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Unofficial Home of Old Simplicity & Allis-Chalmers Garden Tractors

AC / Simplicity sales data


dallenx

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Does anyone know or could take a guess on the sales data for the different regions. It seems like there are a whole bunch of AC/Simp owners east of the big river. Driving the back country roads of the northwest for four years looking for a good deal and I've only seen one AC for sale (mine now), and one '70s Simp not for sale (he said no).
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You have hit on a subject that I would like to know more about. I grew up in Nebraska, I never saw an AC or Simplicity garden tractor until I moved to Indiana(my Dad is a staunch Deere lover, gives me a hard time about my AC's). It appears to me that even today there are no Simplicity dealers west of the Missouri and east of the Rockies, maybe west of the Rockies too. In looking over member profiles, it seems that nearly all of the members from the west have AC's. AC/Simplities seem to be concentrated in the Midwest east of the Missouri and the Northeast. A few in the South. It is perplexing to me that Simplicity is not a nationwide marketer! Can anybody shed some light on the subject? I would also like to know how Agco Corp. and Simplicity work together. It appears that Simplicity actually owns the Agco-Allis and Massey-Ferguson names for use on garden tractors. Can this be true?
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I think since most of them were made in wisconson it made it a regional item just a guess but there is always the chance I am right.BTW in Downers grove Illinois A-C lawnmower's were big there my grandpa bought one in 1961 put it in the shed came out to show it to a friend and someone had stolen it! So they bought another one.My dad and my uncle cut more lawns with that B-10 than the friends with cub's and deere's I now have that B-10 and love it sorry to go on I just wanted to share the story. -BradW
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Hi, Simplicity is very strong East of The Mississippi. It is stronger in Iowa in the Eastern 1/2 as you go West it diminishes. My rep also works Nebraska and there are few dealers there, but they are working hard in that market. In the early days Simplicity built the AC' tractors, but AC distributed them and had their own parts distribution system. The AC parts also had different part numbers. It was like two competeing companies. The Allis Implement block man also handled the lawn and graden part and in Iowa The Simplicity line was marketed through a distributor, Power Tools in Minneapolis. They also distributed snowmobiles and Mc Culloch and kerosene heaters and then went under in the mid 80s. When that happened we went factory direct and the factory hired the rep that called on us. In the 80s Allis started importing the 5000 series Simplicity 9000 series diesels. Whe we got them they had hood decals for both Allis and Simplicity and whichever dealer you were you put those decals on the hoods. Then the farm crises came and Allis was in financial trouble and sold Simplicity [end of diesels 9500 series] to a holding company headed by Wm Simon, former Sec of Treas. [I believe] under Nixon. They also owned Aircap, hence the Sim. {Aircap] walk mowers for a couple of years. Later the Company became a totally employee owned company. During this period Duetz bought Allis and the world turned Green. The dealer setup remained the same with Deuta-Allis handling everything on their side of the fence. Later Deutz sold Allis to a group that has Absorbed White [Oliver], Long, Massy Ferguesen, David Brown, and a bunch of other ag companies and has become a very powerful force in the Ag world. Curently my Simplicity rep calls on all of the dealer and sets them up Simplicity, Agco-Allis and Massey Ferguesen. All of the tractors are shipped from Simplicity and the parts also. I have no idea as to the financial arrangements, But I have sold Massey units and AGCO units and have one in stock now. This may not be exactly accurate, but generally follows what I remember over the last 20 years. Compared to some of the other companies Simplicity has been relatively small and has really marketed the Eastern half of the United States more successfully than the West. This would be a logical approach, because you reach a much greater population that way and you get more bang for your marketing buck. As they are growing they are pushing West and doing quite a bit in Europe with certain models. So much for the trivia hope its not too boring, Al
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Thanks for the gloomy outlook on scrounging parts. Just kidding! I may have to find out what the max weight UPS can ship so I can deal on some of these good 'for sale' ads. There's some pieces in GA but that's a long way to drive.
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There is a Simplicity dealer in Washington state; he's in Bellingham. Bad news he's a dealer in name only, he sells those Green and Yellow tractors ( his entire inventory is that color!). He does have a really neat Simplicity Clock on the wall! He will order parts for you, but boy are his prices high! His parts ordering is subject to availability; and he says that the parts come from a warehouse in Portland Oregon. There are very few Simplicity Tractors up in my neck of the woods, as the smart people hang onto them and the dumb ones strip them down and make lawnmower racers out of them! Simplicity never did catch on up in this area due to the price, lack of knowledge about the Brand and the popularity of Fords, Masseys, Deeres etc. I'd love to see a dealership reopen in this area, but I don't think it would survive due to the cheap throw away tractors, and public stupidity! Well that's my two bits worth, hope it helps and informs; without raising anyones hackles. Dick
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