Oliver Heritage Issue #103

Oliver Heritage Issue #103 Jun/Jul 2021 

• FEATURING: Oliver 2655 - A Minneapolis Moline Design with an Oliver Name. If you were a Minneapolis-Moline or Oliver dealer in the late-‘60s/early-‘70s, you needed a scorecard to keep up with the changes going on under the White Motors flag.The 2655 was advertised with the slogan, “Designed for the dawn of a new day in farming.” It was “nine tons of muscle” with every ounce to be put to work. Feature tractor owner: Kyle Jackson - Daleville, IN.

• The 40 Series: The Plow to the World. While it is not known “exactly” when the No. 40 was introduced, it was already setting records in 1874. At the Grange Picnic in Fort Wayne, Indiana, there were many different types of plows tested. When the dirt had settled in the solid clay soil, the winner with the lightest in draft was the No. 40.

• Oliver Uniforms: Dressed for Success. After WWII, dealerships were popping up around the country as men returning home from war chose their next career path. Shop uniforms were provided by T.S. Lankford & Sons at the time and became quite common. Lankford went into business in 1920 with 18 sewing machines. Their specialty was government and commercial accounts. It appears they worked with Oliver during the 1950s providing coveralls, shop coats, shirts and pants, as well as caps. 

• Cletrac Facts: Cletrac Tractors Serve Potato Farmers Well. Read about such companies as L.G. Schutte, The Webster Canning Co., A.B. Farquhar Co., and The Pennsylvania Potato Growers Association.

• Another Oliver User: Ron Melchert of Seymour, Wisconsin, was able to stay connected to his family’s Century Farm, but he also works as a service manager a few miles away at a former Oliver/White dealership.

• White-Oliver 476 Chisel Plow: By the 1970s, soil conservation was on every farmer’s mind. Whether it was conserving moisture, preventing erosion, or just killing deeply rooted weeds, the chisel plow was the tool to have. Oliver was ready to fill that need with 3-point mounted, pull-type, and even folding chisel plows for farmers of every size. The 476 was sold as an Oliver, a Cockshutt, and a White.