Oliver Raydex Unearthed to plow another day! Some Questions

Recently I unearthed an old Oliver plow with 3 Raydex bottoms from a neglected part of our land. As I dragged it to its new place of honour near our front gate, I was impressed with the ease at which it plowed the land it traversed! The frame still carries a light stencil painted “No 416A” and the plowshares are clearly painted “Oliver Raydex”. It has 3 steel wheels and two worm gear type leveling cranks. I have search many sites and images of this type of plow but I have never seen a 3 bottom with 2 of these leveling cranks… Is mine an oddball? I am guessing because of the steel wheels it is probably pre WWII, probably about 1938??? Any help nailing down the model and date of manufacture would be appreciated. (Any other info gladly accepted too!)

Okay if it says 4-16 it was originally a 4 bottom and they are made recuceable by one bottom. I have a 4-16A that I am currently working on slowly to rebuild. It needs all new moldboards shins share and landsides. I might reduce mine to a 3 bottom. I have never plowed with one but hear they pull easy. They are also very well built. I am going to tear mine down and repaint it.

Thanks for the info. It does appear that something has been cut off the right side of the plow. That might be where a fourth bottom was attached.
I'll have a close look. If I could figure out why this site wont't let me post a picture, I'd show you mine. Other than one bad wheel bearing, I think its in pretty decent shape. It appears that perhaps mine was never painted???

yes that is just like mine. I imagine they torched off the top brace so it would not stick out after removing the fourth bottom. Mine was converted to hyd lift with a homemade set up. I am haveing a new hub with bearing welded to that left side and the right side will get the same deal sometime. The plow was originally Oliver red and I think the wheels were green. Many of them are completely rust. That plow looks to be very nice I would be for fixing it up to use if need be. That is indeed a very good piece of equipment and heavy built. Also that safety trip hitch which yours still has is a must have to help avoid plow dammage. That thing is worthy of being fixed up.

(reply to post at 17:32:00 01/25/12)

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I would sure be interested in seeing a picture of your plow to see how that torched off brace actually looked. Any idea of the year of manufacture? What about model number.... is 416A the model? Do you think the safety trip hitch was an add-on or was it original equipment?

Thanks for your input so far. Its helpful .... and yes, I plan on getting mine ready for some spring plowing ... just enough to make her metal shine!

No problem I am glad I can help some. Since yours is on steel I am thinking 1940s as I am sure most in the 50s had the solid rims and rubber tires and often on hydraulic. 4-16A is indeed the actuall model I recently learned on here from another on these forums that Oliver used a simple model designation for their plows. 2-16 3-16 4-16 etc and yours is a Heavy duty model. They actually called them "Tractor Gang Plows" Aside from the Heavy Duty gang plows they also made the lighter duty Plowmaster though I think they were only in two and three bottom models and had lighter duty beams. Here is the best pic I have of mine right now. And I currently got a tail wheel assembly for it that was missing. Also I think you can still at least get shares and landsides for these 225 series bottoms as it looks like they list them as being the same ones for the newer Oliver/White bottoms. Yes that hitch is original and should be taken apart and cleaned up thoroughly and set to it will trip loose with just a little more resistance than when plowing depending on soil and plowing depth etc. Also you can get parts and operators manuals for these from the Floyd County Muesem in Charles City Iowa. 641-228-1099 they also have a web site. I just bought a new parts book and operators book for mine this winter. <a href="http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j401/Prairie_locust/?action=view&amp;current=dcp_4030.jpg" target="_blank"></a>