Buying a tractor on Ebay is something I never thought I would do but in February of 2007 a listing appeared offering a 28-50 Hart-Parr. According to the serial number of 71620 it was a 1930 model, the last year they were built. The serial number tags read “Mfg. by the Oliver Farm Equipment Company, Charles City, Iowa.” The photo on the listing showed a tree growing up between the frame and the fuel tank and the engine was stuck. After a few emails to the seller I decided to bid on the tractor located in southeast Kansas. When the hammer fell I was the new owner of a 28-50.

The White Farm Equipment story began in November 1960 with the acquisition of Oliver Heritage readers’ favorite brand - Oliver. In issues #33 and #34 of Oliver Heritage we began tracing the corporate strategy of White Motors to market and produce three popular brands of farm equipment under the Oliver/Minneapolis-Moline/Cockshutt names. The keystone of the White Farm Equipment brands was the Oliver Farm Equipment Company and its vast line of tractors and machinery.

Farming in California is much different from anything we know about in the east of the Midwest. One of the biggest differences is the fact that in certain parts of California, everything needed to be irrigated if you expected to harvest a crop. Ditch irrigation was the most common way to get water to the right place in the fields. This required a completely level field for best and consistent results. After the leveling process was completed, irrigation ditches were laid out and dug.

Oliver had been widely known as an agricultural company even though industrial models were part of their lineup. Their industrial line began to pick up strength in the late 1940’s and early 50’s. Part of their strength came from a company located far from the Midwestern factories of Oliver. This company would join forces with Oliver and help them market equipment that is very collectible today. Like Oliver, the company is no longer around to savor the success of their product line.

Oliver began providing tractor for other company’s in the early 1930’s. These tractors would have the Cockshutt name on them and sold by Cockshutt dealers. This would be the only farm equipment manufacturer that Oliver would provide tractors for until 1959 after being approached by Massey Ferguson.

In this issue of Oliver Heritage we will trace the second branch of the White Farm Equipment family tree in the early part of the 1970’s. Cockshutt is our focus as we take a snap shot look at the White subsidiary based north of the border.

The concept of a general-purpose crawler tractor wasn’t a new idea for the Cleveland Tractor Company in 1934. The company had enjoyed success with the Cletrac Model F about a dozen years earlier. Several different push-type cultivators had been developed to use with this small tractor making it a handy tool for weed removal.

The years from 1970 to 1975 were an interesting time in the history of Oliver and its two sister brands in the White Motor family. This period of time can also be a confusing time period for WHITE-Oliver fans to follow. In the next three issues of Oliver Heritage we will look back at the history of the three tractor brands that formed White Farm Equipment in the five years leading up to their consolidation into WHITE. First up is the Minneapolis-Moline story of the early 1970’s.

Oliver started work on a heavy-duty tractor in the midst of World War II. Speculation leads us to believe it was in an attempt to sell it to the government for building airstrips. It would be three years later before production actually began with the tractor that was basically a 99 with a facelift.