Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1545857
Wartime forced company to get creative By Jim Palmer Jr., Castalia, Iowa Continued on Page 21 Many of you know or probably have heard me talk about the factory in La Porte Ind. The acquisition of this plant was probably one of the biggest advances for the Allis- Chalmers tractor division. The plant was part of the purchase of the Advance Rumely Corporation. Through this purchase, they not only obtained the La Porte factory but also the broad infrastructure of Advance Rumely's branch houses and dealer network. This was a huge boost for Allis-Chalmers. It soon became the home of the production line of the All- Crop Harvester, along with their hay/forage and corn-harvesting equipment. This story is about some interesting events of wartime and post-war history of the plant. World War II was a time like no one had ever seen. Much of the country's men in the workforce were overseas to defend our nation. Many women came to their place in the jobsites to keep production moving, and much of the production in the factories was going to the war effort. Another problem was supplies such as rubber were being rationed for the war effort. Many of the tractors were built with steel wheels. The All-Crop Model 60 combines were being built and equipped with steel wheels, as well. There is a special operator's manual for these units that states production started at Serial No. 86337. These units were interesting as they had steel wheels, but to help take the shock out, they made the axles spring-loaded to keep things a bit smoother. There is also a spring- loaded tensioner for the reel drive chain to help keep it tight, as I'm sure they would have had issues keeping the chain on with the rough movement of the steel wheels. I had been told by some farmers and dealers at that time that farmers were able to get rubber rims and tires for these machines because they were going to farm use and the tires were small compared to the large rear tractor tires. So needless to say, the steel wheels did not last long. I'm betting there are a few of these units with the steel wheels around yet, but the only one I know is sitting in my shed and was originally sold in the Stanley, Iowa, region. The owner wasn't taking the combine down the road much so saw no need in converting it to rubber. Demand for equipment was very strong, as production was limited during these years. When a piece of equipment did make it to a dealer's lot, it was quickly sold to the first person in line wanting it. I have heard a number of stories of dealers actually holding drawings on who could buy that particular piece that came in. Names were thrown in a hat and whoever's name was drawn was the lucky purchaser. I have also heard that names the dealer put in the hat were sometimes just a few certain names of their friends or family! Also during this time, many companies were testing and preparing for new pieces to come out when the war was over. A-C went as far as sending out a piece of literature stating "worth waiting for" and had pictures of the Roto-Baler and other pieces of hay equipment. At that time, the round baler wasn't even given its famous name yet and was known as the "one- man-pick-up baler." In the fine print on the back page, it was stated that none of the machines were available for purchase at that time and orders would go unfilled. I found this to be a bold move to basically give away your new ideas to the competition, but I bet it also built customer excitement, as well. When the war finally came to an end, many of the soldiers returned home. A lot of the farmers had money to spend. They wanted new equipment, and A-C had a lot to offer with the forage harvester, Roto-Baler and PTO rake, to name a few. Orders were coming in fast and the companies were scrambling to meet the demands of their customer base. A-C was getting materials anywhere they could. In late-1947 or early-1948, the La Porte plant got a hold of a large amount of war-surplus aluminum that was held back for airplane production. This aluminum was actually cheaper than sheet metal and was quickly put into production anywhere they could use it. The two most common places were the Roto-Baler and the 60 combine. The 1948-production Roto-Balers are known for having aluminum pick-up heads. From what I can tell, this seemed to work fairly well and made it take less effort for the operator to raise the head with the lift lever. I'm sure, after a while, there were some issues, but from stories I was told, there were a lot more issues with the 60 combines. Aluminum was placed in a lot of places around the machine, including the header sides, the separation area and 6 OLD ALLIS NEWS