They say it was an A-C. I nearly met my end on an Allis-Chalmers B wide front (I think that was all B’s). Rolled backwards on a gravel drive into the yard of one of our farms rather than using reverse, popped the clutch when I was back far enough to start forward at an angle but the front end came up so high I could only see the sun. Super fast reactions getting my foot back on the clutch saved me. Crashed down so hard it broke the pivot bolt on the front axle. That’s why I swore if I ever returned to the home place I’d only have ROPS equipped tractors. So when I bought the place from my dad planning my future retirement, the first thing I bought was a ROPS equipped tractor and the first job was to tow off the last of dad’s non-ROPS tractors to a neighbor who wanted to restore it. Cheated death once, not worth pressing my luck.
I had a close call with my old Allis Chalmers model C (narrow front), a few years ago. I had 3 other tractors at the time, so I didn't use it much. I liked it for dragging firewood logs out of the interior of my 4 acre woodlot in the summer. The narrow front provided great visibility, and that and the unloaded rear tires caused much less rut damage in the damp, fragile woods than my wide front, loaded tire 4 wd tractor.
I didn't use it enough to bother keeping a 6 volt battery on it. It started ok with the hand crank, as long as it was not too hot or too cold. If I stalled the tractor under load, I always had to wait for it to cool down before it would start again. That trait contributed to my trading it in for the same $500 that I paid for it, on a new Bush hog last year.
One early summer morning, it was parked in the back of my old barn, behind a couple of push lawn mowers, and a craftsman leaf sweeper. I stuck the crank in the hole in front and gave it half a turn.
That old C had no safety features at all. I always left it in neutral when parked, and to this day, I don't know how it got left in gear that day. The throttle was up about half way and it was in second gear.
It sprang to life at half a turn, and charged straight at me. I was a bit younger and faster then, and that long handle gave me just enough time to leap out of the way. Had it been wide-front like your B, I doubt I would be here typing today. I probably would not have been able to avoid that wide front axle.
The leaf sweeper and push mowers were not so fortunate, although they did serve to absorb the energy and save the overhead door that was closed in front. The adjacent bay door was up, and I had planned on exiting that one after I got on the tractor.
Those two push mowers were wrecked, but I was able to salvage one of the engines. The old barn is gone now too. My grandad met his Maker in it, and I almost did too. I was able to save the craftsman leaf sweeper, and I still use it each fall, and when the grass gets real thick after spring mowing.
Thanks to the emerald ash borer, I can now get all the firewood I need from hedgerows and from the edge of the woods, so I dont miss that old C one bit. Getting up on that high narrow platform was a *****. That little step under the clutch pedal, that I welded up, helped a bit but the Ford n's are so much nicer in that regard.
