Allis-Chalmers WC

Name: Allis-Chalmers WC
Brand: Allis-Chalmers

Row-crop tractor · 1933–1948 · Gasoline

The Allis-Chalmers WC was the tractor that made Allis-Chalmers a major player in row-crop farming, becoming the best-selling model the company ever built. It is best remembered as the first farm tractor sold with rubber tires as standard equipment, a decision that reshaped how the whole industry thought about tractor mobility and speed.

Compare this tractor All Allis-Chalmers models

Photo: Acroterion. License: CC BY-SA 4.0.

belt power: 30 hp
Displacement: 201 ci (3.3 L)
Total built: 178,202

Overview
Type	Row-crop
Production	1933–1948
Factory	West Allis, Wisconsin, USA
Total built	178,202
Original price	$825 (1934 USD)

Engine
Make	Allis-Chalmers
Fuel	Gasoline
Cylinders	4
Displacement	201 ci (3.3 L)
Bore × stroke	4.00x4.00 in
Rated speed	1,300 rpm
Compression	5.1:1
Cooling	liquid-cooled
Aspiration	Naturally aspirated

Power
Drawbar power	22 hp (16.4 kW)
Belt power	30 hp (22.4 kW)
Nebraska test	Nebraska Test 232

Transmission
Transmission	sliding-gear — 4 forward, 1 reverse
Chassis	4x2 2WD
Steering	manual
Brakes	mechanical

History

Allis-Chalmers launched the WC in 1933, at the depth of the Depression, as its entry into the row-crop tractor market pioneered by the Farmall. What set the WC apart was Allis-Chalmers' aggressive bet on low-pressure pneumatic rubber tires, developed with Firestone; the company demonstrated the WC on rubber setting speed records at county fairs and race tracks to prove the concept to skeptical farmers still using steel lugs. The gamble paid off, and rubber tires quickly became the industry standard.

Over its long 1933-1948 production run the WC evolved from an unstyled tractor with exposed steering linkage to a streamlined "styled" version after 1938, with sheet-metal styling credited to industrial designer Brooks Stevens. With more than 178,000 built, the WC outsold every other tractor Allis-Chalmers ever produced and gave the company the volume and reputation it needed to expand its row-crop lineup through the WD and WD-45 that followed.

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