Product Description

The Allis-Chalmers WD-45 was a mid-1950s row-crop tractor produced in West Allis, Wisconsin, sold widely across the Midwest corn belt and dairy country. According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, the WD-45’s brake bands (mounted at the differential outputs) and its clutch friction disc allegedly contained chrysotile asbestos in a phenolic binder. Both were replaceable wear items, and many WD-45 units received multiple brake and clutch rebuilds during multi-decade working lives on family farms.

Workers Exposed

WD-45 owners typically handled their own brake and clutch service, allegedly disturbing chrysotile-containing friction material with hand tools and compressed air in barn shops. Farm-equipment mechanics at Allis-Chalmers dealer service departments and independent tractor shops performed brake and clutch overhauls as standard shop practice. Tractor-restoration hobbyists working on decades-old WD-45 units continue to allegedly encounter original friction material during frame-off restorations.