Allis Lives Again

T&M reader Phil Beale shares the story of his 1946 Allis-Chalmers B project.

- Phil Beale

It was at Tractor World Spring 2017 that the subject of me sharing my project with fellow readers first arose. I was pleased to convey the story of the tractor with Scott, T&M’s editor, and he suggested that I put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and show how something tangible can be achieved on a limited budget, so here goes…

‘Allis’, as the tractor’s affectionately known, began its working days on a fruit farm in Pershore, near Evesham in Worcestershire, moving fruit (predominantly plums) from the orchards to the pack houses.

In 1973 it made its way to Newent, Gloucestershire, onto a smallholding moving lettuce trays and compost. After a while the chap who owned her decided to put her away and buy himself a more modern tractor to undertake the larger workload.

I came across the tractor in one of his sheds in 2002, where the owner had her parked up. All you could see was the front axle and radiator grille, because it was piled under lettuce trays. I asked the owner if he would like to sell the tractor to me, but his prompt reply was: “No, that’s my old Allis!”