Allis-Chalmers 6-12 Found Out on a Limb

Rare Allis-Chalmers 6-12 Back on Track after Decades Entwined in a Tree

By Greg Ray

For more than 20 years, Tommy Watson passed this forlorn tractor on his way to work in rural Texas. A dozer operator, Tommy had worked the land where the tractor sat entwined in a tree.

Ever since he first laid eyes on the machine, Tommy, who hails from Cuero, Texas, knew he wanted it. Tommy knew this wasn't just any old tractor, but a rare, first-year-production 1919 Allis-Chalmers 6-12. Not only was it a first-year offering, it bore serial no. 10010, making it the 10th 6-12 off the Allis-Chalmers assembly line. However, getting permission to hack it out of its growing casket took some time – 20 years of time, in fact. Finally, on Aug. 15, 2001, after years of trying to make a deal on the AC, he heard the words he'd waited 20 years for: “Come and get the tractor.”

That was a lot easier said than done, as the tree the AC was encased in had grown between the tractor's frame and left wheel, firmly locking the tractor in its woody clutches. Of course, that snafu wasn't going to stop Tommy, so with the help of his son Trent, Tommy went to work with a chain saw and together they cut the majority of the tree out of the way. The real work started the next day, when Tommy returned with his son Thomas and they literally chiseled the tree from the tractor. With the AC finally freed from the tree, Tommy loaded it up and took it home in order to chisel out the rest of the remaining wood.

Taking Stock

Obviously, this was a machine in need of some major work. To begin with, the one-wheel sulky was missing, so the rear of the frame had been sitting on the ground. The engine had a hole rusted through the cylinder head and was pretty much ruined, and tearing the transmission and differential apart showed the machine had seen some hard use: The forward and reverse gears were worn through at least a third of the way through their face.

So far, this is the oldest surviving Allis-Chalmers 6-12 we know of. Another early 6-12, serial no. 10032, is in Ohio, but most surviving 6-12s are from 1920 and later. Production of the 6-12 started with serial no. 1001 in 1919, and by 1926 1,471 had rolled out of the factory. The bulk of these were built between 1919 and 1923, and according to the Unofficial Allis Web site (www.allischalmers.com) only eight were built in 1926.

Contact engine and tractor enthusiast Greg Ray at: 4717 San Jacinto, Houston, TX 77004; gpray@ev1.net