Allis-Chalmers 7580

May

Thu May 01, 2008

by Peter Simpson

At the same time, Allis-Chalmers was looking at entering the large high-horsepower tractor market. An agreement was reached between Steiger and Allis-Chalmers whereby the Series 1 Steiger Bearcat was built in the A-C Orange livery. In 1972, Allis-Chalmers introduced the A-C 440, powered by a Cummins V-8 engine producing 208 engine horse-power.

The 7000 Series of two-wheel-drive tractors from Allis-Chalmers was introduced in 1973 and were described as a clean-sheet design. The 7000 Series looked totally different from any previous A-C tractor. Once all the tooling was in place and production of the 2WD tractors was fully underway at West Allis, Wis., the management team could plan building its own 4WD tractor in-house which was to replace the ageing Steiger-built 440.

In 1975, Allis-Chalmers introduced its own built 4WD articulated tractor, the 7580 to replace the A-C 440. The 7580, was described as "The beast built to eat acres, not fuel." The 7580 was powered by a 426-cubic-inch A-C 3,750 Mark II, six-cylinder turbocharged and intercooled diesel engine producing 222 engine horsepower at 2,550 rpm. [Subscribe to Toy Farmer and read the rest of this article.]