FOR THE OWNERS AND USERS OF CLETRAC CRAWLER TRACTORS

A salute to the premiere issue of OLIVER HERITAGE!

To some of you, I am a familar face. However, to those of you that we haven’t yet met, let me take a moment of your time to tell you a little about myself, my family and my occupation. My wife, Esther, and I have a family of five boys and four girls (ages 17 to 1 year) which are all interested in Oliver-Cletrac in some way, shape or form. I am the managing partner of Zimmerman Oliver-Cletrac. My two brothers, Ray and Harold, along with Steve Stauffer make up the other parts of the business. Our two oldest sons, Jeffrey – 16, and Timothy – 14, are already learning the trade. The three youngest boys, Steven 6, Floyd 4, and Luke 1, are strong supporters of the Oliver-Cletrac name. Our company provides parts and service for the Oliver-Cletrac crawler tractor line. This has grown from a sideline business to a fulltime operation. Parts are shipped all over the world on a daily basis.

Now let me tell you a little about the title of this page. CLETRAC FACTS was the publication of the Cleveland Tractor Company (similiar to the Oliver Shield). It was primarily for the salesmen, distributors and dealers of Cletrac equipment. This magazine was published from 1932 until up to or close to the Oliver buyout in 1944. Initially, it was published twice a month and then, later on, once a month. Usually, it contained a story of a Cletrac owner along with pictures of Cletracs at work in many different applications in both agricultural and industrial fields. A typical issue would have from 8 to12 pages. Today these magazines are hard to find. I consider myself lucky to possess the few that I have.

As time goes on, this page will be devoted to anything and everything Cletrac. This will range from amusing incidents to service problems that we will address. We will also discuss some historical data at times. We also welcome any input from the readers of this magazine pertaining to Cletrac subjects and problems that they would like to see discussed.

On February 26, 2004, our company hosted an open house for our Oliver-Cletrac customers and friends. Everyone was given the chance to operate several of our Oliver crawlers. Seeing everyone enjoying themselves makes an event like this worthwhile to put on. I was enjoying myself as much as everyone else. We were happy to have all of you with us for a day of fun, fellowship and tractor talk. A few lucky ones were priviledged to get pulled out of the mud with an OC-4!

Check out every issue of Oliver Heritage for more facts on Cletracs and other exciting information from the readers and writers of Oliver Heritage