Thursday, May 28, 2009

Vintage Allis Chalmers Tractors






Above are some photographs of my Grandfather (Gordon Sands) and his brother Neil on their Allis Chalmers model A in the mid 1930's at the family farm, Tyrell Downs. This tractor was the first rubber tyred tractor in the Sea Lake(Victoria) area and was partly financed by trading in their team of 10 Clydesdale horses. The tractor remained in Neil's posession until the day he died but is now in the hands of an unknown collector whom we would love to get in contact with. Gordon went on to buying several more Allis Chalmers tractors over the years both in active duty and during his retirement. It was in 1991 after a double heart bypass that Gordon became involved in Vintage Tractor restoration. He restored a Model U with his wife Joy (which they painted themselves), a WC and a D272 until the bug was passed onto me. This lead to the purchase and subsequent restoration of a WF and C Model Allis Chalmers. Along with an unrestored Allis Chalmers this collection is displayed in Gordon's honour at the Lockington Living Heritage Complex in Lockington Vicotria. Since Gordon's passing I have maintained the collection and display and run them during the Vintage Tractor Rally held on the ANZAC weekend at Lockington. Below is a shot of the tractors displayed at the family farm "Gardenvale" in Bamawm.

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