Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1547091
Above is a 1957 WD45 that dyno'ed 62 horsepower at the Orange Spectacular. Jim added cores to the radiator for cooling. It has a 3-inch main like a D17 and a head off an early D17. The radiator was moved forward three-fourths inch, plus other modifications. The D17 III LP above right came out of Mississippi. The Braunwarths used it on the farm for several years before selling it to Terry Muelken, then buying it back from his estate sale. At right is a 190XT in 200 sheet metal powered by an engine out of a 185. Jim said A-C was making really good tractors toward the end of the company's run, and they were on top of their hydraulics and transmissions. It was hard to see it go away, he said, and the Deutz-Allis transition was tough. Sales at the dealership suffered, but things seemed to straighten out under AGCO, and sales picked up. It's nice that some tractors are manufactured in nearby Jackson, Minn., he said. Farming in the area, just west of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, has changed dramatically, Jim said, and there aren't many dairy farms around anymore. Remaining farms keep getting larger, and so does their equipment. Electronics were just becoming a big deal in equipment when he retired, and so were draper heads. The tractor cab era seemed to be when big farming really took off in the race for bigger and better, and A-C's Hundred Series soared in popularity. Jim got involved in tractor pulling while turning wrenches on Orlan Schneewind's Orange Crusher Special 190 XT. He pulled in the Super Stock class. Eventually, they ran a dual-turbocharger setup, which meant many trips to well-known puller Noble Harrison's shop for parts. Schneewind was fairly successful, running mostly in Minnesota, until the increasing cost of pulling caused him to hang it up. Jim, along with his brothers, has been collecting A-C since he got out of the service, and they have bought and sold many tractors over the years. Jim does most of the mechanical work, but all three have a strong passion for the orange tractors and several projects going at a time. Often, they take parts from multiple parts tractors to get their projects running and usable. They drag home a lot from locals. They spent many hours cutting out trees to bring home an 8010, 200, D19 and Gleaner combine. Jim's 8010 came to him in rough shape and has been refurbished to be used a snowblower tractor for his son in Duluth, Minn. For the project, he used some engine parts from a 200 rescued from the same farm, and he recently finished installing a new cab kit. While a lot of work gets accomplished in the Braunwarths' small farm shops, for bigger projects, Jim has been able to use the shop at the Hesse farm near Chaska, where Dale Hesse helps with his projects. The Braunwarths confess to having a favorite in their collection – the WD45 – and they have one of every year and fuel type except the dual fuel version. That is the only one Jim said he's on the lookout for. 23 OLD ALLIS NEWS