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Oliver tractors

Foxmxrcer

Cherokar!
Joined
May 24, 2020
Member Number
1348
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56
Loc
Newport pa
I know there's some farmers on here, anyone know much about Oliver's? I'm looking into a 1655 to use primarily for hay duties. It's a wide front, 2wd, diesel tractor. I know it's got enough power and mass to pull the haybine, but what are these things going for? I don't see many for sale. Obviously condition is key, but for a standard condition, still being used, running and driving 1655, anybody got a ball park other than about tree fiddy? Anything to look out for on them?
 
Price would depend on hours and overall condition. Prices between 5000 and 9000. Don't forget depending on size rear tires may be 600-1100 each, so that can be a selling point / place to haggle price on. Make sure the over-direct-under does not slip and functions properly.
 
taternutz08 said:
Price would depend on hours and overall condition. Prices between 5000 and 9000. Don't forget depending on size rear tires may be 600-1100 each, so that can be a selling point / place to haggle price on. Make sure the over-direct-under does not slip and functions properly.
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Olivers stopped in what 1976???

No hours is going to be accurate measure on a old Oliver.
 
$5-7k depending on condition. They are good tractors. As someone said, make sure the over/under/direct drive is working. Something to keep in mind, if I remember correctly when you are in under drive it free-wheels downhill without engine braking. That may have only been on the Whites, but I thought the Oliver's were that way also. I spent a lot of hours as a kid/teenager on a White 2-85, which is basically an Oliver 1755.
 
grumpy356 said:
Olivers stopped in what 1976???

No hours is going to be accurate measure on a old Oliver.
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White bought them in the late 60s and started sucking money to support the over-the-road truck group. Then bought Cockshutt to do the same thing. Killed off Cockshutt merging it with Oliver, then killed off the Oliver name in late 70's, rebranding the Oliver products as White but without the quality or customer service.
 
Alright, it was offered to me for "$4500?". Yes, they put a question mark. It's one of my girlfriend's friends tractors, and I know they don't take good care of their stuff, but I'm hoping this thing is decent. Only thing I recall is I think it was converted to a single battery. Hoping to check it out this weekend. Thanks for the info so far!
 
they're pretty basic units.

if the gearbox isn't fucked up and it runs, you can't go wrong at 4 grand for a 70hp tractor.
and make sure the brakes actually work.
 
The made cars too

i136884.jpg
 
So, went to look at the tractor last weekend. It was in the middle of a field with a disc plow hooked to it..... Said they were plowing, downshifted from 4 to 3, and it locked up the rear.... I looked it over, and they "showed me what was wrong by starting it up and dumping the clutch".... Engine loaded up but kept running.... But no movement (that poor clutch). So I pulled the top off the trans, set neutral, put the top back on and it was driving again. Engine didnt have much if any blow by out of the breather tube, over/under/direct worked as it should, hit all the gears. It does leak, like, everything.... But, that can be taken care of when I do the clutch in a few years. Clutch had enough life to pull that disc no problem in 3rd. Rf tire is a truck tire. Rear tires, one is newer, one is a little cracked but has the same life as the newer one. Alternator needs replaced. I offered 3k, and they accepted. I don't think that's a bad deal?
 
Black Sabbath said:
Umm you forgot the pictures :flipoff2:
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of the girl friends tits!

sounds like a fair deal, i picked up a Massey 1155 at auction the other day. dirt fawkin cheap. the fawking thing tried to kill me all the way home. i should have brought the bigger trailer. but we had it running in 30 minutes or so. but it may be a little bigger than i need.
 
Forgot the pic, was going to include it in the last post. Unfortunately, this is the only one I have of it. The rear tire that you can see (with the yellow) is the one that's a little cracked.

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New development. The ladies husband decided the 16 is not for sale:mad3:. But, is willing to sell the 1465 for the same price. Which, her dad rolled and died on..... It's currently got some water in the fuel, and the grid heaters are not hooked up. Allegedly it's been an ether baby since day 1. I'm curious if that's because the fiat engine isn't happy without the grid heaters? The body is a bit more rough, and it's not a high crop like the 1655. I'm new to hay, but I think that would be fine? It's got the power I need anyways. Everything seemed to work, I ran it through all the gears in high and low range, engaged PTO. Seemed to leak a lot less, has a newer clutch, and the tires are filled with calcium. Newer power steering pump.

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Your earlier post said “they accepted”. What changed? Is it because you made it mobile again and now they want to keep it? At this point I wouldn’t buy anything from them.
 
I would tell them I wouldn't trust anything they say at this point. No way I would buy anything from them.
 
Tin Roof said:
Your earlier post said “they accepted”. What changed? Is it because you made it mobile again and now they want to keep it? At this point I wouldn’t buy anything from them.
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The lady is a friend of my girlfriend. SHE wanted to sell the 1655, but her husband was on the fence of selling it (I could see this from day 1). The says that all of the Oliver's will be sold in a few years, after they get a newer tractor (they also have an 1855 with a blown head gasket, and missing front tire that is currently on the 1655). Since the 1655 is running and driving (minus a proper charging system), it's their only current usable machine. The 1465 needs a battery, and the fuel drained/replaced. They are lazy, no denying that. But at the end of the day, an easy fix 70+up tractor for 3k is hard to pass(price is 3k for the 1465 as well). Could I go but a 15k nice tractor? Yeah, but what's the fun in that? Plus I'm trying to get my 30x80 shop built before winter.... Money is key.
 
Sounds to me like they beat the shit out of their equipment, and anything you buy should be considered a full tear down rebuild candidate and priced accordingly.
 
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Foxmxrcer said:
New development. The ladies husband decided the 16 is not for sale:mad3:. But, is willing to sell the 1465 for the same price. Which, her dad rolled and died on..... It's currently got some water in the fuel, and the grid heaters are not hooked up. Allegedly it's been an ether baby since day 1. I'm curious if that's because the fiat engine isn't happy without the grid heaters? The body is a bit more rough, and it's not a high crop like the 1655. I'm new to hay, but I think that would be fine? It's got the power I need anyways. Everything seemed to work, I ran it through all the gears in high and low range, engaged PTO. Seemed to leak a lot less, has a newer clutch, and the tires are filled with calcium. Newer power steering pump.
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calicium filled tires are teh debil.

it will rot the wheels.
make sure they are structurally sound, and plan on paying someone to dismount the tires so you can clean it all out and paint the insides.
You probably don't need extra weight anyhow.


if it runs and didn't smoke like a bastard at start it's probably ok. It needs the grid heaters for sure. low compression na diesel.

high crop isn't going to be a big deal for general field work and cutting hay.

shady deals aside, if it runs and isn't a massive clusterfuck it's a good deal. if you're less than a grand into fiixng it into a useable machine you're half the price of a comparable running machine at market value.
 
87manche said:
calicium filled tires are teh debil.

it will rot the wheels.
make sure they are structurally sound, and plan on paying someone to dismount the tires so you can clean it all out and paint the insides.
You probably don't need extra weight anyhow.


if it runs and didn't smoke like a bastard at start it's probably ok. It needs the grid heaters for sure. low compression na diesel.

high crop isn't going to be a big deal for general field work and cutting hay.

shady deals aside, if it runs and isn't a massive clusterfuck it's a good deal. if you're less than a grand into fiixng it into a useable machine you're half the price of a comparable running machine at market value.
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It's running tubes, wheels looked good, and were all holding air (tractor was parked in the same spot for at least a year). I'm a mechanic, and a redneck (can I say that now?) engineer, I'll break them down myself if necessary. We live in hilly/off camber terrain, so I think the filled tires would be helpful.

It started right up with a shot of ether, no smoke, no noticable blow by from the breather tube. Compression is 17:1, if that matters.

Will be primarily for hay and general use, paired with my Farmall super a. Had my neighbor help me plant corn on a small side field, if that works out I'd like to continue doing that.

Will be there fuel drained (water), upper rad hose, battery, grid heaters, and I think that's all to be a turn key runner. Over time fix the body up, and replace the gauges that are inop.
 
when you have a small leak in the tube it will eat the wheel.

I'm not a fan. just don't neglect it it if develops a small leak or you have to add air to the tires on a regular basis. it eats valvestems too.


a ford 7.3 IDI is like 22:1. 17:1 is pretty damned low for a na diesel engine. It wants hot air on a cold start. it just doesn't generate enough heat on it's own. I'd bet if you got the grid heaters hooked up it would stop taking ether to start, but then you'd actually have to spend money on god batteries. judging from the truck tires on the front end of the tractor, spending money on equipment isn't really their MO.

it would be fine for small field tillage
 
87manche said:
when you have a small leak in the tube it will eat the wheel.

I'm not a fan. just don't neglect it it if develops a small leak or you have to add air to the tires on a regular basis. it eats valvestems too.


a ford 7.3 IDI is like 22:1. 17:1 is pretty damned low for a na diesel engine. It wants hot air on a cold start. it just doesn't generate enough heat on it's own. I'd bet if you got the grid heaters hooked up it would stop taking ether to start, but then you'd actually have to spend money on god batteries. judging from the truck tires on the front end of the tractor, spending money on equipment isn't really their MO.

it would be fine for small field tillage
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Yeah, true. Will keep that in mind.

I know how hard it is to start a 7.3 with faulty glow plugs:lmao:, I like your comparison. It needs a battery regardless, and the grid heaters are just 2 small coils I'm there intake, no where near the draw of my 12v Cummins, but a good battery is always nice. And yes, they are lazy and do the "broke farmer" thing of taking parts from one thing, to make the other thing work. I would like to put tri ribs back on the front at some point.

I've got about 28 acres, 15 or so is tillable. Not a big farm by any means. Just need to be able to run the hay for the damned hay burners, and whatever else I decide to get into. Might convert the one hay field into some sort of cash crop at some point.


Anybody know anything about that fiat engine? Are they reliable? The engine send to be in decent shape running wise as of now.
 
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