The 25th Orange Spectacular

When we entered the fairground we parked and entered a huge fair building that contained the toy show. Wow!! Of course Allis Chalmers was the main brand, but all brands were represented at the toy show. Being a toy fan that was a fun start to the day. While admiring the toys we heard an announcement that the parade had begun.   So we went out on the street between the fair buildings and watched Allis after Allis go by!!  They had garden tractors, the early green 20-35’s, WCs, WDs, D-whatevers, and even newer models! We marveled at some of the restorations!!! Unbelievable quality!!!

One of the favorite places for visitors at the show is the swap meet areas. One comment I heard was, “I didn’t know so many people sold AC parts!!”  One problem this year was weather. Bruce and I attended on Sunday, July 24th, 2016.  On Saturday, July 23rd, they had 4 inches of rain!!! I talked to a few of the vendors there and was told the streets were nearly knee deep in water and the tornado sirens were sounding!!!  The soggy conditions forced some of the swap meet participants to leave because they were set up in a grassy area on the edge of the fairgrounds and it was too wet. We were lucky Sunday was a nice day for us although some areas still were a little waterlogged!!

Next we went to one of my favorite parts, the threshing area. They had a line up of Roto Balers and All Crop Combines.  They gave a presentation on the history of the Roto Baler and also the All Crop Combine.  It was fun to listen in!! But I kept waiting for the threshing to begin. We  decided on lunch at a little stand selling foot long hot dogs or brats (one of my favorite parts of the fair or show.......FOOD!). Finally, the threshers were firing up!!  Here is the interesting part!!!  To run the orange Allis threshing machine they hooked two tractors up to one threshing machine!!  The belt was put on the threshing machine and then pulled out straight.  First an RC Allis was lined up about half way down the outstretched belt.   The owner had added a custom built idler wheel. The belt went over the idler then down to the belt pulley, and then under the back axel to a C Allis Chalmers with a belt pulley mounted on the rear of the tractor. The belt then hooked on the little C, while also running on the RC belt pulley!! First the C fired up his pulley and the thresher started running. Then,  the fellow on the RC cracked the throttle and the thresher began to run even faster and away they went threshing three small loads of wheat bundles! As they were adding to the straw pile a D-19 Allis pulled up with a 303 Allis square baler with an ejector and a wagon and began baling up the straw as a couple of energetic fellows pitched in the straw!! Another kid pulled up with a Roto baler but he never did pull in and start baling. I was hoping to watch him crank out a few small round bales.  

We decided to start making our way back to the gate.  I made a stop at the “ladies” building where I bought  my wife some honey and an Allis Chalmers dish towel.  I know, I shouldn’t spoil her so much!!!  I had to have another stop at the toy building and bought a toy I’ve always wanted. You see when I started farming I bought a D-21 Allis Chalmers at an auction sale near Newfolden. That was 20 years ago and I still have the D-21 and use it for most of my field work.  So, yes, I found a toy D-21 in my price range. My birthday is coming up, so I guess Happy Birthday to me!!

That concluded our day and we were back on the road. If you are free the fourth weekend in July,  and you like Allis Chalmers, head to Hutchinson, MN, for the Orange Spectacular!!  I highly recommend it!!