Allis-Chalmers Model WC

With its minimalist design and low price, about 178,000 WCs were made from 1934 to 1948. near Milwaukee. In 1934, the WC was listed at USD $825 on rubber (standard), $675 on steel (optional). The tractor could also be ordered as "air front", meaning rubber tires in front and steel wheels in back. ==Features and configurations==

Engine The WC had a engine displacement|, inline-four engine. Like most tractors of the era, the WC offered multifuel capability, running on gasoline, kerosene, or alcohol, and featured a small auxiliary fuel tank in addition to the larger main fuel tank, so that the tractor could be started on gasoline when cold and, once warmed up, switched to kerosene or alcohol. The engine's bore and stroke made it one of the first tractor engines (to Buescher's knowledge, the first) to be square or oversquare, that is, to have an equal or shorter stroke than bore. The WC engine tested at 22 horsepower at the drawbar and 30 at the belt.) to have starter and lights as standard equipment. Other options A belt pulley was standard equipment on the WC, while a power take-off (PTO) and a mechanical power lift for the cultivator were optional. In 1936 the PTO option's list price was USD $50, the power lift option's, $35. The PTO was necessary if the buyer was planning to use the WC to pull the Allis-Chalmers All-Crop Harvester, a pull-type combine. The combination of a WC tractor pulling an All-Crop Harvester combine was a huge commercial success for Allis from the mid-1930s through mid-1940s. Design changes Various design changes occurred over the model's lifespan: • The prototypes were built with Waukesha engines. Mass production began with the WC's own in-house 4"x4" engine design. • As in the rest of the farm tractor industry, the mid through late 1930s was the time when Allis-Chalmers's tractors went from "unstyled" to "styled". The major manufacturers hired industrial designers (in Allis's case, Brooks Stevens) to style their tractors with streamlined sheet metal (and in some cases revised operator controls with better usability). In 1938, the WC was styled and was given a larger radiator and tires. • In 1939, electric starter and lights went from optional to standard. ==Drawbacks==

The WC, with many good features and various first-to-market attributes, had at least a few drawbacks. Its clutch was not particularly well designed, and, like other tractors of the 1920s through mid-1930s, it lacked usability in the design of its brake controls, with a hand lever on each side of the tractor, which meant that applying the brakes took the operator's hands away from other controls. Other tractors had foot pedals on both sides, but that meant that the clutch and left brake could not be operated simultaneously. The solution came in the late 30s, when various brands moved both brake pedals to the right foot. ==See also==