Sometimes, the best decision is made by someone else

By Mychal Wilmes
wilmes@agrinews.com

Date Modified: 04/08/2010 9:04 AM

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I have always wanted to own an Allis Chalmers WD, most likely because it was the only new tractor Dad ever owned. It was a package deal, the new tractor and an International baler for just a little more than $2,000.

The WD is in the tractor graveyard, but before it died Dad cultivated thousands of acres with it and weighed it down with the mounted Allis Chalmers two-row corn picker. The picker, an awkward and dangerous unit that seemed to outweigh the tractor, to mount and tear apart when it broke.

A Lake City farmer stopped by the Agri News booth during last week's farm show and said he had a WD for sale. The engine had been gone through and it runs fine. I didn't ask about the fenders or anything else, maybe because my head was already filled with Allis Chalmers orange. Across the way in another booth and AC collector's club offered $2 chances on a perfectly restored AC — a D-17 or something a little smaller. A wonderfully restored tractor is always a marvel to see. Do-it-yourself restorers put in tons of hours repairing and search for sometimes hard-to-find parts, which can be expensive, if one is prone to worry over such things. The end product is too valuable to count the cost. Besides, a restorer does it for a hobby, not to make money like some sort of Wall Street tycoon.

My immediate reaction was to tell the Lake City farmer I'd take the WD, but that was before common sense kicked in.

At the least, my wife would expected a telephone call to tell her what I was about to do. At worst — and in these cases there is always a worst — she would firmly say "no'' because we can't afford it. She would be right about that, given a wedding must be paid for and at summer's end a son to send to college.

A man has a way of justifying such things. Basing buying decisions on wants instead of needs can lead to financial trouble. My conscience suggested that I call a brother, who has an affinity for Allis and might want to buy it with me on halves. He is also a noted haggler, one willing to scuttle a $10,000 purchase over a $100 price difference. It could well be that is one reason why he has a great deal more money than me.

In any case, the WD is on the back burner until I have sit-down chat with Kathy. She is owed that much. I highly doubt she will understand my emotional attachment to a tractor that I haven't driven since the early 1970s. The WD, as tractors go, was a Mercedes Benz compared to the WC and its brake handles mounted on near the fenders. If a youth could handle a WC, he was ready for almost anything other than a John Deere A and its spinning wheel starter.

The current plan involves being especially nice to Kathy.

I have made mistakes before, but those were made at auctions. Auctions cause bidding emotions to get out of control and prices paid sometimes get out of hand. That's is why I live by the $10 rule, which is not to bid on anything that goes above that amount. It's restrictive, given that about all that can be had for that amount is a box of what some would call junk bolts, wrenches of questionable worth and do-dads with no readily apparent use. Ten dollars will get you pitchforks, hoes, rakes and maybe a man-powered tiller. However, those types of purchases generally don't generally cause Kathy to question by sanity or priorities.

I haven't decided on the WD yet. The longer I wait, chances grow that the tractor will be gone. If that happens, I'll kick myself, but at least the decision will have been made for me.

Sometimes the best decisions are made by someone else.