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Allis Chalmers Discussion Forum
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Was the WD45 this tough to beat?

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New AC man

08-17-2005 14:07:36




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I bought a WD45 a couple of years ago and have never owned an Allis before. I have been impressed with it's unrelenting power and snap.

This summer I picked up a 3x16 mounted plow for it and started going to tractors shows and was allowed to plow at a couple. That tractor seems to easily out plow most others. I was always told they were too light and had too few cubic inches to be any good for heavy work but mine has done real well.

Was this a common situation back when these were new and why do so many people tell me it can't do a heavy job when it clearly the job well? Has anyone here had this type of experience? Will.

BTW John Deere tractors such as the 60 and A and G were all especially easily outplowed pulling 3 bottom plows also.

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Jon in IL

08-20-2005 06:07:29




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
I Know a couple of John Deere boys that have a wd or wd45's. They still use them and love them. I have a wd that I am restoring. When I use that little tractor it impresses me on the power and how handy it is. I love that little tractor. I was born on red tractors.

Jon



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Chad B.

08-19-2005 14:11:22




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
I'm new to tractor ownership personally, but have been around them and been around farming all my life. I've heard more than one "old timer" who is a fairly devout JD or IH guy say that generation of AC tractors (WD/WD-45) were the best tractors of their day (late 40s to late 50s).



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Hurst

08-19-2005 20:53:53




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to Chad B., 08-19-2005 14:11:22  
Don't forget the D series, they were hard to beat. Watch a D17 pull a 4-16 and you will see why you don't forget them either. We had a D17D series 4 and what a hause it was. If only the head hadn't blown a head gasket it would have been a great tractor to have still, could outpull anything of its time. Guy I work with, his dad used to say how you could do so much more with a snap coupler than a 3pt due to how the snap could transfer the weight. Well, gotta go to bed to get the old 7000 back together (another great masterpiece in orange).

Hurst

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Bryam G In mo

08-19-2005 13:59:05




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
Have had this experience myself only difference was that I was using 3 14's, everybody said that ain't gonna pull those.After a few rounds they were all helping to set plows so they would pull better!! Sometimes ya just gotta show em how to do things!!!



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Been there, listened to i

08-19-2005 11:56:51




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
We plow 8 - 9" deep, next time I get the plow out, I will give you a call. I will guarantee you that you won't get beyond beller and paw in low gear with 3 x 16 behind a 45 unless you have reamed it out and put D-19 pistons in it. Then it will be less bellering and more pawing. I was around when these stories were told the first time.



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New AC Man

08-19-2005 13:51:43




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to Been there, listened to i, 08-19-2005 11:56:51  
All I can say is, that is what has happened in my experience. The soil was the same for all of us out there plowing. Will



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Butch(OH)

08-19-2005 13:48:37




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to Been there, listened to i, 08-19-2005 11:56:51  
LOL, take it back to your color board Jr. Ya you realy been there all right, D-19 has a smaller bore than a 45, guess they dont get to that until 5th grade eh?



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Heard it B-4

08-19-2005 22:19:32




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to Butch(OH), 08-19-2005 13:48:37  
If you check AC man took a trip over to the Greene board and an AC man told me he switched to D-19 pistons. After wrenching my back from driving a WC as a kid, I honestly havn't paid much attention.



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DaveInMI

08-19-2005 02:33:16




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
Grew up driving Massey Harris 101 Jr, 44 and 444. The guy who farmed next to us used AC. His WD-45 would out plow our 444 hands down. I asked Dad if AC's cost more or why we didn't use a 45. The only reason I remember is that he thought they might ride rougher because of the smaller diameter wheels.



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Mark in Mizzou

08-18-2005 13:14:05




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
The WD45 is one of the reasons I'll always be a Allis fan. They were much more user friendly than the JD's or Farmalls of their era, and I always felt a little safer operating a tractor with fenders. I appoligize to my good friends in the red and green hats, this isn't 'Color War' baiting, just my humble opinion.

Mark Hill
Dearborn,MO



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Fred H.(WI)

08-18-2005 11:08:09




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
We had a 1959 WD-45 my father bought new with a 3-14 fully mounted plow and a semi-mounted 12 1/2 foot disc. The rear tires were 13.6"s and filled with fluid, and the only time I used second gear was plowing some 10 year old alfalfa sod. Everything else was third gear. Ran rings around the neighbor"s JD A, and plowed more than the other neighbor"s M. Local tractor pull - finished second by a couple feet to a Farmall M with M&W pistons. Best they ever made!

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John (MO)

08-18-2005 05:44:47




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
Who ever the many people were that told you a WD45 couldn't cut the mustard, obviously had never run one or tried to keep up with one. The world is full of "experts" who don't have a clue.



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Texas Denny

08-17-2005 20:30:02




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
All of the replies sound right on to me. But I might go back a bit. The WC was the fore runner to the WD and WD-45. It looked like a midget next to it's competitors such as the A John Deere or the 70 Oliver. Yet even without mounted implements, It could do anything the others could do with no problem. Yes, we had to add weight to ours when it came to alfalfa sod but the competitors did as well.

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Butch(OH)

08-17-2005 18:45:56




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
I'd match any A-C tractor w/snap-coupler hitch and a mounted or semi mounted plow against anybody else, anytime, anyplace, any soil. Pound for pound and HP to HP nothing will out plow one, period and it doesn't get much better than a 45. This is because of the way the hitch worked to transfer weight to the rear wheels. This is not argued at a plow day or side by side in the field when ones words must be backed up by action. Only at on these boards and at the feed mill BS sessions can the others claim a 45 cant do it.

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John (C-IL)

08-17-2005 19:47:34




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to Butch(OH), 08-17-2005 18:45:56  
First of all you need to buy Norm Swinford's book "AC Equipment 1914-1985" to get some of the developmental history on the tractor.

Second, with the introduction of the WD in 1948 AC had a winner that just improved as fast as the engineers could develop and implement the changes. The production of 236,958 tractors is a testament to the popularity of the of the line.

Like Butch said, pound for pound and work for horsepower the WD/WD45 was the class of the field. Literally and figuratively. Yes, it was that good.

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wdtom

08-17-2005 18:30:26




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to New AC man, 08-17-2005 14:07:36  
AC was known as making "smappy" tractors in the 50s. My experience with a 45 as a kid in the 60s impresses me to this day. That tractor would do most any work at 1/3 throttle. At full throttle it was impressive. With loaded tires they can put the power to the ground. Other models also had a lot of power for thier weight, but not as much as the 45. In the stock pulls around here the WDs, 45s, and CAs rarely run out of power, but often the JDs and Farmalls do. A 45 has the power of a Farmall M, and the weight of a H.

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buford

08-19-2005 19:12:57




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 Re: Was the WD45 this tough to beat? in reply to wdtom, 08-17-2005 18:30:26  
we had a wd45 gas and a mf 65 diesel we were chopping corn silage and blowing in a 60 foot silo the mf would not unload the wagons in medium speed and the chopper was sitting in the field while wagons were sitting at the silo waiting on the mf, mf dealer came and said he could turn more fuel on the mf but dad said turn the wd45 to the blower we did and our problem solved wagons unloaded at full speed this was in 1959 or 1960 as we had a new mf super 90 to chop with i still remember that 45 on the blower and the sound of the gov as corn hit the fan at this time i have 2 ac b, wd ,wd45, wc , wc puller with built 226cu.engine i like them ole orange tractors

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