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Restored 80-Year-Old Grader Looks Like New
“My dad drove a 1942 Allis Chalmers WC grader on our township roads for nearly 50 years until it was too tired to work anymore,” says Minn. farmer Al Hernke. “He parked it in a grove about 1990 and it sat for 30 years until my hired man and I rescued it in 2020.”
Hernke says the old grader was a rust bucket wit
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Restored 80-Year-Old Grader Looks Like New TRACTORS Antiques “My dad drove a 1942 Allis Chalmers WC grader on our township roads for nearly 50 years until it was too tired to work anymore ” says Minn farmer Al Hernke “He parked it in a grove about 1990 and it sat for 30 years until my hired man and I rescued it in 2020 ” Hernke says the old grader was a rust bucket with a frozen engine flat tires and a few broken parts The engine was basically beyond repair so they decided to swap out the WC engine with a larger one from a WD 45 tractor “We extended the front chassis about 6 in to make room for the longer engine and built a new steering linkage because the old one was frozen in place and not long enough The 45-engine mated to the drive train after a few stern words of encouragement ” Hernke says “We installed a new starter a new generator new wiring and hoses put in a new battery and cleaned out the gas tank and gas lines ” New gauges a new seat and four new tires brought the tractor to running and roadworthy condition ” Hernke says the control wheels for raising lowering and tilting the blade were rusted in place so getting those free was a major job “We used about three different kinds of rust release and penetrating products along with plenty of prying and wedging to move the worm gears and wheels and finally they moved ” Hernke says After lubing all the moving parts they had the whole grader sandblasted Two coats of Allis-Chalmers orange paint and authentic decals brought the grader back to “like new” condition “The engine starts just like a new WD 45 and purrs like a kitten ” Hernke says “The nine-month project was definitely worth it when we drove it out in the yard last summer put the blade down and leveled some gravel ” says Hernke “This grader requires two people one to drive and the other to operate the blade controls ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Al Hernke 37020 City 1 Blvd Cannon Falls Minn 55009
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