Oliver Mystery

[Jake Lessen]

We have a tractor at home with sort of an interesting background. On the outside, all the name plates say Oliver 1855. Seems fairly normal at first glance. However, if you look at the serial number plate, it says Minneapolis-Moline model number 585-22729, serial number 22988-685. Where the green paint has worn off, you can see Minnie-Mo yellow underneath. The front grille is a Minneapolis grille, too. What I want to know is, is this a fairly normal occurence, when both Oliver and Minneapolis were owned by White Farm Equipment? Or is this something rare? We do know that when the original owner bought it, it came to him painted yellow, but he wanted an Oliver, so the dealer repainted it green. Does anybody know how many of these "halfbreed" tractors are out there?

[Bear]

cockshutt oliver and white 1855's were the same as a g940 mm. the g 940 is listed as 1971 only s/n start 225508 end 231365 according to mm book. farm equip guide lists the 1855 as 1969-75.

[Bear]

none of them work maybe try a capital c on comparisan if not e-mail and i can send you the link it comes up in my favorites one last try
http://www.geocities.com/dieslfumes/Comparisan.html

[ssimntih]

My dad overhauled one for a friend once, (both minneapolis guys). He said the only difference was the paint color and the decals. But what you have is a Minneapolis Moline painted green. The 1865s and the G900s were the same, but they came with a 451 CI engine. The 585 in your model number indicates that its a G1355 (585 Cu. IN.) tha has been painted. Clear as mud?

[ssimntih]

bear i just checked out your chart. Pretty neat thing to have handy. In my nebraska tractor test book, it says that the 2-150 white engine is actually a 585 Minneapolis engine (G1355). I've never heard of a 940 Minneapolis, do you have any information on this model? I could be very wrong, but alot of the numbers don't make sense. The 1755 Oliver used a 6 cyl 283 oliver engine, to my knowledge, minneapolis never used. If you have any information on the g350 or g450 minnies also, I would like to use it for reference.

[Bear]

g940 mm book says it used a 310 ci oliver engine 98 pto hp
the g350 and g450 were basically fiats painted yellow same as 1270 and 1370 whites 350 used a 158 ci fiat and the 450 used a 211 ci fiat.
allis chalmers and hesston also sold these tractors. if you have a long dealer close to you or universal in canada, some parts will fit these tractors

[Jake Lessen]

Guys, my main question is this: How common is it to have a tractor labeled wrong the way ours is? When the original owner bought it, it was a Minneapolis-Moline, but he didn't want that, he wanted an Oliver. So, rather than get a new tractor, the dealer took the Minneapolis and "disguised" it as an Oliver. Was this a common practice, or was this on guy just lazy, or what?

Thanks for the help

Jake

[Bear]

it likely happened a fair bit bit but i haven't heard of any records kept

[Tony Thompson]

Hi Jake, The Bear from Canada is correct, this agressive manner of selling tractors did happen a fair bit, however, dealers who pulled this stunt were not in the habit of leaving records of their deception behind them, (they did not count on peeling paint to give them away ) You do not have a rare tractor, but the proof of one careless dealer IS rare because the vast majority of dealers ran respectable operations. Restore it as the Moline that it is and enjoy your tractor because it is part of the history that links us all together on this fabulous website

[Jake Lessen]

Restoring it back to yellow is the plan, but I don't think it's going to happen for a while. I have a Case 400 that I'm currently working on, and then there's an Oliver 88 that we want to retire (right now she's still working for a living), and then we'll get to the "Oliver" 1855. That, on top of getting my engineering degree. I'm gonna be busy for a while.

[Tony Thompson]

Jake, Glad to hear about that engineering degree. Nice to have future projects lined up, good luck, Tony.