Bad news: How Allis-Chalmers’ employees found out about the buyout at a tractor pull

The Allis-Chalmers buyout was a tough deal. From the corner office to the dealers to the rank and file, when Deutz came in, it was a stressful time for everyone. They did things differently, and sometimes their management style — especially internal communication — didn’t translate very well to the States.

This point was really driven home a few weeks ago when I sat down with Brad Howell on a weekend trip to shoot some Indiana Pulling League events. Brad and his dad owned Greentown Equipment, a very successful A-C dealership in Indiana. Brad was also a tractor puller and campaigned several different orange Super Stocks over the years. In fact, he and Al Koch, Norm Green, and John Lancaster were the first guys to run four-charger setups under the hood. They were known as “The Quad Squad” back in the day — I’ll bet a few of you remember that t-shirt, too!

The Howell family has been involved in a handful of dealerships over the past six decades. They’ve sold everything from Allis/AGCO/Gleaner to Ford/New Holland/Versatile on the farm equipment side. More recently, Brad has built a very successful Ford dealership with two of his four sons, and another son (Zach, a dear friend of mine) has opened Evolution Outdoor in nearby Marion, Indiana, selling Bad Boy and Toro lawn and garden equipment.

I heard a lot of stories about the dealership days as well as tractor pulling during that visit, but there was one that really stuck out to me. We’ll get to it in a minute, but let’s talk about Allis and their involvement in the sport for a little background.

Allis-Chalmers and tractor pulling

By the late 1970s, A-C was a bit of a powerhouse on the pulling track, and they were proud of that. The D-21 had a reputation as being a very tough customer wherever one showed up. Here’s an old video from the Allis-Chalmers marketing department that focuses on their involvement in the sport.

While they never had an “official” factory-backed pulling tractor, they were very active in the sport. If you were an orange guy, there were a couple ways that you could make power.

Allis-Chalmers factory performance

For a short time in the late 1960s or early 1970s, Allis sold three performance kits that you could buy to build more power — and they came with factory replacement parts, too. If you tore up the parts in the kit (injectors, lines, pumps, and turbos), they’d send you new ones. This program died pretty quick, though. A-C learned the hard way that pullers wrecked stuff in a hurry. (I’ll bet the company lawyers played a role in the cancellation. Liability and all that.)

Noble Harrison: The Allis Whisperer

One of the other options, though, was Noble Harrison. He was a big-time A-C dealer in western Illinois, and on the side he and Ed Elgin worked with a number of pullers (including Brad) to make big power out of the 426 (and later, the 301 as well). They had access to the engineers and some pretty trick parts that other dealers didn’t have, so it didn’t take long before Noble & Ed became the go-to guys.

However, as the farm crisis began rearing its ugly head in the early 1980s, times got pretty tough for Allis. By 1984, the company had sold off nearly every non-farm equipment business unit to keep the lights on. Sadly, it wasn’t enough, and on May 25, 1985, Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz officially purchased most of A-C’s ag division.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

The phone call from Allis-Chalmers

It was late June 1985, when Brad’s phone rang a few days before he and Tammy were to leave for the Badger Grand Nationals, a big NTPA event in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. It was Lloyd Sippel, a good friend and one of the upper-echelon guys in the engineering department.

He said, “Brad, I’m overnighting you a new set of decals and badge for the nose. Deutz bought A-C, and the top dogs want these on the tractor when you get to the pull.”

Brad was shocked to see a pair of Deutz-Allis decals and badge in that box when he opened it. I didn’t ask him, but I’ve got to think that there was a little heartache as he replaced those decals. Nevertheless, he held up his end of the bargain and off they went.

Breaking bad news at the Badger Grand Nationals

Now, for those of you not familiar with the state of Wisconsin, Elkhorn is about 40 miles southwest of the West Allis suburb of Milwaukee. The Badger Grand Nationals was the closest big-time tractor pull to the factory. Every year, Elkhorn packed the stands with lots of tuned-up Allis-Chalmers employees, too. They all wanted to go to the pull, drink a few beers, and cheer when the orange tractors put one over on the other guys in the Super Stock class.

In my best Waylon Jennings/Dukes of Hazzard commercial break voice: “Are you startin’ to connect the dots as to what’s fixin’ to happen next?”

Yep, you guessed it.

It didn’t take long before the Howells had a crowd gathered around their trailer. Most all of them were Allis-Chalmers employees, and from I gather, they were in the dark about the buy-out. Like I said earlier, sometimes the Deutz-Allis style of management wasn’t very communicative to the rank and file. Brad was dumbfounded as employee after employee came up to him to ask the same question.

He said, “I didn’t really know what to tell them, so a lot of the time, I think I answered, ‘I’m pretty sure Deutz bought your employer!’” I can’t imagine how uncomfortable that would’ve made me! Like, how have you still not told your employees that you were purchased by another company?

Brad did, however, win the Super Stock class in Elkhorn that year. This was back in the day when it was pretty common to have 30 or 40 diesel supers in the class. I think Brad told me that he was either the 38th or 39th hook in a class of 41 or 42. Al Koch set the sled for him and he got ahold of some good dirt and blew it out the end.

The aftermath

The Howells kept chasing points up until the end of the 1991 season. Their boys were all growing up fast, and it was time to be home again. So, after competing at the NFMS in February of 1992, the tractor went to the Shramek family in Missouri. Brian Shramek went on to do some pretty amazing things thereafter, and they’re still competing today!

After an 18-year hiatus, the family got back into pulling in 2010 — this time with a New Holland T8020. They’ve had some ups and downs with it, but they’re still having fun! They stick a bit closer to home these days, but they love the 540 Light Pro Stock class, and that class is a blast to watch! If you’ve never heard 540 cubic inches sing a tune in the key of 6,000 RPM, you’re missing out! At any rate, the boys do most of the work on the tractor, while Dad and Mom concentrate on being their number one fans. The offer is always on the table for Brad to drive, but so far he’s having more fun watching the boys!

Wrapping it up

I’ve always said that the reason I’m still involved in tractor pulling is because of the people and the stories. The Howell family is a prime example of this. I still can’t imagine being in Brad’s shoes in Elkhorn back in 1985 and delivering the news that Allis-Chalmers was under new ownership. Not only that, but he still found a way to drive that 8030 into the winner’s circle! That’s really just the tip of the iceberg, though. There are hundreds of great stories like that from tractors pullers, and I’ve only heard a few of them.

If you’re a tractor pulling fan, chat up some pullers who’ve been at it for a while. Some of their stories will blow your mind!

Until next time, make it a great week — and stick around for the next story, because it’s going to be a good one from the state of Nebraska!

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