Allis History Page

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	The Forum	Parts and Services	Unofficial Allis Store	Tractor Shows	Serial Numbers	History

Prior Page Next Page Farm Equipment Glory Years
1933	An early version of the 'WC' is released onto the market with a flat-head Waukesha engine. An effort will be made later to replace those tractors with an Allis-Chalmers powered version, but a handful escape. The "WC" is a big success for the company. It is lightweight, powerful, dependable, and affordable. With a large dealer network now in place, the farm tractor business really starts to take off for Allis-Chalmers.
1935	All-Crop combines are offered for the first time. Allis-Chalmers utilizes the former Rumely facilities in LaPorte Indiana to build the highly regarded harvesters. Other products built here will include Roto-Balers, corn pickers, cotton pickers, and manure spreaders.
1941	When the United States enters World War II, Allis-Chalmers like many other companies joins the war effort and turns their production efforts toward military equipment. AC builds M4 and M6 utility vehicles for the Army, propeller shafts and other components for the Navy, as well as key equipment used during the manufacture of the world's first atomic weapons.
Post War	Allis-Chalmers enters a period of difficult labor relations. Production workers in Milwaukee and other locations go on strike for months at a time. Much has been written about the root causes of these labor problems. Many blame communists for targeting Allis-Chalmers while others site management problems for creating a difficult environment. Whatever the reasons, this period will hang as a dark cloud over Allis-Chalmers for years to come and undoubtedly contribute to problems down the road.
1948	The long awaited WD rolls into production. The WD will become one of the most popular farm tractors of all time. The WD builds on the success of the WC with several upgrades including significantly more horsepower. The WD and the later WD45 will be in production for 10 years with more than 200,000 units produced.
1955	As American farms continue to get bigger, farmers are moving away from small pull-type combines in favor of self-propelled machines. Allis-Chalmers acquires the Gleaner-Baldwin company. This provides AC with an established name brand and a jump-start into the self-propelled combine market.
1957	The venerable D series of tractors begins with the launch of the D-14. The D series tractors were light and powerful, yet rugged and reliable. The D series embraces industrial design by creating a unified style across the entire line. Over 20,000 D-14 tractors will be built in three short years before being replaced by the D-15. Perhaps more so than it's classmates, the D-17 was in many ways the right tractor for the times. The D-17 embodied all the best elements of what Allis-Chalmers was about during this era. Nearly 90,000 units were produced in several configurations. Many are still in use on small farms today.
1961	The D-19 is introduced to answer the demand for bigger, stronger tractors. It is the first agricultural tractor to utilize a turbo-charged diesel engine. Gas and LP configurations were also offered. The D-19 was only in production through 1964 but proved to be a success.
1963	The first D-21 rolls off the production line. The D-21 is the new flagship of the Allis-Chalmers line with an eight-speed transmission and over 100 PTO horsepower. The D-21 was more tractor than many farmers were ready for but earned a reputation for being very durable. Today the D-21 is one of the most sought-after collectible AC tractors.
Prior Page Next Page

Prior Page Next Page Farm Equipment Glory Years

1933

An early version of the 'WC' is released onto the market with a flat-head Waukesha engine. An effort will be made later to replace those tractors with an Allis-Chalmers powered version, but a handful escape. The "WC" is a big success for the company. It is lightweight, powerful, dependable, and affordable. With a large dealer network now in place, the farm tractor business really starts to take off for Allis-Chalmers.

1935

All-Crop combines are offered for the first time. Allis-Chalmers utilizes the former Rumely facilities in LaPorte Indiana to build the highly regarded harvesters. Other products built here will include Roto-Balers, corn pickers, cotton pickers, and manure spreaders.

1941

When the United States enters World War II, Allis-Chalmers like many other companies joins the war effort and turns their production efforts toward military equipment. AC builds M4 and M6 utility vehicles for the Army, propeller shafts and other components for the Navy, as well as key equipment used during the manufacture of the world's first atomic weapons.

Post
War

Allis-Chalmers enters a period of difficult labor relations. Production workers in Milwaukee and other locations go on strike for months at a time. Much has been written about the root causes of these labor problems. Many blame communists for targeting Allis-Chalmers while others site management problems for creating a difficult environment. Whatever the reasons, this period will hang as a dark cloud over Allis-Chalmers for years to come and undoubtedly contribute to problems down the road.

1948

The long awaited WD rolls into production. The WD will become one of the most popular farm tractors of all time. The WD builds on the success of the WC with several upgrades including significantly more horsepower. The WD and the later WD45 will be in production for 10 years with more than 200,000 units produced.

1955

As American farms continue to get bigger, farmers are moving away from small pull-type combines in favor of self-propelled machines. Allis-Chalmers acquires the Gleaner-Baldwin company. This provides AC with an established name brand and a jump-start into the self-propelled combine market.

1957

The venerable D series of tractors begins with the launch of the D-14. The D series tractors were light and powerful, yet rugged and reliable. The D series embraces industrial design by creating a unified style across the entire line. Over 20,000 D-14 tractors will be built in three short years before being replaced by the D-15. D-14 Allis-Chalmers

Perhaps more so than it's classmates, the D-17 was in many ways the right tractor for the times. The D-17 embodied all the best elements of what Allis-Chalmers was about during this era. Nearly 90,000 units were produced in several configurations. Many are still in use on small farms today.

1961

The D-19 is introduced to answer the demand for bigger, stronger tractors. It is the first agricultural tractor to utilize a turbo-charged diesel engine. Gas and LP configurations were also offered. The D-19 was only in production through 1964 but proved to be a success.

1963

The first D-21 rolls off the production line. The D-21 is the new flagship of the Allis-Chalmers line with an eight-speed transmission and over 100 PTO horsepower. The D-21 was more tractor than many farmers were ready for but earned a reputation for being very durable. Today the D-21 is one of the most sought-after collectible AC tractors.

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