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Allis-Chalmers was a
U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
manufacturer of
machinery A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolec ...
for various industries. Its business lines included agricultural equipment,
construction equipment Heavy equipment, heavy machinery, earthmovers, construction vehicles, or construction equipment, refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large con ...
, power generation and
power transmission Power transmission is the movement of energy from its place of generation to a location where it is applied to perform useful Mechanical work, work. Power (physics), Power is defined formally as units of energy per unit time. In SI units: :\text ...
equipment, and machinery for use in industrial settings such as
factories A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...
, flour mills,
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
s, textile mills,
steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...
s, refineries, mines, and ore mills. The first Allis-Chalmers Company was formed in 1901 as an amalgamation of the Edward P. Allis Company (
steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...
s and mill equipment), Fraser & Chalmers (mining and ore milling equipment), the Gates Iron Works (rock and cement milling equipment), and the industrial business line of the
Dickson Manufacturing Company Dickson Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of boilers, blast furnaces and steam locomotive, steam engines used in various industries but most known in railway steam locomotives. The company also designed and constructed steam powe ...
(engines and compressors). It was reorganized in 1912 as the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company. During the next 70 years its industrial machinery filled countless mills, mines, and factories around the world, and its brand gained fame among consumers mostly from its farm equipment business's orange
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 (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...
s and silver
combine harvester The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of ...
s. In the 1980s and 1990s, a series of divestitures transformed the firm and eventually dissolved it. Its successors are Allis-Chalmers Energy and
AGCO AGCO Corporation is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1990. AGCO designs, produces and sells tractors, combines, foragers, hay tools, self-propelled sprayers, ...
.


History


Overview

Author-photographer Randy Leffingwell (1993). aptly summarized the firm's origins and character. He observed that it "grew by acquiring and consolidating the
innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...
s" of various smaller firms and building upon them; and he continued that " Metal work and machinery were the common background.
Financial Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...
successes and failures brought them together." Former marketing executive Walter M. Buescher (1991) said that Allis-Chalmers "was a conglomerate before the word was coined.". Whether or not it is literally true that Allis-Chalmers predated the
sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...
of "conglomerate" meaning a widely diversified parent corporation, Buescher's point is valid: Allis-Chalmers, despite its common theme of machinery, was an amalgamation of disparate business lines, each with a unique marketplace, beginning in an era when consolidations within industries were fashionable but those ''across'' industries were not yet common.


1800s to 1901

Edward P. Allis was an entrepreneur who in 1860 bought a bankrupt firm at a sheriff's auction, the Reliance Works of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
, which had been owned by James Decker and Charles Seville. Decker & Seville were millwrights who made equipment for flour milling. Under Allis's management, the firm was reinvigorated and "began producing steam engines and other mill equipment just at the time that many sawmills and flour mills were converting to steam power." Although the financial panic of 1873 "caught Edward Allis overextended" and forced him into bankruptcy, "his own reputation saved him and reorganization came quickly," forming the Edward P. Allis Company. Leffingwell said, "He set out to hire known experts: George Hinkley, who perfected the
band saw A bandsaw (also written band saw) is a power saw with a long, sharp blade consisting of a continuous band of toothed metal stretched between two or more wheels to cut material. They are used principally in woodworking, metalworking, and lumb ...
; William Gray, who revolutionized the flour-milling process through roller milling; and Edwin Reynolds, who ran the Corliss Steam Engine works." Allis died in 1889, but under his sons (Charles Allis and William Allis) and the other principals, the firm continued to prosper, and by 1900 it had grown to become one of America's largest steam engine builders.. Thomas Chalmers was a Scottish immigrant to America who came to the U.S. about 1842. By 1844 he was at
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and had found work with P.W. Gates, whose
foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
and
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
ing shops produced
plows A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...
,
wagon A wagon (or waggon) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by Working animal#Draft animals, draft animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are i ...
s, and flour-milling equipment. The Gates firm "built the first steam-operated sawmill in the country at a time when Chicago was the leading producer of milled
lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
in the country." In 1872, Thomas Chalmers founded the Fraser & Chalmers firm to manufacture mining machinery,
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...
s, and
pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...
s. By 1880 steam engines were part of the product line and by 1890, the firm had become one of the world's largest manufacturers of mining equipment. Thomas Chalmers's son, William James Chalmers, was president of the company from circa 1890 to 1901. Meanwhile, the Gates Iron Works, with Chalmers family involvement, had become a manufacturer of crushers, pulverizers, and other rock and cement milling equipment. Another Scottish immigrant family, the Dickson family, came to Canada and the U.S. in the 1830s. By 1852, they had organized a small machine shop and foundry (Dickson & Company) in
Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...
. In 1856 Thomas Dickson became its president, and in 1862 the firm incorporated as the
Dickson Manufacturing Company Dickson Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of boilers, blast furnaces and steam locomotive, steam engines used in various industries but most known in railway steam locomotives. The company also designed and constructed steam powe ...
. By 1900 they were building
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...
s,
steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...
s,
locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...
s,
internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...
s, blowers, and air compressors. By 1901 the principals of the Edward P. Allis, Fraser & Chalmers, and Gates firms had decided to merge their companies. Edwin Reynolds believed Allis could control the industrial engine business. In May 1901 the Allis-Chalmers Company was formed. It acquired Dickson's industrial engine business. Dickson's locomotive business was rolled into the new locomotive consolidation, the
American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...
(ALCO).


1901–1911

The
managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of the new company was Charles Allis, his brother William was
chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...
, and William J. Chalmers was deputy managing director. Shortly after the merger was completed, a new factory was built in an area west of Milwaukee that was then known as North Greenfield. In 1902, with this new factory, the locale was renamed
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 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Wis ...
. With the combining of the constituent firms, Allis-Chalmers offered a wide array of pyrometallurgic equipment, such as
blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...
s and converters for
roasting Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelizat ...
,
smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...
, and
refining Refining is the process of purification of a (1) substance or a (2) form. The term is usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, but which is more useful in its pure form. For instance, most types of natural petroleum w ...
; ore milling equipment, various kinds of crushers and pulverizers, including
stamp mill A stamp mill (or stamp battery or stamping mill) is a type of Mill (grinding), mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than Mill (grinding), grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking materia ...
s, roller mills, ball mills, conical mills, rod mills, and jigging mills; cyanidation mills and other concentration mills; hoisting engines; cars, including skip cars, slag cars, and general mine cars; briquetting plants; and the pumps, tanks, boilers, compressors,
hydraulic accumulator A hydraulic accumulator is a pressure storage reservoir in which an Incompressible flow, incompressible hydraulic fluid is held under pressure that is applied by an external Prime mover (engine), source of mechanical energy. The external source can ...
s, pipes, valves, sieves, and conveyors needed within these products. Like other firms that build capital equipment for industrial corporations, it also supplied consulting, erecting, and training services, such as helping a mining company to design a plant, to build its buildings and set up its machinery, and to teach the employees how to use and maintain it.. In 1903, Allis-Chalmers acquired the Bullock Electric Company of
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, which added
steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
s to Allis-Chalmers's powerplant equipment business line.


1912-1919

By 1912, the Allis-Chalmers Company was in financial trouble, so it was reorganized. It was renamed the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, and Otto Falk, a former Brigadier General of the Wisconsin National Guard, was appointed to turn it around. Falk pushed for new products and new or expanded markets. Falk saw great growth potential in the mechanization of agriculture, which at the time was blossoming all over America. Allis-Chalmers's first farm tractors, the 10-18, the Model 6-12, and the Model 15-30, were developed and marketed between 1914 and 1919, and the farm implement line was expanded.


1920s

As had also been true of the 1900–1920 period, the
Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western world, Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultura ...
were a favorable time for consolidation and even conglomeration throughout the business world. It was also a time of strongly continuing mechanization on North American farms. At Allis-Chalmers, the 1920s brought yet more tractors, such as the 18-30, the 12-20, the 15-25, and the United tractor/Model U. Famed inventor and engineer
Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla (;"Tesla"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
; 10 July 1856 â€“ 7 ...
spent the period 1919-1922 working in Milwaukee for Allis-Chalmers. In 1926 Falk hired Harry Merritt,.. 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. Walter M. 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 of
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, a maker of flour-milling equipment. In 1927, it acquired the Pittsburgh Transformer Company, a maker of electrical
transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...
s. In 1928, Allis-Chalmers acquired the Monarch Tractor Company of
Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...
, thus adding a line of crawler tractors.
p. 32
In 1929, it acquired the La Crosse Plow Works of
La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse ( ) is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population was 52,680 as of the 202 ...
. 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 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 switched to all-red (1936), Minneapolis-Moline switched to Prairie Gold (late 1930s), and Case switched to Flambeau Red (late 1930s).
John Deere Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, Transmission (mechanical device), transmi ...
already had a distinctive color scheme with its bright green and yellow. In 1928, Henry Ford canceled U.S. production of the Fordson tractor. 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 A gleaner(Noun) is a person who engages in gleaning, utilizing crops and resources left behind in a harvest. Newspapers *''The Gleaner'', a newspaper of record in Kingston, Jamaica, published by: **The Gleaner Company, a newspaper publishing enter ...
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 was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, Allis-Chalmers succeeded as demand for its machinery continued. In 1931, it acquired Advance-Rumely of
La Porte, Indiana La Porte () is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat. Its population was estimated to be 21,341 in 2022. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, Indiana metropolitan stat ...
, 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 Baden bei Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oer ...
, 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 (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineeri ...
s to tractors.. The innovation quickly spread industry-wide, as (to many farmers' surprise) it improved tractive force 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 blade, is a form of heavy equipment with a long blade used to create a flat surface during Grading (engineering), grading. Although the earliest models were towed b ...
models to its construction equipment line. In 1933, Allis-Chalmers introduced its Model WC, its first-generation row-crop tractor, 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 harvester The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of ...
s. 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 (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
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 decision of June 18, 1945, that ended certain union practices that violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.


1940s

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
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 or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...
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, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...
ships, such as Liberty ship steam engines,
steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
s, generators, and
electric motor An electric motor is a 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 electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...
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 m ...
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 program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
. 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 in British English, 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 co ...
.. 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 in farm tractors, as well as greater capability from their
hydraulic Hydraulics () 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 counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...
and electrical systems. It was also a decade of extensive dieselization, from railroad locomotives to farm tractors and construction equipment. In 1953, Allis-Chalmers acquired the Buda Engine Company of Harvey, Illinois. Allis wanted Buda for its line of
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...
s,.. because its previous supplier, Detroit Diesel, was a division of
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
, whose recent acquisition of the
Euclid Euclid (; ; 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 geometry that largely domina ...
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 fo ...
, 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 a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...
, 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, 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 collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...
in the heavy electric equipment industry. It charged 13 companies, including the largest in the industry ( Westinghouse,
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...
, 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 a procurement action which enables companies to submit non-competitive bids. It can be performed by corrupt officials, by firms in an orchestrated act of collusion, or by officials and firms acting together. ...
. 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 with 98 horsepower (factory rating). In 1965, Allis-Chalmers acquired
Simplicity Simplicity is the state or quality of being wikt:simple, simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert A. Simon suggests, something is simple or Complexity, complex ...
for its line of lawn and garden equipment. Also in that year, the nuclear reactor SAFARI-1, 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, Gulf+Western, and White Consolidated Industries 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 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 risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
with Fiat SpA,. which bought a 65% majority stake at the outset. The new company was called Fiat-Allis. In May 1975, the company closed its 20-acre, 78-year-old
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
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 line and the Ford 1000 and 1600 built by
Shibaura is a district of Minato, Tokyo, 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 indust ...
), Allis-Chalmers began importing Hinomoto tractors with Toyosha diesel engines from Japan. They were rebadged with the Allis-Chalmers brand for U.S. sales. In 1978, a joint venture with
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
, 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, Deutz AG) of Germany, at the time the owner of Deutz-Fahr. K-H-D renamed the business as Deutz-Allis and discarded the Allis Chalmers 8000 Series tractors and Persian Orange branding in favor of spring green tractors built by White 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 AGCO Corporation is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1990. AGCO designs, produces and sells tractors, combines, foragers, hay tools, self-propelled sprayers, ...
). 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, 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 List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
.


Brand reuse, 2000 to present

In August 2008,
Briggs & Stratton Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of small 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 faciliti ...
announced that it would sell lawn tractors under the Allis-Chalmers brand name.


Former sites


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 fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...
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 1947 was called the "Roto-Baler" and the fore-runner of modern round balers, albeit with much smaller bales. The Roto-Baler had a production run from 1947 to 1964 and then again from 1972 to 1974. 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 fo ...
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 (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, owned and operated by LS Power/ Helix Energy Solutions Group. Originally fuelled by coal, the plant has been fueled primarily by fuel oi ...
", or Ravenswood No. 3, the biggest generator in New York. It is located in
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
, has an output of 1000 MW, and remains operational. 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, or amphibious ATV (or AATV), is a small, all-wheel drive, off-road, all-terrain amphibious vehicle, used for recreation, farm-, hunting, utility or industry tasks, by enthusiasts and professionals worldwide. The ...
's called the "Terra Tiger".


Fuel cell golf carts

In 1965, Allis-Chalmers built
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
fueled
fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...
golf carts.


Military machinery

* J36 jet engine, licensed version of the de Havilland Goblin, not produced * M1 tractor medium model HD7W * M1 tractor heavy model HD10W * M4 tractor 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 m ...
manufactured from 1943 * M6 tractor high-speed 38-ton (artillery tractor) * M7 snow tractor * M19 snow trailer, 1-ton *
M50 Ontos Ontos, officially the Rifle, Multiple 106 mm, Self-propelled, M50, was an American 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 c ...
– a light
anti-tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...
vehicle, 297 units produced from 1955 to 1957 *
Steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
s, 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 was a Houston-based multi-faceted oilfield services company. The company provided services and equipment to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, both domestically and internationally. It became Archer in 2011 after it merged with Seawell, another oil services/energy company.


See also

* List of Allis-Chalmers tractors * List of Allis-Chalmers engines *
AGCO AGCO Corporation is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1990. AGCO designs, produces and sells tractors, combines, foragers, hay tools, self-propelled sprayers, ...
(holder of former Deutz-Allis assets) * CNH Global (holder of former Fiat-Allis assets) *
Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the posit ...
(holder of former Siemens-Allis assets) * Timeline of hydrogen technologies * Gleaner (harvester)
Serial number locations
* Allis-Chalmers J36


References


Cited sources

* * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* *


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