indiana Prairie Farmer Logo

Throwback Tech: This central Indiana farmer has not one, but two, Oliver two-row mounted planters.

October 15, 2020

2 Min Read
Larry Parker with great-granddaughter, Maddie Lawson, and two-row mounted Oliver planter on a late-model Oliver 60 tractor
RARE PLANTER: Larry Parker displays a two-row mounted Oliver planter on a late-model Oliver 60 tractor. His great-granddaughter, Maddie Lawson, is on the tractor seat. Tom J. Bechman

Larry Parker didn’t bring just one Oliver tractor with a mounted two-row planter to the Putnam County Antique Tractor and Machinery Association’s first-ever show. He brought two. They’re not twins because the tractors are different models made in different years. But the planters are very similar.

Parker and his wife, Marilyn, Greencastle, Ind., also brought two great-grandchildren, Douglas and Maddie Lawson, with them to the show. The kids took turns seeing what it would have been like to sit on the tractor seat with a planter right in front of you.

Related: Walk through ag museum brings back memories

 

“You could go to a lot of shows and maybe not see an Oliver mounted planter, let alone two,” Parker says. He took them to help support the show, which turned out to be a success. It featured several rare finds and drew people in all day who wanted to see what farming used to be like.

“I remember helping my dad plant with these tractors and planters,” Parker says. “At one time, we added an extra unit on each side and planted with a four-row mounted planter. It was just a matter of extending the bar and adding extra planter units.”

Obviously, Parker doesn’t use the planters today. But with a little effort, he believes he could get them in working order again.

One two-row Oliver planter is mounted on a late-model Oliver 60 tractor. The other tractor is a 1947 model 70 Oliver tractor.

a late-model Oliver 70, with Larry Parker’s great-grandson, Douglas Lawson, in the driver’s seat.

DOUBLE TAKE: No, this is not a twin to the other tractor pictured. It’s a late-model Oliver 70, with Larry Parker’s great-grandson, Douglas Lawson, in the driver’s seat.

According to tractordata.com, the Oliver 60 was powered by a 2-liter, four-cylinder Oliver gasoline engine. It tested at just under 17 hp on the drawbar and under 19 hp on the belt at the Nebraska Tractor Tests.

The Oliver 70 had considerably more power, testing at 28.6 hp on the drawbar, even though the company only claimed 22.7 hp. The Oliver 70 tested at 30.5 hp on the belt, still often used when the tractor was produced. It was powered by a 3.3 liter, six-cylinder gas or distillate engine.

Comments? Email [email protected].

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like