Wrenching Tales By Cindy Ladage RANTOUL, Ill. – This year at the 2023 Half Century of Progress, there was a big celebration for Allis Chalmers fans. The Persian orange brand celebrated the 60th Diamond anniversary of the Allis Chalmers model D21 tractor. The idea was the brainchild of friends Darryl Krause from Amarillo, Texas, and Rich Bergeson, from Ransom, Ill. The idea for the 60th anniversary has been brewing for several years. The two first met at a swap meet in Lathrop, Mo., but the idea for the anniversary was discussed in 2018 in Pontiac, Ill., at the Gathering of the Orange, a big Allis Chalmers event. “We had 97 D21’s, and it was the 55th anniversary,” Bergeson said. With hopes to have at least 100 D21’s at the Half Century of Progress, they went way beyond their initial hopes. “We were aiming for 100 model D21’s,” Krause said, adding on Saturday morning they already had 200 with more still on the way. The 60th anniversary celebration was initially supposed to happen at the Peru Airport. Bergeson and Krause were surprised when the airport decided to cancel the event last March, leaving them scramble to find a new site. However, all worked out when they approached the Half Century board, and they were able to schedule the anniversary in Rantoul. The Allis Chalmers D21 was built in West Allis, Wis., from 1963 until 1969. The D21 was the first AC tractor with 100 horsepower. The tractors featured three-point hitch, power steering, and diesel engine options. The D21 was the Muscle Tractor of the AC series. It was much larger than the other AC options. Bergeson said, “They made around 3,528 or so of the D21 Series I’s, the Series II were built after 1965.” There were several rare D21’s in the group, and Krause owns both the first one built, and the last one to roll off the assembly line. “It has all original paint, and I met the original owner,” Krause shared about number one. The first D21 was dated Sept. 29, 1963. What was also special is the owner that Darryl bought his tractor from still had all the original records. The first tractor built is serial #1001. Krause not only brought his tractors but hauled 26 tractors to the show. “I traveled from Texas, and stopped in six states, 7,630 miles. I traveled from 6 a.m. until midnight for eight straight days,” he said about his efforts to get the D21’s to the anniversary. The Lapp family from Holyoke, Colo., also brought several tractors, hauling four loads to the show. “We also had tractors from North Carolina, Texas, Illinois, New York, Idaho, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio and one from Ontario,” Bergeson said. One of Bergeson’s D21’s was the model for an Ertl toy. “The toy was made by Luke Gehris,” he shared. “He created 2,500 toys, 60 were white for the 60th anniversary, 21 were gold ones, and 2,500 were yellow.” Another cool D21 he mentioned that he is a partial owner of, was one with a Levy front end. The other owner is Hans Vandernburg, of Bradford, Pa. “It is one of three.” Bergeson also had a beautiful D21 that he had Luke Olsin paint Diamond White for the 60th anniversary. Zach Repking, who is part of an Allis Chalmers collecting family, has been registering the D21 tractors since news of the event began. His family owns a few. “My dad and uncle own a D21, and a brother and cousin pull a black D21, they used to have a 3rd, but they got too busy with projects.” “We now have over 600 in the registry, and we know where they are,” Repking said about the project, adding, “I am just along for the ride; it was Darryl and Rich’s idea.” Repking, a diesel technician said he works to “feed the habit.” He said that in the AC D21 mix he has met many great people at the anniversary, he even met a gentleman from Ireland and a couple from Australia during the gathering. “I met people AC folks that worked for Allis, and some that were in production videos.” About the distribution of the D21’s, he added, “They are in Europe, they are everywhere.” |
