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Oil Springs man's favourite colour is
orange
By Peter Epp Farm Market (August 2000)
Ray Levasseur's "big" tractor is his 1993 Agco Allis. It's given him no
trouble, and he uses it to perform the bigger tasks that need to be done
around his 300-acre farm near Oil Springs.
But what he really enjoys working with is his "Baby" - a 1956 Allis Chalmers
WD45. It's a gasoline-powered tractor that's used for everyday chores,
including corn planti-ng, spraying, and trimming, or just moving around
equip-ment.
"It's a working tractor," the 50-year-old farmer explains. "I do everything
I need to do with this old girl. And if the truth be known, I put more hours
on it than I do on the big tractor. I really enjoy going down the field on
it. They're comfortable. I can spray all day on that old girl. And they're
so simple to fix."
Levasseur owns 12 antique tractors, and seven of them are Allis-Chalmers.
Four have been restored to a near-pristine condition, and three of those
will be shown at the Western Ontario Steam Threshers' Association show
in Brigden, Aug. 18, 19 and 20. He'll also be showing an Allis Chalmers snap
coupler four-furrow plough, circa 1960.
Levasseur is president of the Steam Threshers' Association, having just
begun the first year of a two-year term. And since Allis Chalmers is the
featured tractor for the 2000 edition of the Steam Threshers' Show, he's
more than happy to include his orange-coloured machinery.
He comes by his admiration of Allis Chalmers naturally. His father, the late
Paul Levasseur, "always had one or two of the tractors around", although the
elder Levasseur also favoured Minneapolis-Moline. Ray Levasseur owns five
antique Minnies of his own, including a huge 1958 model that he lovingly
refers to as "Beauty". His Allis Chalmers collection ranges from a 1938 "U",
to the 1956 WD45 that he loves to use around his farm on a daily basis.
The other tractors are: a 1947 WF, a 1947 WC, a 1950 WD, and a 1956 WD45
Diesel, which Levasseur says is exceedingly rare. "It's a six-cylinder
diesel, and according to the records that I've seen, they only built them
for two years."
Tractors that Levasseur has restored include the 1947 WC, and the two `56
tractors, the gasoline and the diesel WD45's. The other tractors are in
various states of repair, and will be restored as Levasseur finds the time
and the parts. He repairs them with the help
of his son, Eugene Levasseur, who he credits for the mechan-ical work as
well as the gleam-ing orange paint jobs.
His most recent restoration is the 1947 Allis Chalmers WC (as shown on the
front cover). which received its final paint coating in March of this year.
Levasseur located the tractor in Zurich in 1995, and admits it had very few
mechanical problems.
"It was in pretty good shape." he says. -The work we did on it was mostly
cosmetic. The biggest thing we had to do was to fix the tiny fender tears.
That's a quirk with the Allis Chalmers tractors; the fenders get dinged up
for no apparent reason."
Levasseur is a relatively recent collector of antique tractors. He didn't
own any tractors when he visited his first Steam Threshers' Show in 1975.
His good friend, John Jackson of Wyoming, invited him to the show, and
Levasseur became hooked.
He says it's a wonderful hobby, and one that attracts a close fraternity of
fellow admirers. Those admirers will be in attendance at the Steam
Threshers' Show. Because Allis Chalmers is the featured tractor this year,
the Brigden event for the first time will be the host to The National
Gathering of the Orange, a Michigan-based group that celebrates Allis
Chalmers machinery in the United States.
"The Orange holds only two shows a year, one in the west-ern United States,
and one in the eastern United States," Levasseur explains. "It only rarely
comes to Canada. This will be the first time for Brigden, and only the
second time for Ontario."
Because of the involvement of The Orange at this year's show, Levasseur
expects to see a lot more featured equipment than usual, as well as a lot
more visitors. For example, the Steam Threshers' Association's banquet, to
be held on Saturday, Aug. 19, has sold tickets to Allis Chalmers collectors
from Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Iowa.
"We've also received confirmation that we're going to get Allis Chalmers
enthusiasts visiting our show from as far away as New Zealand, Switzerland
and Britain," he says.
Ray Levasseur, behind the wheel of one of his cher-shed Allis Chalmers
trac-tors. The company is the featured tractor manufacturer at this year's
edition of the Brigden Steam Threshers' Reunion.
Photo by Peter Epp
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