Allis Chalmers Model 170 Farm Tractor Seat Refurbish
- Thread starter 29 Chev
- Start date
I believe he is one of our many Northern neighbors up in Ontario. Stew is always willing to help out in any way he can. As you can see with his upholstery thread he’s very talented along with fun tutorials to follow.
Grew up on a farm in Southwestern Ontario - born in the mid 50's. Learned how to do chores and that there were two ways to get something you wanted or needed - buy it or make it - there is another option but I like to sleep at nights and look myself in the mirror in the morning. Growing up I also tinkered in my dads repair garage where he fixed tractors, cars and made implements such as snowblowers for himself and others. Learned most of my mechanical knowledge from him when I was smart enough to pay attention and keep my mouth shut. My mother also taught me there is no such thing as gender specific work so I learned how to sew, bake and wash and dry dishes among other things. They both grew up during the depression and as a result made a lot of stuff that people naturally go to a store for in todays world. At 20 I got my first real car (68 Chevelle 2 door) and after a year I decided it needed a pair of bucket seats and a 4 speed rather than the bench seat. Got a pair of hi back buckets out of an early 70's dart that were white and tattered at an auto wreckers which of course did not match a black interior. Asked the local upholsterer how much to recover them - he smiled and suggested I would not like the price but knew my families history and said he would sell me the vinyl and I could do the job myself. Always been a hands on do it yourself type of person with big dreams and almost empty wallet so got the material and with my mothers help started to disassemble a cover to find out how the cover was constructed and to use the pieces as patterns. Cut out new vinyl and got some 1/2" padding and flour sacks for to use as backing and started to make the pleats. Learned quickly that my moms sewing machine ran way faster than I was comfortable with and a few bad words popped out of my quick to open mouth. It was strongly suggested I stop for a bit and the next weekend my mom and dad went for a drive while I cut up and split firewood and a short time later came back with an old Raymond treadle machine in the back of the pickup. I was told this was my sewing machine and that I should use it in the far shop to finish my seat covers which I did over the next few months. The seat covers I made were far from perfect but I did get them sewn up and installed and over the next few years I did little sewing jobs for myself. Worked most of my adult life and around 2010 got hit with the love / refurbish bug for garden tractors of which I had a couple of Bolens 1050's that needed seat covers to look more original. Up until that point I had done what a lot of people do and go to TSC or Princess Auto and purchase an off the shelf seat and adapt it to fit. Found out that while they looked nice for a few years the metal would soon crack and the material was not near the quality of what was supplied back in the 60's and 70's. One had only the metal pan and the other had padding and a sewn up cover that did not have the correct pleat pattern or colour. Tried to find a supplier online for new covers but none that I saw offered suited me so decided with the help of some pictures to try and make my own. Took several attempts and lots of learning but eventually I applied what I knew and learned watching online videos and eventually I got to where I felt comfortable tackling a seat for others if the mood struck. Strictly a hobby for me and the shipping costs and import / export laws in Canada make it challenging to do much work where I require a seat to be sent to me but it gives me a bit of tractor money which is always handy. During my journey of life many people have shared and taught me great knowledge and by doing a thread lie this it is my way of paying back by showing others what is possible if they decide to tackle a project like this - I find a lot of people fear upholstery projects but to me I view it as similar to riveting two pieces of metal together. You are using thread rather than rivets and the pieces tend to shrink or stretch sometimes but there are ways of compensating for that and you can usually end up with a decent looking job that you can say you did yourself.
For those interested I have done a couple of in depth tutorials on seat covers on GTTalk - here are a couple of links. They go into more depth and have links to videos for some of the sewing instructions. I try to cover all the steps involved in them and not gloss over any like a lot of instructional tutorials sometimes do.
Recovering A Bowl Or Dish Style Seat Pan With The...
Making A New Seat Cover For A Lawn Tractor
Enjoyed reading your story Stew a great heritage to be proud of. When I was in junior high school I had already taken metal and wood shop. Our home economics class was open for boys too but nobody had the guts to sign up. I’ve always liked a challenge so guess what I was wearing an apron for awhile. What was so funny I was pretty far advanced because like you said Stew no gender jobs in my house either. It was actually easier for my mom to teach me than my two sisters. My dad could fix anything so I was busy everywhere growing up.
I remember those projects Stew over on GTtalk. A lot of good stuff.
I remember those projects Stew over on GTtalk. A lot of good stuff.
I appreciate you sharing your history, Stew! We must be close in age! I was raised by my mom so never got shop time with dad. Had to try to make up for it on my own. I did re-upholster the seat on my MF12G---using a cover from an old computer chair---LOL! It's still hanging in there after 10 or 11 years---LOL!
Please keep posting projects like this! Very educational!
DAC
Please keep posting projects like this! Very educational!
DAC
Nothing wrong with using a cover off of one seat on another one. My dad repurposed seat covers and interiors from newer cars when he brought a couple of 29 Chev coupes back to life back in the late 1960's.
It took a couple of weeks but today the customer sent me some pictures of the seat bottom and back installed. I stand corrected as the seat is on an Allis Chalmers Model 175D - my apologies for posting it was off a model 170.
Here are the pictures - hope you enjoy them
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Welcome to the forum. Not sure why you would make a comment like that on the thread? Pictures were already posted of the seat finished and installed.