“I have more than 100 tractors in my collection and all of them run and drive just fine except one,” says E.J. Croll with a grin, knowing the people he mentions that to will wonder why one doesn’t work. He’s quick to tell them, “That one’s my wooden A, a 2,500 lb. replica of the real Allis-Chalmers A models built from 1936 to 1942.”

     The life-size A, named Woody, was built by Bill Sontag of Mantua, Ohio. It was featured in a  2009 issue of FARM SHOW (Vol. 33, No. 3).

     Croll has always been on the lookout for unusual A-C models and says he spotted the wooden A at a tractor show several years ago. He asked if it was for sale, which it wasn’t, but a few years later, Sontag’s family called and said it was available.

     “That’s when things got really interesting,” Croll says. “They were hauling it home from a show behind a pickup when the trailer it was on came loose and landed in the ditch. The wooden tractor was badly damaged.” Croll says. “The fenders were broken, parts were falling off, and it almost looked like kindling.”

     He was able to buy it and, about two years later, hired Doug Laborie of Portage, Ohio, to rebuild it.  Croll says, “Laborie wasn’t a tractor guy, but he knew woodwork, so he took the entire tractor apart, repaired it all and put it back together.”

     Croll now has his wooden A parked in a shed next to the actual A tractor that Sontag used as a template for making parts. Sontag used about 1,000 board feet of treated tongue and groove 1 by 6 lumber to build the tractor. Its steering wheel is made of oak, the spark plug wires and pipelines were made from grapevines, and basketweaving cane was used for the magneto wires. The tractor has a metal rear axle that supports the weight of the body.  It connects to a small transport frame powered by a golf cart motor, allowing him to move it easily.

     The A joins a large stable of A-C tractors which Croll has amassed in the nine years since he retired. Included in that collection is a 6-12 built in 1916 with a single wheel trailing behind. Croll also has two 6-16s built a few years later with double wheels trailing behind.

     “They’re the real antiques, and I’ve got many others, including letter and number models and a few prototypes.” Croll says he’s got a small fortune tied up in the wooden tractor, but “it’s the only one on the planet, so I guess that’s how I justify it.”

     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, E.J. Croll (lilej888@amplex.net).