Not red or green, some bleed orange

ABBOTSFORD, Wis. — Some tractor enthusiasts know there is another side to the age-old argument of red or green. Those are the people who prefer orange — aficionados of everything Allis-Chalmers.

Nearly 150 Allis-Chalmers enthusiasts and members of the recently minted Allis-Chalmers of Wisconsin Club gathered March 28 to enjoy a shared passion for orange machinery at an event hosted by Chris and Monica Dukelow at Dukestead Acres in Abbotsford. The Dukelow family milks 500 cows with seven DeLaval robots. Besides their restored collection of Allis-Chalmers tractors, the vast majority of the family’s working tractors and farm equipment are Allis-Chalmers.

“There’s a big following for orange tractors,” said Monica Dukelow. “People never seem to lose that love for a certain brand of farm equipment.”

Allis-Chalmers enthusiasts visiting with each other was the start of the new organization last year.

“People were connecting at shows and events, and on social media, and they realized there was no statewide club,” Dukelow said. “There were small groups around the state, but nothing statewide. They started talking and decided that, with the history of Allis-Chalmers in Wisconsin, maybe they should form a club.”

After some discussion, the first meeting was planned for February 2025 in Plover. Nearly 50 people from across the state came to take part in creating the organization. The group elected its officers and set about creating bylaws.

Randy Larson of Chippewa Falls served a year as the group’s inaugural president. Larson grew up on a farm near Conrath. Larson recalls his family having a 1935 WC Allis-Chalmers tractor early on, but said the opening of an Allis-Chalmers dealership just up the road not only changed the complexion of the farm, but turned him into a lifelong enthusiast of the brand.

“I was humbled to have the opportunity to be voted in as the founding president,” Larson said. “That was a good feeling, and I think we’ve laid the groundwork for this club to be successful. It was neat to see it go from just an idea to a club that is flourishing, with members who are anxious to grow things, not just in the state but encouraging people from other states to participate, too.”

The group gave collectors the option to join as either an annual member for $25 per year or as a charter member. Charter members paid $100 for two years of membership and received a commemorative brick, a collectible piece of Allis-Chalmers history itself.

Richard and Kim Heine, retired dairy farmers and long-time Allis-Chalmers collectors themselves, offered the bricks for the charter members.

“When the Allis-Chalmers office building was torn down, my husband bought a pallet of bricks,” said Kim Heine, who serves as the club’s secretary-treasurer. “We decided to give each charter member a brick with a tag on it, saying they were a charter member of the Allis-Chalmers of Wisconsin Club.

Heine said 53 members chose to designate themselves as charter members last year, and the group has nearly 50 more members paying annual memberships, including more than 20 new members this year alone.

Excited to share their passion for all things Allis-Chalmers, the group set about planning events and promoting attendance at shows around the state.

One of the instigators of the club, Alex Butz, had the idea to create what the group coined their Machine Shed Gatherings, Larson said.

“A lot of people have collections — myself, I’ve got 15 tractors — but when we go to a show, we just can’t take them all, we can only take a couple,” Larson said. “Alex’s idea was to go to the collector’s place and have a look at their collection. We could make the gatherings social events, have a meal and enjoy spending time with people who share the same interests.”

The Machine Shed gathering at the Dukelow’s farm was the group’s second, following one hosted last September by Jeff and Kathy Flood in Sullivan. The next gathering is planned for Sept. 13, hosted by board member Kendra Dilg and her family in Gurnee, Illinois, where her family has a collection and a small museum of Allis-Chalmers memorabilia.

Besides the Machine Shed Gatherings, the group hosts an indoor swap meet each year in January in Marshfield. They also promote tractor shows around the state, encouraging members to attend and represent the brand.

The Dukelows’ neighbors, Gary and June Hamm, are retired dairy farmers who have an affection for Allis-Chalmers tractors.

“Growing up, my family had Allis Chalmers tractors, and that is mostly what I always farmed with” Hamm said. “There’s just something special about them, and their history.”

After seeing Chris Dukelow’s restoration work on his own tractors, Hamm approached him about restoring his tractors, which Hamm displayed alongside the Dukelow collection.

“My dad bought a little Farmall-MTA, new back in 1947 or 1948, which had some transmission problems,” Hamm said. “We traded that off for this 1959 Allis-Chalmers D17, brand new. It was our big tractor on the farm for a long time.”

Tyler and Susan Peterson milk 56 cows, with Tyler’s parents, Tim and Jacky, near Westboro, farming primarily with Allis-Chalmers tractors. Only one tractor on the farm is not orange — a Farmall-A that Peterson said has earned its place in the shed.

Peterson said his family came to have Allis-Chalmers for practical reasons — his grandfather purchased the first one because John Deere tractors were too wide to fit through the barn doors. Having grown up with the orange tractors, Peterson said they are now part of him.

“It’s become an addiction,” Peterson said. “I like to find them and work on them, modify them to make them fit my needs.”

The club allows members to keep the history of Allis Chalmers and the company’s connection to Wisconsin alive, Larson said.

“Allis-Chalmers had a big role in Wisconsin’s agricultural history and some of that has been forgotten,” Larson said. “The other day I talked to a person who said he never realized Allis-Chalmers were made in Wisconsin, right in West Allis. I think a lot of us take for granted that people know the things we think are commonplace. It’s up to us to keep the history that we believe is important living for future generations.”