Grafton man shares rare tractor with Antique Show visitors

By Carol McIntire

Editor 

Mel Hale of Grafton drove nearly two hours to share his rare Allis-Chalmers IB tractor with visitors at the Carroll County Antique Collectors Club show Oct. 18-20 at the Carroll County Fairgrounds. 

Hale said he saw an ad in an antique show magazine for the Carroll County show stating the Allis-Chalmer was to be the featured tractor. 

“You rarely see an IB anywhere, so I thought it would be nice to share it with the people of this area,” Hale said as visitors walked past the tractor Friday of the show. Many stopped, turned around and came back to ask questions.

It’s a 1940 model,” he said, adding the cab was one-of-a-kind.  “They made two series of this model. From 1940-1946, IB model tractors shared serial numbers with the B farm tractors. The tractor enthusiast said there were only 260 units made that carried the B designation.   

Hale’s model showed its many years of use in winter weather in the Cleveland area. 

“This tractor was used to plow the parking lot of the Easy Washing Machine Company,” he said pointing to the faded company name printed on the custom-made roof. I presume the roof was made out of necessity due to the weather in Cleveland.”

He purchased the tractor about five years ago from a friend in Geauga County. 

“My restoration of this tractor was just enough to make it run,” Hale explained. “If I completely restore it, it will lose its character and I don’t want that.”

It’s easy to see where the snow plow attached on the front. Hale also owns the plow but opted to leave it at home on this trip. It also came equipped with hand brakes and a foot gas pedal, along with some of the original IB options – special headlight brackets for the plow lift cable to go through and a special taillight. 

“Headlights would certainly be a necessity on snowy nights in Cleveland,” he said, adding the tractor had a push button start, but it is located under the seat.  

“I can’t imagine trying to operate hand brakes and the levers to raise and lower the plow as well as the brake and clutch pedals all at the same time!”  

Antique Collectors Club President Orlo Brown said the 2024 show was “one of the biggest and best” in recent memory.

“We had three days of nice weather and many dedicated volunteers who made it happen along with the large number of participants in three tractor pulls and a car, truck and motorcycle show,” he said. 

The show kicked off with the annual tractor drive through Carrollton at noon Oct. 18. Ohio Mod Rod Pullers put on a garden tractor pull Friday evening. Saturday the pulling track was used for a transfer pull and Sunday tugged the deadweight sled on the race track in front of the grandstand. 

“A variety of antique tractors, garden tractors and farm implements were on display,” Brown noted, adding there were over 100 antique tractors on display. Antique farm equipment demonstrations included fodder baling, corn husking, shredding, corn shelling, a cider press and feed grinder. Crafters and a flea market rounded out the displays. 

Even though the weather was delightful this year, the typical dates, the third weekend in October, often comes with less than desirable weather, which Brown says led to the decision to make the dates next year. 

“After much research and deliberation, we have decided to change our show date moving forward.  Having the show date one month earlier will provide a bit more daylight and hopefully improve our chances for favorable weather,” he said. 

Dates for the 2025 show are Sept. 19-21. The Massey Ferguson, Speedex and Briggs and Stratton will be featured.