled down and shifted very quickly. The 17 and my 190xt shift at pto speed no problems from 2/3 to reverse and back easily. It’s a skill you’ll pick up with time in the seat, the biggest thing is remember to not grind the gears and be smooth not jammy when it comes to switching gears with the power director and it can be done.

Getting on and off shouldn't be a problem- out here, the fields are square and the neighbor's combines are uniform. I hardly ever got off his Kubota.

The D17 Series IV is the first 3pt hitch on any Allis Chalmers tractor that isn't junk, as mentioned earlier it will have a position control as well as better attachment to the tractor and real sway control. Anything smaller or older will leave you dissatisfied when using it for a 3pt rake. The conversions bolt on only to 4 bolt under the tractor and will work loose unless you fabricate extra braces. The 3pt "adapter" is a better option. Although with either the conversion or adapter you will need a set of stabilizer chains to limit how far the hitch will drop.

Yep- rakes don't take much horsepower. The neighbor's Kubota is 33HP and it handled it just fine, though the front was a little light (Ahhh, modern tractors....). Our 7040 is just too large to be manuverable with this rake. We have a John Deere pull-type rake, but it doesn't handle the volume well at all- the wheel plugs up. I haven't had to stop with the Kubota, but it was a hydro model, so I never really paid attention to speed.

Our other rake is a John Deere 660, so it has a front dolly wheel, meaning no 3 point hack here 

Maybe trade both rakes in for a 500$ NH 56 pull type and save the money you will spend towards a good 3pt tractor and all the cussing hooking up 3pt implements that you can’t maneuver by hand. You will not plug it up.That being said, I have never operated a class 1 3pt implement and a smaller, older tractor with the conversion may be sufficient for your needs. I would make sure it had extendable arms at a minimum though. I personally would not want something 3pt without good depth controls and a heavier tractor without good PS.

Edited by allisbred - 17 Jun 2020 at 8:46pm

Hook up shouldn't rally be a problem- once it goes on, it'll stay on all harvest season. As much as 3 point stuff can be a pain to hook up, it's not that bad. The rake handles splitting the windrows really nicely, so it's definitely worth the hookup.

So question back to the OP. Do you need to start and stop tractor movement a lot or the PTO when using this rake? I guess my first thoughts were the advantage of the hydraulic PTO on the 180 and up although not all have that, followed by the weight and 3pt quality & position controls of the series 4 17’s and up. That was just my thinking. We have several 100 series tractors and although the later tractors are nicer, they are still in my mind a cost effective upgrade over earlier ones.

I can probably do just fine by slowing the throttle down as need-be for a slug. The speed of the rake isn't too important since we're doing straw and not hay. If I can slip the PD if I need to slow or stop for a really big slug, that's all I really need to do. Most of the time, I'd be just moving along like normal. The neighbor's windows are usually pretty consistent, but where they have to stop a combine to pick up the header, you get a slug that you have to crawl through sometimes (But not often)

There's no shame in using an older tractor to rake with. I want something that does the job well- I couldn't care less about looks or impressing the neighbors.... or their banker