COLUMN: Carillon Flashback October 7, 2021 – Former tractor mechanic enjoyed retirement hobby

Six decades ago a young tractor mechanic spent 10 years working on the latest Allis Chalmers models for a Steinbach implement dealer. Back then, the tractors were almost all brand new. In 2021, when Ben Unger finished working on one of those vintage orange tractors, it still looked like it had just rolled off the assembly line.

Still active in his eighties, (two years before his death in 2023) Unger told The Carillon he expected some of the dozen tractors he still had in storage, awaiting his attention, may have to be restored by the next generation. In the meantime, he spoke enthusiastically about his retirement hobby and his latest project.

He was in the midst of converting a gas job into a diesel model, creating a hybrid restoration of the Allis Chalmers WD 45 that came out in 1956, with a choice of motors.

The WD 45 gas model and WD 45 diesel models are virtually the same tractor, with the exception of the motor, he explained.

There were earlier diesel tractors at the time, but this may have been one of the first agricultural tractors to come in both engines.

The Allis Chalmers WD 45 diesel engine was a little longer than the gas model, so Unger would have to modify the frame of his gas model tractor to fit in the motor. One of the big challenges would be to find a new hood.

He knew where he could get one for $800 Canadian, but hoped he did not need to go that route.

“That’s one thing about restoring old tractors. You can always get any parts you need, if you have enough money.”

It would not have been polite to ask Unger how much he had invested in his retirement hobby since 2000, and, in any event, it didn’t matter. For a farmer to be able to retire, and spend his leisure doing what he loves, is indeed rare, and should not carry with it a price tag.

Enjoying his retirement, Ben said he appreciated the family being close by. Whenever he voiced a concern about some restoration project he was working on, in no time at all, he got all the help he needed.

The last week in September of 2021, 10 tractors were still lined up along the driveway. They had been brought out earlier for the annual tractor trek, which was cancelled due to COVID.

Ben chuckled as he told The Carillon that the green one at the front of the line was not a John Deere that he snuck into the display by mistake.

The green model is the oldest of Unger’s tractors, and the 1929 Allis Chalmers 20-35 was the last green tractor Allis Chalmers manufactured before the company colors changed to orange in 1930, he explained.

Ben said he spent more time on that tractor than any other restoration and parts were a challenge to obtain. He had his own welding equipment and a lathe, so he did not need to go to the local machine shops too often, because what he couldn’t buy, he could make.

The most interesting tractor in the line is the 1948 Model D garden tractor, which was one of Ben’s first restorations in 2000.

This just-like-new working model was put to use in the Ungers’ own garden in 2021 and attachments include a plow, a cultivator, a corn planter and sickle mower.

Unger never really thought about restoration of tractors until 2000. Before that, farming was a priority that took up most of his time. He also spent 40 years as a pastor at the Rosengard EMC.

While most of his spare time was taken up with restoration of his own equipment, on occasion Unger would help out the Mennonite Heritage Village on one of their projects.

The 2021 project was a horse-drawn sprayer, which would spray a seven-foot path.

That sprayer operated on two horse power, while modern sprayers are powered by more than 500 horse power.

When Unger quit working as a mechanic, tractor sizes were in the 150-horsepower range. His 2021 collection included tractors ranging from 10 horsepower to 85 horsepower.

Ben hadn’t sold any of his restored tractors and said they still were not for sale. It may have been different if the family was not interested. He said Ray was very interested and the next generation may be interested as well.