SMD-TA#'s??

I got this # from a man selling a "SMD-TA"-74781.He said there is no tag,so this must be a cast #?If so what does it mean??Thanks

Dougie: If my dollars are going into the tractor, NO TAG is nothing more than a parts tractor. $1,000 tops. Without a tag, he can't give you a proper bill of sale, and without bill of sale you can't prove ownership.

That could fit a serial # for one. Don't think thats a cast # on one.

Thought of one more possibility if thats not the tractor serial #. The injection pumps have a serial # tag on them and the # could be from there. If it is the tractor serial # and everything is original the engine should have D264 and a engine serial # in the 8000 up to 10000 range. Block cast # should end with R3.

The others are right, Dougie. That number falls in the serial number range for SMTA's. Gassers and diesels were mixed together, so there are no distinctive #'s for diesel only. Could be part of a part number. I don't think its a casting code. That would be something like 1-28-Z. All (or at least most) should end in a Y or Z. I don't know if you are familiar with casting codes, but the first 2 #'s are the month and day. The letter is the year code. Y being 1953 and Z is 1954. Go look at the tractor. It should have predominately Y or Z castings as ALL MTA's were sold as model year 1954. My diesel has all but 3. Engine head is an H, wheel hubs are C's, meaning my original head has been replaced and my wheels are from a 450. Most common issue is guys trying to pass a naked 400 or 450D off as a SMD-TA, as those tractors are very similar without their respective sheet metal.

However, that brings up an interesting side discussion, Hugh, and I would like to hear what the others have to say on this. I have bought several tractors in the last 3-5 years. None for alot of money, but I never thought of this. I don't even know how to go about obtaining a bill of sale if I had too. I know you get one with the purchase of a new tractor, or a used one from a dealership, but never heard of anyone getting one from a private party sale. I've twisted some arms and gotten the seller to take a check. I've even offered to meet the seller at the bank if it was a concern of his. My check is bad, no tractor. I have no problem with this. I always figured if something happened I would at least have a cancelled check to prove the transaction occured. I also keep the ad or auction listing from every one I buy. I just figured that would be enough to prove I paid for the tractor and/or that I actually OWN the tractor.

When I sold the tangerine (a/c 7580) I just took the carbon paper out of my logbook so I would have 2 identical copies and wrote up a bill of sale stating that I sold (buyer's name) one Allis Chalmers 7580, with duals, SN xxxxx, with approximately xxxx hours, for so much, on this date, payment received, signed my name to it. Added my address. Any questions they can find me later, then if they question my ownership, I go to the neighbor I got it off of and the to bank where I had the loan.

A bill of sale just has to state that it was bought/sold and provide a paper trail that can be followed back past you should there ever be a question about the ownership.

Bob: Over the years serial tags have been removed for a number of reasons. Probably less than 5% of the tags removed were due to mechanical damage to the tag. Some have been removed as a result of the tractor being stolen at some point in it's history. A lot of them came off in the interest and credit crunch of the 1980s. The owner didn't want the banker or other creditor to find the tractor. I guess from the banker's perspective those tractors were stolen.

Still other tags were removed by folks who had been in possession of dad's tractor for years without a paper trail or a will. Dad passed on and all of a sudden the guy in possession of the tractor found out his siblings wanted an even split of everything down to the most lowly screwdriver that might have been dad's. Probably the guy in possession had more dollars tied up in upgrades than dad paid for the tractor new.

Then we have folks trying to avoid the tax man, sold the tractor for cash, didn't claim it as recovered inventory. We all know the tax man will spend $5. to recover a dollar.

In some respects all these situations except the damaged tag can be considered theft. In most cases, lawyers will advise these folks, recovering an old tractor just ain't worth the dollars needed to recover it. The fact remaines, if you don't have a valid title some passionate !@#$%^& can cause you much grief.

The bill of sale is a title, doesn't have to be elaborate, can be as simple as a cash receipt, saying you paid John Doe, $xxxx.oo for tractor serial and model number xxxxxx and xxx, dated and signed by John Doe. I've never encounterd problems with this, probably because I refuse to lay out money for any item that had a serial number when new without a bill of sale. I do know folks that have, and saw the effect of a tractor being grabbed by the law.