.[.] who would be a senior executive in Allis-Chalmers's tractor business for many years. Merritt had worked in the sales and marketing of various brands of farm and construction equipment, most recently Holt, when Falk hired him away. Buescher,
who worked under Merritt, credited Merritt with turning around Allis-Chalmers's ailing farm equipment business and transforming it into the main profit center for the parent corporation.
He said, "Some say that General Falk pulled Harry Merritt into Milwaukee to liquidate the ailing tractor division. Others say that he was brought in to breathe new life into the moribund and unprofitable operation. Even if the first appraisal is correct, the second proved to be the way it turned out.
��After Merritt's arrival, the profit picture changed. The farm equipment business proved to be a financial lifesaver for the corporation.
��From next to nothing in 1927, Merritt saw the percentage of farm equipment business go to just short of sixty percent of corporate sales."
Also in 1926, Allis-Chalmers acquired
Nordyke Marmon & Company Nordyke Marmon & Company was an American manufacturer of flour mills and located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.
Early history
The company began in 1851 as the Nordyke, Ham & Company started in the manufacture of milling machinery in a s ...
of
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
, a maker of flour-milling equipment. In 1927, it acquired the Pittsburgh Transformer Company, a maker of electrical
transformer
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
s.
In 1928, Allis-Chalmers acquired the Monarch Tractor Company of
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
, thus adding a line of
crawler tractors.
p. 32
In 1929, it acquired the La Crosse Plow Works of
La Crosse, Wisconsin. The La Crosse Plow Works had a good-quality plow and various desirable implements, which now expanded the Allis-Chalmers implement line.
[.] Also in 1929, Harry Merritt was in California when the bright orange
California poppy
''Eschscholzia californica'', the California poppy, golden poppy, California sunlight or cup of gold, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae, native to the United States and Mexico. It is cultivated as an ornamental pla ...
blossoms inspired him to think about the use of bright colors in marketing. Brightly colored things that can be seen from far away had potential in farm equipment marketing. He soon changed the paint color of Allis-Chalmers's tractors to Persian Orange, the available paint color that he felt most closely resembled the California poppy's color. Thus began the tradition of orange Allis-Chalmers tractors. Various competitors would follow suit over the next decade, as
International Harvester
The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
switched to all-red (1936),
Minneapolis-Moline
Motec Industries was a large tractor and farm and industrial machinery producer based in Hopkins, Minnesota known for its Minneapolis-Moline tractor line. It was the product of a merger of three companies in 1929: Minneapolis Steel & Machinery (M ...
switched to Prairie Gold (late 1930s), and
Case switched to Flambeau Red (late 1930s).
John Deere
Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...
already had a distinctive color scheme with its bright green and yellow.
In 1928, Henry Ford canceled U.S. production of the
Fordson tractor
Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 1920 to ...
. This disrupted the business of many firms: farm equipment dealers who sold Fordsons and aftermarket equipment builders whose attachments were designed to mount on Fordsons (for example, the
Gleaner combines of the 1920s mounted on Fordsons, and many Fordson industrial tractors used aftermarket attachments). Many of these firms formed a conglomerate in 1928 called the United Tractor & Equipment corporation. United arranged a deal with Allis-Chalmers to build a tractor to substitute for the now-missing Fordson. Around 1930, the United conglomerate collapsed. The reasons that various authors have given have been disagreements between its investors, the onset of the Great Depression, and the fact that Ford Motor Company Ltd of England, which was continuing the Fordson line independently of the U.S. Ford company, began exporting new Fordsons to America. The United tractor became the Allis-Chalmers Model U.
1930s
The 1930s were a pivotal decade. Despite the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, Allis-Chalmers succeeded as demand for its machinery continued.
In 1931, it acquired
Advance-Rumely
The Advance-Rumely Company of La Porte, Indiana was an American pioneering producer of many types of agricultural machinery, most notably threshing machines and large tractors. Started in 1853 manufacturing threshers and later moved on to steam e ...
of
La Porte, Indiana,
mostly because Merritt wanted the company's network of 24 branch houses and about 2,500 dealers, which would greatly increase Allis-Chalmers's marketing and sales power in the farm equipment business.
[.] Also in 1931, the corporation's electrical equipment business expanded via acquisition when
Brown, Boveri & Cie
Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies.
It was founded in Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 1 ...
, in a financial pinch because of the Depression, sold its U.S. electrical operations to Allis-Chalmers.
p. 339
After 1931 Allis-Chalmers was the licensee for U.S. sales of European products of Brown, Boveri & Cie.
In 1932, Allis-Chalmers collaborated with
Firestone to introduce pneumatic rubber
tire
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...
s to tractors.
[.] The innovation quickly spread industry-wide, as (to many farmers' surprise) it improved
tractive force
As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion.
In railway engineering, the term tr ...
and
fuel economy in the range of 10% to 20%. Within only 5 years, pneumatic rubber tires had displaced
cleated steel wheels across roughly half of all tractors sold industry-wide. Cleated steel remained optional equipment into the 1940s. Also in 1932, Allis-Chalmers acquired the Ryan Manufacturing Company, which added various
grader
A grader, also commonly referred to as a road grader, motor grader, or simply a blade, is a form of heavy equipment with a long blade used to create a flat surface during grading. Although the earliest models were towed behind horses, and lat ...
models to its construction equipment line.
In 1933, Allis-Chalmers introduced its
Model WC, its first-generation
row-crop tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
, which would become its highest-selling tractor ever. In 1937, its lighter and more affordable second-generation row-crop, the
Model B, arrived, and also became a top seller. Its
All-Crop Harvester was the market leader in pull-type (tractor-drawn)
combine harvesters.
In October 1937, Allis-Chalmers was one of fourteen major electrical manufacturing companies that went to court to change the way
labor unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
excluded contractors and products in the building trades through the union use of the "Men and Means Clause". The action of Allis-Chalmers and others eventually resulted in the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
decision of June 18, 1945, that ended certain union practices that violated the
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author.
...
.
1940s
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
caused Allis-Chalmers, like most other manufacturing companies, to become extremely busy. As happened with many firms, its civilian product lines experienced a period of being "on hold", with emphasis on parts and service to keep existing machines running,
[.] but its war
materiel
Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context.
In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specif ...
production was pushed to the maximum of productivity and output. In the late 1930s through mid-1940s, Allis-Chalmers made machinery for
naval
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
ships, such as Liberty ship steam engines,
steam turbines, generators, and
electric motor
An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...
s;
artillery tractor
An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked.
Traction
There are two ...
s and tractors for other army use; electrical switches and controls; and other products. Allis-Chalmers was also one of many firms contracted to build equipment for the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
.
Its experience in mining and milling machinery made it a logical choice for uranium mining and processing equipment. Allis-Chalmers ranked 45th among United States corporations in the value of wartime military production contracts.
Immediately at the war's end, in 1945–1946, Allis-Chalmers endured a crippling 11-month
labor strike
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...
.
[.] Buescher was convinced that the corporation never entirely recovered from the effects of this strike.
[.] This seems debatable given the various successes that Allis-Chalmers did have during the next 30 years, including prosperity in the farm equipment business in the 1950s and 1960s.
But it certainly gave competitors a chance to grab market share.
After WWII some companies refused to sell equipment to Japanese farmers. Allis-Chalmers dealers did not hesitate to sell to these farmers so many farms to this day still have an Allis-Chalmers tractor in Oregon.
In 1948, the Model WC was improved with various new features and became the Model WD, another top seller. The WD was a milestone for the company. It included fully independent power take off, which was powered by a two clutch system.
[.] It also included power adjust rear wheels, which became an industry standard. Production of this model continued into 1953, with nearly 150,000 tractors produced.
[.]
1950s
The 1950s were a time of great demand for more
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
in farm tractors, as well as greater capability from their
hydraulic
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...
and electrical systems. It was also a decade of extensive
dieselization
Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, as o ...
, from railroad locomotives to farm tractors and construction equipment. In 1953, Allis-Chalmers acquired the
Buda Engine Company
Buda Engine was founded in 1881 by George Chalender in Buda, Illinois, to make equipment for railways. Later based in Harvey, Illinois, Buda from 1910 manufactured engines for industrial, truck, and marine applications. Early Buda engines were gas ...
of
Harvey, Illinois
Harvey is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 20,324 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
Harvey is bordered by the villages of Dixmoor, Illinois, Dixmoor and Riverdale, Illinois, R ...
. Allis wanted Buda for its line of
diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s,
[.][.] because its previous supplier,
Detroit Diesel, was a division of
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
, whose recent acquisition of the
Euclid
Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...
heavy equipment company now made it a competitor of Allis-Chalmers for construction equipment business.
The Buda-Lanova models were re-christened the "Allis-Chalmers Diesel" engine line. Diesel engineers were busy during the following years updating
and expanding the line.
In 1952, the company acquired Laplant-Choate, which added various models of
scrapers to its construction equipment line.
In 1953, the WD-45 was introduced, replacing the WD. The motor was increased to 226 cubic inches, giving it 30 horsepower on the drawbar at the Nebraska Tests. This was almost double the horsepower of the WD. A new Allis chalmers designed Snap- Coupler hitch was used.
It allowed the operator to hook up to an implement from the seat of the tractor. A Buda diesel-powered WD-45 was introduced in 1955. This series stayed in production until the unveiling of the D-series in 1957.
In 1955, the company acquired
Gleaner Manufacturing Company
The Gleaner Manufacturing Company (aka: Gleaner Combine Harvester Corp.) is an American manufacturer of combine harvesters. Gleaner (or Gleaner Baldwin) has been a popular brand of combine harvester particularly in the Midwestern United States f ...
, which was an important move for its combine harvester business. Allis was the market leader in pull-type (tractor-drawn) combines, with its
All-Crop Harvester line. But acquiring Gleaner meant that it would now also be a leader in self-propelled machines, and it would own two of the leading brands in combines. The Gleaner line augmented (and later superseded) the All-Crop Harvester line, and for several years Gleaner's profits made up nearly all of Allis-Chalmers' profit.
[.] Gleaners continued to be manufactured at the same factory, in
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...
, after the acquisition.
In 1957, the
Allis-Chalmers D Series of tractors was introduced. It enjoyed great success over the next decade.
In 1959, Allis-Chalmers acquired the French company Vendeuvre. Also in 1959, it acquired Tractomotive Corporation of
Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a north shore suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion extending into Cook County, Illinois. The population was 19,196 at the 2020 census. Deerfield is home to the headquarters of Walgreens Bo ...
, which it had been partnering with as an auxiliary equipment supplier for at least a decade.
In Haycraft's history of the construction equipment business (2000),
he expressed the view that Allis-Chalmers relied too heavily for too long on partnering with auxiliary equipment suppliers, and acquiring them, instead of investing in in-house product development.
In his view, this strategy limited the company's success in this business, and it eventually had to spend the development dollars anyway.
Buescher's comments about the Buda acquisition and the need for subsequent improvement of its designs seem to corroborate this view.
However, the topic is multivariate and complex; elsewhere in his memoir,
[.] Buescher presents a viewpoint in which investing in research and product development is an expensive move that often does not pay off for the innovator and mostly benefits competitor clones.
1960s and 1970s
In 1960, the U.S. government uncovered an attempt to form a
cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...
in the heavy electric equipment industry. It charged 13 companies, including the largest in the industry (
Westinghouse,
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, and Allis-Chalmers), with
price fixing
Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given ...
and
bid rigging
Bid rigging is a fraudulent scheme in procurement auctions resulting in non-competitive bids and can be performed by corrupt officials, by firms in an orchestrated act of collusion, or between officials and firms. This form of collusion is illegal ...
.
Most feigned innocence, but Allis-Chalmers pleaded guilty. Although one motive for the forming of cartels is so that amply profitable firms can try to become obscenely profitable, it did not apply in this instance, according to Buescher; rather, his view of the attempt at a heavy-electrical cartel was that it was a desperate (and foolish) attempt
to turn red ink to black ink among fierce competition.
[.]
The D series continued to be successful in the 1960s. The factory-installed turbocharger on the D19 was the first in the industry. It was soon followed by the 190 and the 190 XT, which was a direct competitor for the
John Deere Model 4020
The John Deere 4020 was an agricultural tractor model made by John Deere from 1964 to 1972. It replaced the nearly identical 4010 that had been introduced with Deere's New Generation series in 1960 and offered a number of improvements over the ...
with 98 horsepower (factory rating).
In 1965, Allis-Chalmers acquired
Simplicity
Simplicity is the state or quality of being simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert A. Simon suggests, something is simple or complex depending on the way we ...
for its line of lawn and garden equipment. Also in that year, the nuclear reactor
SAFARI-1
SAFARI-1 is a 20 MW light water-cooled, beryllium reflected, pool-type research reactor, initially used for high level nuclear physics research programmes and was commissioned in 1965.
The reactor is owned and operated by South African Nuclear En ...
, a research reactor built by Allis-Chalmers, went into operation.
In the 1960s, the farm equipment, construction equipment, and heavy electrical industries were not as profitable for Allis-Chalmers as they had been in the 1930s through 1950s. Reasonable prosperity continued in the farm equipment line, but the economics of all the industries shifted toward greater uncertainty and brittler success for firms that didn't become number one or two in a field. Allis-Chalmers was often number three or four, as Deere and International Harvester led in farm machinery, Caterpillar and Case led in construction, and Westinghouse and General Electric led in heavy electric markets. In the late 1960s, a trend of conglomeration flared, as mega-conglomerates like
Ling-Temco-Vought
Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) was a large American conglomerate which existed from 1961 to 2000. At its peak, it was involved in aerospace, airlines, electronics, steel manufacturing, sporting goods, meat packing, car rentals, and pharmaceuticals, amo ...
,
Gulf+Western
Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. Originally, the company focused on manufacturing and resource extraction. Beginning in 1966, and continuing throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the company ...
, and
White Consolidated Industries
The White Sewing Machine Company was a sewing machine company founded in 1858 in Templeton, Massachusetts, by Thomas H. White and based in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1866.
History
Founded as the White Manufacturing Company it took the White S ...
went on buying sprees. Several takeover attempts by those firms were made on Allis-Chalmers. It was during the same era and business climate that
Tenneco
Tenneco (formerly Tenneco Automotive and originally Tennessee Gas Transmission Company) is an American automotive components original equipment manufacturer and an aftermarket ride control and emissions products manufacturer. It is a Fortune 5 ...
acquired Case.
In 1960, Allis-Chalmers built the first grate-kiln ore pellet plant at the Humboldt mine in Michigan. The company eventually built about 50 such plants.
In 1974, Allis-Chalmers's construction equipment business was reorganized into a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
with
Fiat SpA
Fiat S.p.A., or ''Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino'' (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin), was an Italian holding company whose original and core activities were in the automotive industry, and that was succeeded by Fiat Chrysler Automobi ...
,
[.] which bought a 65% majority stake at the outset.
The new company was called
Fiat-Allis
Fiatallis (1983 to early 2000s, Fiat-Allis 1974 to 1982), was a brand of heavy equipment (also called construction equipment, earthmoving equipment, or engineering vehicles), such as loaders, bulldozers, backhoes, scrapers, and graders. It beg ...
.
In May 1975, the company closed its 20-acre, 78-year-old
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
North Side factory that employed close to 1,100 full-time and produced both distribution and instrument control transformers.
In 1977, to compete in the recently expanding market segment of compact diesel utility tractors (such as the
Kubota
Kubota machine
is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Osaka. It was established in 1890. The corporation produces many products including tractors and other agricultural machinery, construction equipment, engines, vending machines, p ...
line and the Ford 1000 and 1600 built by
Shibaura
is a district of Minato ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The district is located between the eastern side of the Yamanote Line train and Tokyo Bay. Shibaura consists mostly of artificial islands created by the excavation of industrial canals in t ...
), Allis-Chalmers began importing Hinomoto tractors with Toyosha diesel engines from Japan. They were
rebadged
In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a man ...
with the Allis-Chalmers brand for U.S. sales.
In 1978, a joint venture with
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
, Siemens-Allis, was formed, supplying electrical control equipment.
1980s and 1990s
The company began to struggle in the 1980s in a climate of rapid economic change. It was forced amid financial struggles to sell major business lines.
In 1983, Allis-Chalmers sold Simplicity, the lawn and garden equipment division, to the division's management.
1985 was a year of great dissolution for Allis-Chalmers—the year when it folded three of its main business lines:
* The Fiat-Allis joint venture in construction equipment, over which the firms' managements had long since had a falling-out, ended when Fiat bought out Allis's remaining minority stake. It renamed the company Fiatallis.
[.]
* The Allis-Chalmers farm equipment business line ended when Allis sold it to K-H-D (
Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz
KHD Humboldt Wedag is an engineering company that supplies machinery, parts, and services, including process engineering and project management to the global cement industry. The holding company KHD Humboldt Wedag International AG, based in Colo ...
,
Deutz AG
Deutz AG is a German internal combustion engine manufacturer, based in Porz, Cologne, Germany.
History
The company was founded by Nicolaus Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine, and his partner Eugen Langen on 31 ...
) of Germany, at the time the owner of
Deutz-Fahr
Deutz-Fahr () is a German agricultural machinery manufacturer. It was established in 1968 after the acquisition of the majority of share capital in FAHR, a leading company already producing agricultural equipment in the previous century, ...
. K-H-D renamed the business as
Deutz-Allis
Deutz-Allis was formed when Deutz-Fahr of Germany, part of KHD, purchased the agricultural assets of the Allis-Chalmers corporation in 1985.
Deutz-Allis was eventually sold to the Allis-Gleaner Corporation, or AGCO), in 1990. Deutz-Allis tract ...
and discarded the Allis Chalmers 8000 Series tractors and Persian Orange branding in favor of spring green tractors built by
White Farm Equipment
White Farm Equipment is a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, now discontinued except for planters, and owned by AGCO.
History
In 1960, the White Motor Company entered the agriculture market with the purchase of the Oliver Farm Equipment ...
with Deutz air cooled engines.
* The Siemens-Allis joint venture in electrical controls ended when Siemens bought out Allis's remaining minority stake. Siemens then blended the company into the Siemens Energy and Automation division.
In 1988, Allis-Chalmers sold its American Air Filter filtration business (with 27 production facilities internationally and sales into 100-plus countries) for approximately $225 million to SnyderGeneral Corporation of Dallas, a leading global air quality control firm.
In 1990, Deutz-Allis was sold to its management and became Allis-Gleaner Corporation (
AGCO). Tractors began selling under the AGCO-Allis name and were again painted Persian Orange. The AGCO brand of orange tractors was produced until 2011 when AGCO announced that it was phasing out the brand.
In 1998, what remained of the Allis-Chalmers manufacturing businesses were
divested
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for financial, ethical, or political objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm. A divestment is the opposite of an investment. Divestiture is a ...
, and in January 1999, the company officially closed its Milwaukee offices. The remaining service businesses became
Allis-Chalmers Energy in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
.
Brand reuse, 2000 to present
In August 2008,
Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of gasoline engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large facili ...
announced that it would sell lawn tractors under the Allis-Chalmers brand name.
Former sites
* Corporate offices,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
* Tractor plant,
West Allis, Wisconsin
West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 census.
History
The name West Allis derives from Edward P. Allis, ...
* Gleaner combine plant,
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...
(site inherited from Gleaner Manufacturing Company)
* Tractor plant,
La Porte, Indiana (site inherited from Advance-Rumely)
* Implement plant,
La Crosse, Wisconsin (site inherited from La Crosse Plow Works)
* Tractor plant,
Gadsden, Alabama
Gadsden is a city in and the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan ...
* Heavy equipment plant in
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
(site inherited from the Monarch Tractor Company acquisition)
* Heavy equipment plant in
Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a north shore suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion extending into Cook County, Illinois. The population was 19,196 at the 2020 census. Deerfield is home to the headquarters of Walgreens Bo ...
(site inherited from the Tractomotive Corporation acquisition)
* Tractor plant in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...
* Various parts factories in Chicago
* Others
Agricultural machinery
Allis-Chalmers offered a complete line of agricultural machinery, from tillage and harvesting to tractors.
Tractor models
In 1959, a team led by Harry Ihrig built a 15kW
fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
tractor for Allis-Chalmers which was demonstrated across the US at state fairs. This was the first fuel-cell-powered vehicle. Potassium hydroxide served as the electrolyte.
The original AC fuel cell tractor is currently on display at the
Smithsonian.
[
Below is a gallery showcasing some of the models that Allis-Chalmers produced throughout its history, most of which are painted in their distinctive orange paint.
File:Allis-Chalmers 20-35.jpg, A-C Model 20-35
File:Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers Model B tractor next to a Fordson.jpg, A-C Model B
File:Allis Chalmers G.jpg, A-C Model G
File:Allis-Chalmers WC 1939.jpg, 1939 A-C Model WC
File:Allis-Chalmers WD.jpg, A-C Model WD
File:Allis-Chalmers WD45.jpg, A-C Model WD45
File:Allis-Chalmers Model D15.jpg, A-C Model D15
File:Allis-Chalmers D17-12 foot spring-tooth drag harrow.jpg, A-C Model D17 pulling a 12' Spring-Tooth Harrow
File:Allis-Chalmers D21 series II tractor.jpg, A-C Model D21 Series II
File:Allis-Chalmers 160.JPG, A-C Model 160
File:Allis-Chalmers 7060 in Wisconsin.jpg, A-C Model 7060 in Wisconsin
File:AC 4W-305 4WD.jpg, A-C model 4W-305, the most powerful Ag tractor built by the company
]
Balers
The first model introduced in 1949 was called the "Roto-Baler" and the fore-runner of modern round balers, albeit with much smaller bales. The Roto-Baler was built until the 1960s or 1970s. Allis Chalmers also built many small square baler models.
Combine Harvesters
Allis-Chalmers originally developed their pull-type "all-crop harvester" as their solution for growers to harvest their crops beginning in 1933. In 1955, Allis-Chalmers acquired the Gleaner Baldwin/Gleaner Manufacturing Company
The Gleaner Manufacturing Company (aka: Gleaner Combine Harvester Corp.) is an American manufacturer of combine harvesters. Gleaner (or Gleaner Baldwin) has been a popular brand of combine harvester particularly in the Midwestern United States f ...
and its line of self-propelled combine harvesters.
File:1958 Allis-Chelmers Model 60 Combine (27764405700).jpg, 1958 A-C Model "60" All-Crop Harvester
File:1965 Gleaner E harvester.JPG, 1965 Gleaner Model "E" Combine
File:GLEANER L2.JPG, Gleaner Model "L2"
Industrial Construction Equipment
The company produced several lines of earth-moving and construction equipment ranging from:
* Road graders
* Tracked bulldozers
* Tracked loaders
* Forklifts
* Others
File:Allis-Chalmers bulldozer.JPG, A-C model HD20 with Hydraulic bulldozer blade
File:Allis Chalmers Speed Patrol W in het Museum voor Nostalgie en Techniek.JPG, A-C model W road grader
File:Bulldozer P1340395.jpg, A-C model HD20 crawler tractor with cable-actuated bulldozer blade
File:Orange Allis-Chalmers greader with Tractoloader pic2.JPG, A-C road grader
Industrial and power house equipment
Allis Chalmers marketed a full line of Industrial and Power House equipment, including turbo generators and medium voltage switchgear. In the 1920s through the 1960s AC Power House and Industrial equipment was competitive with industry giants like General Electric and Westinghouse. As early as the 1920s AC was manufacturing multi MVA hydro-electric generators and turbines, many of which remain in service today (Louisville Gas & Electric Ohio Falls units 1–8, 8MW low head turbines and Kentucky Utilities Dix Dam units 1–3, 11MVA 300 RPM generators).
Allis Chalmers manufactured several lines of medium voltage switchgear, such as the HF and MA lines. The HF line competed with the General Electric "AM" Magneblast line of vertical-lift medium-voltage switchgear. The MA line was a competitor of the ITE "HK" line of horizontal-racking medium-voltage switchgear.
Allis-Chalmers produced a line of substation transformers, voltage regulators, and distribution transformers.
Allis Chalmers, during the period 1930–1965 and beyond, manufactured and marketed an extensive line of ore crushing equipment for the mining industry
In 1965, Allis-Chalmers built "Big Allis
Ravenswood Generating Station is a 2,480 megawatt power plant in Long Island City in Queens, New York City, New York. It is owned and operated by LS Power/Helix Energy Solutions Group. The plant is fueled primarily by fuel oil (no. 6) and natura ...
," or Ravenswood No. 3, the biggest generator in New York. It is located in Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, and has an output of 1000 MW. It is operational today.
File:Allis-Chalmers electric generator DCAPC August 2008 show.jpg, An earlier version of Allis-Chalmers electric generator
File:Allis Chalmers inserting steam turbine blades.jpg, A-C Made Steam Generator Turbines being assembled
File:Close up view of 1929 Allis-Chalmers steam turbine with engine housing removed. - Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron, First Avenue North Viaduct at Thirty-second Street, Birmingham, HAER ALA,37-BIRM,4-121.tif, A-C Steam Turbine with engine housing removed, 1929
File:Interior of powerhouse with fourth generating unit installed, February 26, 1925 (SPWS 79).jpg, A-C power generator at White River Power Plant, Washington State, 1925
Lawn and outdoor machinery
In the late 1960s and early 1970s AC expanded into lawn and out-door equipment.
All-terrain vehicles
AC made a line of 6-wheeled Amphibious ATV
An amphibious all-terrain vehicle, amphibious ATV, (or AATV) is a small, all-wheel drive, all-terrain amphibious vehicle, used for recreation, farm-, hunting, utility or industry tasks, by enthusiasts and professionals worldwide. They are legall ...
's called the "Terra Tiger
Terra may often refer to:
* Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess
* An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet
Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy
* Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...
".
Fuel cell golf carts
In 1965, Allis-Chalmers built hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
fueled fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
golf cart
A golf cart (alternatively known as a golf buggy or golf car) is a small motorized vehicle designed originally to carry two golfers and their golf clubs around a golf course with less effort than walking. Over time, variants were introduced ...
s.
Military machinery
* M1 tractor medium model HD7W
* M1 tractor heavy model HD10W
* M4 Tractor
The M4 High-Speed Tractor for World War II was an artillery tractor used by the US Army from 1943.
Design and development
The M4 High Speed Tractor used M4 Sherman tracks, roadwheels and drive sprocket.
One variant was designed to tow the 90 mm ...
high speed 18-ton artillery tractor
An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked.
Traction
There are two ...
manufactured from 1943
* M6 Tractor
The M6 High-Speed Tractor was an artillery tractor used by the US Army during World War II.
Manufactured by Allis-Chalmers, it was used to tow heavy artillery pieces, such as the 8-inch Gun M1 and 240 mm howitzer M1.
Its G-number was (G-184) ...
high speed 38-ton (artillery tractor)
* M7 Snow Tractor
The Allis-Chalmers M7 snow tractor was designed for use by the U.S. Army Air Corps as a rescue vehicle in remote northern bases.
History
The M7 (T26E4) snow tractor was standardized in August 1943, and was downgraded to Limited standard in Novem ...
* M19 snow trailer
The Allis-Chalmers M7 snow tractor was designed for use by the U.S. Army Air Corps as a rescue vehicle in remote northern bases.
History
The M7 (T26E4) snow tractor was standardized in August 1943, and was downgraded to Limited standard in Novem ...
, 1-ton
* M50 Ontos
Ontos, officially the Rifle, Multiple 106 mm, Self-propelled, M50, was a U.S. light armored tracked anti-tank vehicle developed in the 1950s.
It mounted six 106 mm manually loaded M40 recoilless rifles as its main armament, which could ...
– a light anti-tank vehicle, 297 units produced from 1955 to 1957
* Steam turbines, Allis Chalmers built the steam turbines which powered the USS Coontz DLG-9 (Later DDG-40) and some other ships of the same class used by the United States Navy.
File:Allis-Chalmers M4 high speed tracktor at Maaldrift pic2.JPG, Allis-Chalmers M4 High Speed
File:Allis Chalmers M 6 High Speed Tractor from Wo-II.jpg, Allis-Chalmers M6 High-Speed Tractor
File:Allis Chalmers HD - 15A produced since 1945.jpg, A-C Model HD-15A Bulldozer
Allis-Chalmers Energy
Allis-Chalmers Energy is a Houston-based multi-faceted oilfield services company. Allis-Chalmers provides services and equipment to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, both domestically and internationally.
See also
* List of Allis-Chalmers tractors
* List of Allis-Chalmers engines
* AGCO (holder of former Deutz-Allis assets)
* CNH Global
CNH Industrial N.V. is an Italian-American multinational corporation with global headquarters in Basildon, United Kingdom, but controlled and mostly owned by the multinational investment company Exor, which in turn is controlled by the Agnelli ...
(holder of former Fiat-Allis assets)
* Siemens AG
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...
(holder of former Siemens-Allis assets)
* Timeline of hydrogen technologies
This is a timeline of the history of hydrogen technology.
Timeline
16th century
* c. 1520 – First recorded observation of hydrogen by Paracelsus through dissolution of metals (iron, zinc, and tin) in sulfuric acid.
17th century
* 1625 – F ...
* Gleaner (harvester)
The Gleaner Manufacturing Company (aka: Gleaner Combine Harvester Corp.) is an American manufacturer of combine harvesters. Gleaner (or Gleaner Baldwin) has been a popular brand of combine harvester particularly in the Midwestern United States f ...
Serial number locations
* Allis-Chalmers J36
The de Havilland Goblin, originally designated as the Halford H-1, is an early turbojet engine designed by Frank Halford and built by de Havilland. The Goblin was the second British jet engine to fly, after Whittle's Power Jets W.1, and the ...
References
Cited sources
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Further reading
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External links
Allis-Chalmers Lawn & Garden Tractors
{{Authority control
Lawn and garden tractors
History of Wisconsin
Tractor manufacturers of the United States
Manufacturing companies based in Milwaukee
American companies established in 1901
Manufacturing companies established in 1901
1901 establishments in Wisconsin