Sold on Allis: Indiana Man Builds His Life Around Allis-Chalmers Line
Harry Dubach lives, eats and breathes Allis-Chalmers tractors
December 2009
Don Voelker
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Harry Dubach with his scale model and the real deal: a pair of 4W-305s.
Don Voelker
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Harry Dubach lives, eats and breathes Allis-Chalmers tractors.
He was raised around the Allis line, built a career around it, and now in retirement, finds no shortage of Allis projects to take on, ranging from hand-built scale models to restorations.
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“I grew up around Allis-Chalmers, my dad had Allis-Chalmers and my two brothers had Allis-Chalmers,” he says. “It was just kind of a natural thing.” After graduating from high school in 1962, he began work as a mechanic at the local Allis dealership, Affolder Implement Sales. As the years passed, Harry’s role in the business grew; by the time he retired in 1999, he was co-owner.
Maintenance is a major focus these days. “I’m doing more repairs now,” he says, “and not so much collecting.” But Harry doesn’t think of it as work. “It’s a joy to work on these tractors,” he says. He tackles paint jobs in the summer (he has a white barn, and wants it to stay white) and does mechanical work as needed. Diesel tractors are a particular favorite. “I was a diesel mechanic,” he explains. “I grew up with diesels and love them to death. I’ve overhauled those engines and know them inside and out.”
Gearing up for the Gathering
The 25th anniversary of the Gathering of the Orange (an annual all-Allis event) in 2008 caused a flurry of activity in Harry’s shop. Harry gave new paint jobs to three tractors before taking them to the show, which was held at nearby Portland, Ind., during the Tri-State Gas Engine & Tractor Show.
He also organized a 20-mile tractor drive from his home to the Gathering at Portland. Early on the show’s opening day, more than 60 Allis-Chalmers tractors from Michigan and Indiana assembled at his home in Berne, Ind. The group then paraded to Portland, earning Harry the title “Pied Piper of Tractors” in an article published in the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette.
It was not Harry’s first Gathering of the Orange parade. In 2005, he and his brother Jim hauled Harry’s 1937 Allis-Chalmers Model WF 300 miles to the Gathering of the Orange Homecoming in Milwaukee, Wis. On their arrival at the show grounds, they joined in a parade of more than 200 tractors to an original Allis factory located nearby. As the tractors passed through the building, a professional photographer took individual photos of each tractor and driver. “That was very special,” Harry says. “When I had the dealership, I went there to pick up tractors.”
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