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A rare, special tractor located and brought home to Nokomis, IL.

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Oliver Heritage is the magazine for enthusiasts of all things Oliver, White, and Cletrac.

P.O. Box 70
Nokomis, IL 62075
Phone: 217-563-8327
Fax: 217-563-8866
sherry@oliverinformation.com

About Landis Zimmerman:

About Larry Harsin

In 1901 Hart-Parr began production of their first tractor. It was rated at 17-30. The 17-30 models were built until 1906

Following the failure of the Little Devil, the Hart-Parr Company came out with a newly designed model, the 12-25.

With the merger of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works and the Hart-Parr Tractor Company, a completely new tractor was designed using ideas from both companies.

In 1937, the Hart-Parr Oliver 70 tractor took on a new streamlined look and became the Oliver 70.

In 1948 Oliver introduced a “New Fleet of Quality Tractors”.

The Super Series were merely updated version of the Fleetline tractors. However, during the Super production a few more models had been added to the line.

In 1958 the Super Series was upgraded to 3-digit series. These consisted of the 440, 550, 660, 770, 880, 990, 995 and 950.

In 1960 Oliver introduced two new models. The 1800 was a replacement for the 880 model.

In 1964 Oliver began to upgrade their previous models to the 50 Series.

In late 1969, Oliver introduced the 55 series of tractors.

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Specializing in Oliver items including hats, t-shirts, patches and more

Manufacturers & Distributors of Seat Assemblies for Farm & Industrial Equipment

Your best source for a full-line of Oliver decals and embroidery service

Reproduction parts for Oliver-built tractors

Parts and services for the Oliver and Cletrac crawler line

Offering Quality Aftermarket Parts, Remanufactured Parts, Original Equipment Replacement Parts For Your Agriculture Equipment

Collectible framed art featuring vintage tractors

Tractor canopies for Oliver tractors

The liquid solution for seized up engines

Upcoming Tractor Rides

Your source for Hercules Motor Parts

Custom Oliver Toys

Antique Farm Tires and more with free delivery to certain shows.

The Half Century of Progress Show in Rantoul, IL expected to be the biggest yet!

Oliver/White/Fiat tractor parts

Larry Harsin’s website and home to “Ask The Oliver Mechanic” question and answer forum

A forum for the discussion of tractors of all brands.

Depicting life-like scenes from the past & present, these lighted art framed pictures will captivate you.

Looking for Oliver toys to add to your collection?

A site to help you sell anything from tractors to farm toys.

Home of the new RFD show This Week In AgriBusiness, featuring Orion Samuelson and Max Armstrong

Home of the I&I Antique Tractor Club of Penfield, IL

Home of the American Farm Heritage Museum in Greenville, IL – Featuring Oliver in 2007

Specializing in diesel pumps and injectors for Oliver, White, MM and Cockshutt tractors

Oliver Schaefer’s site of used tractors and parts for most model

Wiring Harness Specialist

Order your HCEA official show video featuring the Cletrac line

Builders of limited edition Oliver toys and pulling tractors

Parts for the Fiat-built tractors.

Miller Enterprises

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.

The White Motor Corporation entered the decade of the 1970’s focused on meeting the needs of the modern farm with big iron. When White entered the farm equipment world in 1960, a large tractor was just 70 hp, but in just ten years, the 100 hp mark was broken and even surpassed.

Helping someone to identify a manure spreader is something I’m asked to do on a regular basis. I had written a story many years ago about spreaders but due to numerous requests, I’ve updating the story and added a little more information. This article will help you to identify the various models in the earlier years of Oliver and color schemes.

The OC-46: The tractor that made a good start for us
By Landis Zimmerman

The Clyde Weder Oliver dealership is long gone but in it’s day, it was one of the most modern in the area. In fact, when Farm and Power Equipment magazine visited with Clyde’s operation in the 1960’s, they referred to it as the “idea factory”.

Power units have been around longer than the tractor but never quite gained the same popularity in collecting, until recently. Hart-Parr’s first creation was a stationary engine back in 1898. Oliver continued to build power units until 1960 using the same engines of the popular series of tractor of that time.

The Car That Cletrac Built

Rollin Motors Company

Spring is in the air and thoughts turn to fieldwork and preparing the soil for the years bounty. Oliver built a successful line of tillage tools and the 200 series disks were quite popular 50 years ago. With the popularity of “working shows” more people are pulling the Oliver disks out of the fence row and putting them back to work. Signage was minimal on Oliver’s disk so this article will highlight the differences in the 200 series to help you identify your model.

The 71 series engine was first introduced by GM in 1938. The “71” designates 71 cubic inches per cylinder. Therefore the 3-71 used in the Oliver Super 99, 990, 995 and also the Oliver built Massey 98, has 213 cubic inches.

I had always admired the Cletrac model 55, as it resembled a smaller version of the mighty CLetrac 100. Not expecting that any of these machines would be located in a reasonably close vicinity in eastern Pennsylvania, I sort of filed the thought away for the moment.

Tractors restoration often means fixing old parts. There are times when replacement pieces simply cannot be found, and you must restore an original casting or metal part. Cast iron repairs can be a challenge, though, and most restorers would rather hunt down a replacement casting. If the search fails, a cast iron repair might be the only option.

Things are normally calm in Nokomis, Illinois but when i hit the road, there is never a dull moment. This great adventure started in November when I ran into the William Brothers, owners of the Big Bud 747 tractor. They told me about a Big Bud reunion that was going to take place in Havre, Montana in December. This had my attention and I just knew I had to be there. And so the adventure begins.

Each year the Prairie Land show held in Jacksonville, Illinois is one of the last of the antique tractor show's summer season. The grounds itself offers a myriad of activities with a barn filled with museum quality pieces, a flea market and the beloved ham and bean dinner. Each year the club features a tractor and this year it was International Harvester. During their Prairie and Heritage Days, you saw IH from several clubs but for Dave Fleming of Carthrage, Illinois, it was Oliver all the way. Other may have hauled red, but for Dave, it was green, Oliver green.

The Oliver Farm Equipment Company was always looking for a way to attract attention to their products. Whether it was a purple tractor, a crawler that ran over eggs without breaking them or a tractor driving through a parade with no operator, there was always a gimmick.

With the trend turning toward the larger series of tractors, more people are becoming fascinated by a model that has come to be known to many as El Toro. However, there is a bit of misunderstanding where this model is concerned. Most collectors think that if a tractor has Terra Tires on it, that it makes it an El Toro model. However, this is not the case.

When the Cleveland Tractor Company merged with the Oliver Corporation in 1944, this did not set well with some of the Cletrac personnel. This is a common occurrence when new management is put in place. There was some feeling amongst the Cletrac people that the Cleveland Tractor Company was primarily an industrial company and they considered being bought by Oliver, who was primarily a farm equipment manufacturer, was taking a step backwards. A situation like this usually causes some unrest and the offended party begins to look for employment elsewhere. The time was just right- a small new crawler company who was in need of talented personnel was just being born.

In years past, who would have thought that tractor collecting would become a huge as it is today? I mean think about it, maybe Chevelle SS 396, Mustang Cobra Jet or Dodge Super Bee are worthy of an extensive restoration but an Oliver 77 or 1550? Come on now, that old Fleetline did a wonderful job pulling a Grainmaster combine and that 1550 looked great on a 6-row rear-mounted cultivator, but those days are over.... or are they?

While the great flood of 2008 affected many lives in its path, it also took a toll on one of Charles City, Iowa's most memorable landmarks- The Swinging Bridge.

The Oliver Corporation was well-known as an equipment manufacturing company devoted to the farm industry. But did you realize that Oliver also had a hand in building airplanes??

Since we've been talking about an Oliver orchard tractor in this issue, it's only fitting we talk about some of the orchard implements manufactured by Oliver.

For those who collect paper, finding an Oliver Sheild magazine is like finding a high crop sitting in an salvage yard. It is the ultimate find. The sheild was first introduced on July 1, 1929. Those issues put out in the early years and during the war and very hard to find and quite pricey if you do manage to locate one at an auction.

Oliver’s long line of successful balers goes back as far as the early 1900’s when Horace Tallman became an agent for the Ann Arbor Machine Company. The Tallman family was involved in the baler business for nearly half a century and left their mark on the industry, which has been recognized by the ASAE. Since the Tallman name was never on the baler, they are often overlooked in the history books. This is the story of their contribution to the mechanization of farm equipment.

In Issue #24 we covered the Trend truck, which was built by White Motors truck division in Lansing, Michigan. In addition to the full-size truck, White also offered a 1/16th scale small model of this vehicle.

We honor our parents in many different ways. Cards of appreciation, celebrations for special birthdays or anniversaries, maybe even a special trip or cruise arranged by family members.

For Wayne Fredericks and his family, the desire to honor their father Gerald took a slightly different path. One that was tied to the rich Iowa tradition of farming and the strong unity that is developed within farm families.

After using the Buda model R engine in the Cleveland Model R crawler tractor, Rollin H. White turned to the Weidely Engine Company of Indianapolis, IN as an engine supplier for the model H and W. Sometimes in the early 1920’s, the Weidely engine suddenly disappeared and was replaced by Cletrac’s own engine. In this story we will clarify a few things that led to this change and the people behind it.

The H.F. Davis Tractor Company of Massachusetts was certainly the most important guiding force that put Cletrac and later Oliver Industrial on the market. From the early days of the Walsh Snowplows to the Ware Machine venture, the sidewalk snowplows and the Slopekats and many other important innovations, the world owes Ray Davis and the H.F. Davis Tractor Company a standing ovation for their contributions to the Oliver Industrial world.

Every so often you hear a story of a lost pet that returns home after an unimaginable journey across miles and miles of country. Well it seems that there are times when a family tractor can have a similar story!

White Motors had been in the truck business the early 1920’s. In 1957 they acquired the REO truck company of Lansing, Michigan. In 1958 they also acquired the Diamond T truck company of Chicago, IL. In 1960 White moved production of the Diamond T to REO’s Lansing, MI plant, creating the Lansing Division of White Motors. And as we all know, in 1960 they decided to diversify and purchased the Oliver Corporation, adding farm equipment to their line.

By the mid 1920’s Cletrac crawlers were becoming proven snow plowing tractors. Cletrac’s controlled differential steering unit, which supplied power to both tracks at all times and its ample underbelly clearance, allowed it to keep going when other machines had already given up.

It has been an argument between collectors and brands for many years. “Fox built the Oliver forage harvesters!” “No they did not.” It’s time to set the record straight. Oliver did indeed build their own.

Before there were Oliver dealers, there were Oliver agents. An agent basically handled certain sideline items as well as doing what they did for a living. For example, there were many blacksmiths who were Oliver agents. Their livelihood was as a blacksmith but they also sold Oliver plows on the side.

When loggers began working in the big timber country of the Pacific Northwest and California, they encounter much larger trees than they had ever seen in the east. It was common to find old growth trees that were 12-14 feet across the stump and over 200 feet tall. These gigantic trees included, Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, cedar, Sitka Spruce and Redwoods, plus more.

When the fleetline series was first introduced, it used a cushioned seat that was bolted rigid to the tractors. The introduction of the Fleetline series brought a lot of publicity to the Oliver Corporation. The new line caught the eye of a company called Bostrom. This seat manufacturer was already well-known to truck builders and soon work began to develop a seat especially for the Fleetlines.

Steve Metcalfe of Springport, IN was tired of going to shows and being worn out at the end of the day. Due to insurance regulations, some shows don’t allow golf carts and all of the walking can be draining after a long day. Steve had seen custom built miniature tractors before and decided he wanted to build one to take to the shows.

In the last two issues of Oliver Heritage we told you about Ware Machine Works’ successful loaders for the Oliver crawler and wheel tractors. There is more yet to tell. So pull up a chair and sit down while we tell you about Ware’s successful line of Hydro-Trenchers or more commonly known as backhoes.

The Oliver farm equipment line was a US company, however there were unknown opportunities available overseas.

Every dealer has a story to tell. Unfortunately most dealers have left this earth by now taking a lot of valuable information with them. The Doyle Potts dealership is one of those. All that remain are pictures and family members who are now regaining their interest in the family roots. Unfortunately not much is known about this particular dealership but sometimes a story is the best way to get information.

Over the years that I have been involved in the propane business I have been approached many times with questions about propane carburetion problems, especially on farm tractors. While there are a few occasions when the problem can be accountable to the LP fuel system, more often it is a combination of several small mechanical engine problems leading to some false conclusions about the real cause.

In the last issue of Oliver Heritage, we told you all about the successful loaders that Ware Machine Works built for the Oliver crawler tractors.

Fifty years ago, a quiet little town in Adams Co. Ohio was about to be turned upside down, literally. Peebles, OH, with a population of 1800, was a rural town dotted with quaint family farms. It was a self-contained village with all the businesses uptown that the residents needed. For many of those in Adams County, there was never a need to live the county. But this little town was about to become known world wide as the home of the World Plowing Match and Conservation Expo.

I first met Luke Rizzuto at the HPOCA summer show in Canandaigua, NY in 1999. The love of Oliver tractors, mostly Cletracs and Oliver Crawlers, started a lasting friendship until this day. Our visits have always included an adventure, and the best one happened in July of 2004 when we went in search of a Cletrac that had tumbled down a California canyon in the mid 1950's.

Just across the river from Port Hudson, Michigan, stands the city of Sarnia, Ontario. Before the turn of the century, Sarnia was the home of a thriving business that would leave an indelible mark on the agricultural landscape of not only Ontario, but all of Canada, and several American States as well. Not unlike other companies of the day, this one, it its earlier years, would also see name changes as well as product line up changes.