Brought My Allis Chalmers 180 Home, Pics

Here are some pics of my Allis Chalmers 180 that I drug up. It has a bad paint job and a few minor leaks. Other than needing a new seat and fluids/filters changed, it runs out great! Got it cheap for a 65 HP tractor.

I dead headed 340 miles to get to it in Poolville, TX. Met my cousin close to the tractor, picked her up and went to get it. Loaded up and headed back into town for lunch and visiting. Said goodbye to my cousin and left out of Weatherford, TX and brought it back to home. There were some mean hills on I-20.

The little 5.3L maintained 60-65 mph most of the trip. Occasionally 45-55 mph in 2nd gear on the mean hills in North East Texas. We survived a 700 mile trip and the 180 arrived safe.

I stopped at the CAT scales in Shreveport both ways. We weighed 10,160 lb truck/trailer/gear and 17,440 lb loaded. The Allis Chalmers 180 weighed about 7300 lb. The 1/2 ton struck again. I love this little truck.

Loaded and ready to leave Poolville, TX



Made it back to the farm.



Enjoy,

CT

First, I'm not attacking, only learning. Why do you load it so truck heavy? The centerline of the tractor rear axle is ahead of your foremost trailer axle. I'm a 1/2 guy too but I've only got a bumper pull 18'. When I hauled a 6000lb tractor on it I put "most" of the weight on the trailer and just enough to squat the truck and get proper tounge weight. The only thing that scares me about weights on 1/2 tons is the rear axle bearings. Just picking for your opinion.

Looks heavy on the truck to me also. I wonder about the tires. I used to load a trailer heavy before I got a bigger one and the tire sidewalls would come apart after two seasons.

I know it looks heavy on the truck but it is not as heavy as it appears. The tractor tires are loaded (fluid). I moved the tractor around on the trailer a bit before I parked it there. I could have backed it up maybe 1 ft, any more would have put too much on the trailer.

I have 10 ply tires on the truck and 8 ply tires on the trailer. Here is the break down of the scale tickets. Empty is truck/trailer/gear/2 ppl.

Steer Axle. 3440 empty, 3420 loaded. -20 lbs on Steer axle.
Dirve Axle. 3440 empty, 4880 loaded. +1440 on Drive axle.
Trailer Axles 3280 empty, 9140 loaded. +5860 on Trailer axles.

Honestly that position was about perfect for ride control. I have loaded them mostly on the trailer and the truck feels "squirrelly" because there is not enough tongue weight. Goose neck and bumper pulls are apples an oranges though. Loaded like I did would crush a 1/2 ton on a bumper pull. The goose ball it ahead of the rear axle 4" not behind it 2'+ this distributes the weight over the whole truck frame.

As for the semi float axle bearings, yes I thought about that. 1/2 ton axles when they break are known to come apart wheel and all. Full floaters like the 14 bolt will not. I have a good guardian angle.

Enjoy,
CT

Thanks for the pictures...This is just me but I probably would have
had the rear tractor wheels almost centered between the two trailer
axles...What kind of mileage did you get loaded?

Well, mileage; what's mileage when towing? :shock: I got 10-12 mpg dead head in the hills. I was not driving aggressive, letting it eat what it wanted. Loaded the worse I got was 7.9 mpg, best was about 9.5 mpg. On flat land I can pull similar weight at 55-60 mph and get 11 mpg.

CT

Just a really dumb question. Does GM spec anywhere that a 1/2 ton truck is capable of having a gooseneck hitch attached to 1/2 ton frame, suspension, axle and brakes ?

Unsure of that, but several companies build GN hitches for specific 1/2 ton trucks. I assume that if B&W makes a hitch just for 1/2 ton trucks, it is ok. My trailer brakes are just as good as the truck brakes. It stops surprisingly well for what it is.

CT

Just to satisfy my curiosity, where are you located? Alabama?

Northwest Louisiana. Why Alabama? My modern view details have my location. Thanks CLTX.

CT

Oh my God, we are all going to die. I am scared just looking at your truck. Seriously, it looks ok to me. I like to load the truck heavy because it rides and handles better. I have seen trucks squatted down a lot more leaving Menards.

Since you weighed everything, I am sure you were aware of the truck and trailer limitations. I bet there are thousands of fifth wheel campers going down the road on the same type of truck with far heavier weights. 5000 lbs on the rear axle isn't terrible, but I wouldn't go off roading with it with that much weight.

As far as tires, My 95 Suburban has E rated 16" tires because they are the cheapest and easiest to get. It is hard to find light duty 16" tires anymore. Tires probably weren't your problem.

ive got to say we have 1999 chevy 1500 z71 with 242000 and we have pulled it guts out with a 25 foot gooseneck and a 16 foot bumper hitch and still runs good. that little 5.3 will pull as much as anything else ive ever been around. I would take anything we own on a trailer with this truck and go any where with it. cant say so much for the 89 7.3 we had. but saddly the frame pulled its self apart just behind the last cross member and i had to weld it together but still pulls good!

Nice looking tractor Charles. Post on the Allis board if you have questions. Gerard

OK, 700 mile round trip. I was reading it wrong, thinking you hauled the tractor 700 miles. Your truck sits about the same as my F-250 with my RV hooked up, which puts close to 1500 lbs on the truck. Nice looking tractor, by the way.