Allis Chalmers Roots Run Deep in North Dakota Family

Allis Chalmers everything.

That describes the Hurtt family from Hoople, ND. Today I got a fun email from Tom Hurtt. He was the lucky winning bidder on a cool (no pun intended) Allis Chalmers refrigerator sold on a September 16, 2017 auction in Eden, SD, see picture below. It sold for $250.

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"I talked to the owner and he told me that no one in the crowd believed it was real so no one bid on it," said Hurtt.  "Their loss. He said his mother in law  bought it from a local AC dealership in the late 60’s."

Turns out that isn't the only Allis Chalmers refrigerator Hurtt owns. Check out the world's coolest (again, no pun intended) college dorm fridge:

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Tom Hurtt is now Store Manager for Butler Machinery Company (http://www.butlermachinery.com) in Hoople, ND. But the Hurtt family goes back to 1964 with Allis Chalmers.

"My father Lowell Hurtt, Sr. and 3 friends  started the dealership in 1964 as H and L Implement," said Hurtt.  "Lowell bought out his partners in 1967 and moved into Hoople ND as Hoople Farm Supply.  In 1985 his three sons purchased it, we built a new building outside town on highway 18 and renamed it Hurtt Equipment. It was operated by us, Tom Hurtt, Dan Hurtt, and JR Hurtt until 2010 when we sold it to Butler Machinery and all 3 of us remain here at Hoople store as Cat and AGCO-Challenger store."

Here's a pic Tom sent me of his father Lowell Hurt out in front of their Allis Chalmers dealership in Hoople, ND back in the day:

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I love looking at these old dealership photos from back 40, 50 plus years ago. Quite often the dealership building was located right on Main Street in small town USA. You can see in this pic, Hoople Farm Supply was right across the street from the American Legion Club. Look at the physical size of the old dealerships.

Imagine trying to wheel 3 or 4 Claas 9 Combines in for pre-harvest tune ups. Times have really changed. Here's another cool pic Tom Hurtt sent...a row of Allis Chalmers tractors back in the day:

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Tom Hurtt and his brothers are avid Allis Chalmers collectors, as witnessed by the pair of cool fridges. Here's a pic of J.R. Hurtt on their restored Allis Chalmers D21:

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And here is Tom's D15:

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"I also have an original running AC Golf Cart and Terra Tiger along with 12 tractors from 1928 to 1968," said Hurtt. Here are couple fun pics of Hurtt's extensive and sometimes unusual Allis Chalmers collection:

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For all you Allis Chalmers lovers out there around the world, I'll leave you with our Machinery Pete Youtube Playlist of Allis Chalmers related videos, 22 in all. Click here to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxL9aC4KqFA&list=PLvxJortKouOnEB2t3JQj1xOqR0pE--dYy

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http://www.machinerypete.com