Who is Sam White, Jr.? If you've ever been to a “Growing O” show or been involved with Oliver as a dealer, you're sure to have encountered Sam White at one time or another. And if you did meet him, you most certainly couldn't forget him.

When Oliver first began supplying hay tools to the farmer in the teens, they were not of the Oliver manufacture. Thomas Hay tools were built by the Thomas Manufacturing Co. of Springfield, OH. They provide Oliver with the Thomas Crown mower, a side delivery rake, a tedder, hay loader and even a line of grain drills. The picture shows what the Thomas mower looked like, but it can also be identified by the “B” prefix on all the parts cast on it.

The American Farm Heritage Museum, Greenville, Illinos

It's not uncommon for a group of enthusiast to pull together and have a tractor show, but a group of Southern Illinois folks have much bigger dreams.
American Farm Heritage Museum

By: Landis Zimmerman

Behind every successful venture there is an interesting beginning. Cletrac had a beginning which may be a surprise to many of you.

In the last few years, there have been a few horse-drawn buggies appear at Oliver shows with a tag identifying them as “Built For The Oliver Chilled Plow Works”. Most people have never heard of Sechler but what follows is story about a very successful company that built several different products for Oliver and eventually sold part of the line to the American Seeding Machine Company which later came back to the hands of Oliver.