Many of you probably have heard of AGCO’s decision to disown its Allis-Chalmers roots by dropping the AGCO (Allis Gleaner Co)brand and the persian orange.  Well, this post sums up my thoughts on that decision:

http://thegatheringoftheorange.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-tune.html#comments

As the year comes to an end, and the recession not withstanding, Yaz-AllCrop once again has done better thsi year than  the year prior. We added a lot of new parts this year, and we hope to make some new exciting announcements for next year. But I won’t count those chickens until they hatch.  One thing I can let you all know is that we have started on a major website overhaul so watch out for that.

Thanks  for all the support and encouragement in what has turned out to be a “interesting” year both personally and professionally….Here’s to 2010!  

Tom

Unlike most politicians, I try to keep my “campaign promises”.  I said last year I wanted to get the All-Crop 72 parts manual scanned and available for download, and I finally got it done. Acquiring a scan-worthy original helps…Click here to get to the download page.

The emergence of the organic farming and “local food” movements has helped to actually increase the number of small farms.  Some of these farms need harvesting equipment, but alas as the equipment manufacturers followed the “get big or get out” siren song, they abandoned the small scale harvesting business.  Its not that there was no demand for pull-type pickers and combine, just not enough to sustain their business model.   Todays small scale farmer who needs harvesting work is left with scavenging older small scale machines with limited parts availability (with a few notable exceptions wink*wink) , purchasing older larger equipment, or hiring out the work to custom operators.  All of these options have their pluses and minus’s but I do wonder how sustainable they are in the long term.  Ever so slowly there  are less and less small workable machines to choose from with even fewer parts availability. “Overkill” notwithstanding, the older, large self propelled machines can be money pits assuming the parts can be found and don’t cost  your firstborn.  These self propelled machines also have a LOT more to maintain than a pull-type. Think engines/clutches, etc. Getting a custom operator to do your 15 acres is nothing to be counted on ad infinitum. 

With that in mind I have been toying with the idea of rebuilding All-Crop harvesters, the model 72’s in particular.  I would think it would be more cost effective to build all new sheet metal and angle iron for the frame and seperator instead of tearing one down, blasting and putting back together. Salvaged would be the castings, grain tank, gear boxes; basically those parts that would be expensive to reproduce. I would think the rebuilt machine could go for $6-10K.  Question is, would there be any takers? I have heard “your crazy”, and perhaps I am.   But as time marches on the alternatives look less and less appealing for the small farmer when it comes to harvesting.  But heck, maybe I’m just fishing for an excuse to do one..What do you think?

On a happy note I have finally landed a job in town after 5 months of searching. Good to be back in the saddle again.

Summer is winding down, and its been a busy one! Some good things happened, some not so much.

It was great to make it to Dale Haymakers show in Paris IL and meet in the flesh customers and several folks from the allischalmers.com site. Dale put on a great show once again. During some slow time I will put up some video I captured. It was kinda cool for July, but I like it that way!  I also took  a trip to Chicago for  an activity my kids are involved in, and for the sad part had to go back home to bury my Dad.  I must have been out of town for 2/3 of the month.

As some may know, I am a victim of the recession and have been out of work since May.  Lord only knows if I will be staying here near Harrisburg or moving once again.  I am a computer programmer and my core skill set is JD Edwards and iseries/RPG.  If you know of any jobs I may qualify for please pass them on. Willing to go most anywere between the two coasts.

I have two new parts of the verge of availability; a replacement concave and the bottom piece of the unloading auger for the 25 bushel tanks. I also obtained a NOS set of decals for the 60/66/72 and will have my first label out soon. Everything should be on the website by  mid-September.

I now have a free download of the dealers parts catalog.

Also, I have put up a page of the first few aftermarket parts for the disk I now can get.  Will add more as I go forward.

I will not really get into the meat of this restore till after fall harvest as this is the busy time of the yeard for the All-Crop business

As I continue to learn about the Allis Roto-Baler, here is a factoid I learned from Jim Palmer…As opposed to the “Standard” model, the “Model 10″ Roto-baler featured a second conveyor mounted above the regular hay pickup.  When a twine was being wrapped, the hay was diverted to this upper conveyor. This was supposed to eliminate the need to stop during twine wrapping. Didnt work very good and many were converted back to the Standard arrangment. These Model 10’s were denoted with a “C” prefix in the serial number.

Talked to a aftermarket wholesaler; looks like he will be able to supply affordable bearing/spool parts for the disc…I await further details

Picture is an OEM bearing mount that I will need to get converted from the “spool” style bearings to the ball-bearing type. Will need 8 of these for my disc.  International Part Number 652581R91.  These are no longer available from Case-IH; so i looks like I will be having these fabbed. Doesnt look too complicated.

Part# 652581R91

I have created a page dealing with the refurb of my 1950’s era International Harvester 37 Disc

Ahh Paris!  The Arc de Triompe, The Louvre, the Romance!!  Ok, not THAT Paris, but Paris, Illinois, for the MUCH better “Orange Power of the Past” show held at the Allis Chalmers Museum July 18th and 19th.  

This show highlights Allis-Chalmers equipment working in the field and features one of the largest AC tractor collections around as owned by Dale Haymaker, founder of the musuem.

I will be treking out to the show with a cache of parts.  If anyone in the region or on the way from Harrisburg PA needs a hard to ship part, drop us a line and perhaps I can bring it there or drop it off. 

For more information visit http://allischalmersmuseum.com

One further note: July in general will have me on the road quite a bit. I realize this is when crops start coming in, so if you need a part for the harvest, best to place your order in June as it will be hard to fill orders in July.

Au Revoir!