1952 Allis Chalmers WD

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Howdy to everyone from Linwood, KS.
My wife and I live on a small 16 acre horse ranch just west of Kansas City in the rolling wooded hills of the Kansas River valley. Yes, eastern Kansas actually does have hills!

I just recently purchased a 1952 Allis Chalmers WD wide front north of me and have not picked it up yet. I currently have a 1955 Farmall Cub with a belly mower that I use to finish mow about 2 acres around our house. It also pulls a small manure spreader for me a couple times a week as well as a small garden dump cart, etc. In addition, I have an older Case 1845 Uniloader with a grading bucket and a Yanmar B3 gray market mini excavator. I got the Case and Yanmar used for a steal and use them for dam maintenance on my two ponds, and for moving the abundance of sandstone and limestone rocks that we have for various landscaping projects, for pulling motors, just about anything really. I even pick up an odd job or two with them on weekends for friends and family.

I've always been a Farmall fan and the Cub has been a great little tractor for what we've used it for so far, but we've really needed a second larger tractor for a while now.

I'm a fan of all things old and have some classic cars as well as classic motorcycles that I restored as my hobby, that includes nearly all of my own engine work, so, I'm pretty handy with a wrench.

I researched long and hard before buying the Allis and was also looking at Farmall H series and M series. The deciding factor for me was that I really wanted something that was in the 35-45 hp range, wide front, with 3 point or easy to convert, that wasn't too tall to get through my woods which covers about 10 acres of my 16.

I bought the WD for sinking fence posts, logging our woods (mature Oak and Hickory with Elm, Maple, etc mixed in), maintaining our gravel drives (2 x 300' drives), some pasture mowing, and possibly for plowing a garden, moving a large flat bed hay wagon, and maintaining a horse riding arena. I've committed to the Allis, and I know, like all tractors, it has it's strengths and weakenesses, but I would like to know from your experience if anyone has any suggestions, operational tips, maintenance tips, suggestions where I can find original implements, etc.?

I very much enjoy reading the forums, the information here is just amazing. And the stories and color wars are entertaining as well. Thanks for any advice, suggestions or input regarding the WD. And yes, it is a WD and has not been upgraded to the WD-45.

Thanks,

T

Thanks for that tip. I will probably change all of the fluids when I first get her home just to be on the safe side.

T

Thanks so much for the leads on implements, I don't mind driving a ways if they're available. I'll give those guys a call. Thanks too for your opinions on the WD. It sounds as though I'll be very happy with my purchase. I'll be picking up the tractor Feb. 4th as that's the first weekend I have a free Saturday. I'm sure I'll have lots more questions for ya'll after I bring it home, but really appreciate the info on the filter.

Gene, I agree with you on the Cub, that's a great little tractor and it does a lot more than I thought it could, and it runs like a dang sewing machine. I plan on keeping her as my finish mower if nothin' else. Also, I am aware that the WD only has one way hydraulics, and I was just usin the term sink to mean dig the holes with an auger. The tractor actually comes with the original 3 bottom plow, so, I'm hopin' that will work for my plowing needs which aren't much. It doesn't have a 3 point yet, but before I bought the 3 point adapter kit, I was gonna see if I could find what I needed in the original snap coupler implements, which at this time is only disc harrow, rear blade and fence post auger. If those implements aren't readily available somewhere, then I'll just convert it to 3 point and go that route.

Old, thanks for lettin' me know about the parts. I'll keep that in mind.

I'm not sure what you mean by sinking fence posts. The WD does not have down pressure on it's hydraulic rams. The WD will handle most post hole augers.

3-point equipment, not original Allis, should be easy enough to come by in your area. Just do not purchase equipment that is to big for the tractor to handle. The WD is a 2 or maybe a 3 bottom plow tractor, so keep the equipment size down.

You should purchase an operators manual. The operators manual will have instructions for maintenance and more importantly, setting (adjustments) the hydraulic system.