denverslim
Member
An older buddy of mine died of a sudden stroke last November. To say that Don was "tractor-crazy" would have been an understatement. I absolutely loved his passion for Oliver tractors.
He lived in a little 2 bedroom house not far from me in the city, with a little 2-car garage just loaded with Oliver parts and tools. He had completely restored three Olivers. A row-crop 70 was on the back porch/carport and two Super 88"s were in various states of repair in the woodstove heated garage. He knew of my love for old Fords and flatheads and we took turns laughing at each other and lending one another hands when we could.
He and another old pal once found an old D-4 sized dozer, (I believe it was an Allis Chalmers) abandoned for decades up in the mountains on the side of a steep slope. The two of them built a tent next to the damn thing and spent about two weeks up there tearing it apart, rebuilding the engine on the spot and then walked it down the hill, pushing down trees to a road where they loaded onto a trailer!
He loved Olivers to such a degree that it was funny. He grew up on a farm in Kansas and Olivers were all he would use. I once went to a tractor sale with him. There were a bunch of Farmalls and John Deeres there and he caught me looking at them. I asked him what the real differences were and he blew up! He spit on the ground and said "that"s like comparing Oleo and butter." He knew the entire history of the Oliver company and never forgot or forgave the executives who "ran it into the ground and sold the pieces". Once, I was kidding him about how it seemed like he felt more for Oliver tractors than he did for his wife. He looked at me real serious and said, "ya know, back on the farm, if I was lucky I would see the wife for about an hour a day before I went to sleep. Me and that damned tractor worked together all day long. Whatd"ya expect!." Lol.
Anyway, just by pure accident, yesterday I ended up at a farm/tractor auction. I never go to these things I really just happened by it and stopped. His tractors were all there and I ended up buying one. The "47 row-crop 70. Man, I love it. Red wheels "n all...slim
He lived in a little 2 bedroom house not far from me in the city, with a little 2-car garage just loaded with Oliver parts and tools. He had completely restored three Olivers. A row-crop 70 was on the back porch/carport and two Super 88"s were in various states of repair in the woodstove heated garage. He knew of my love for old Fords and flatheads and we took turns laughing at each other and lending one another hands when we could.
He and another old pal once found an old D-4 sized dozer, (I believe it was an Allis Chalmers) abandoned for decades up in the mountains on the side of a steep slope. The two of them built a tent next to the damn thing and spent about two weeks up there tearing it apart, rebuilding the engine on the spot and then walked it down the hill, pushing down trees to a road where they loaded onto a trailer!
He loved Olivers to such a degree that it was funny. He grew up on a farm in Kansas and Olivers were all he would use. I once went to a tractor sale with him. There were a bunch of Farmalls and John Deeres there and he caught me looking at them. I asked him what the real differences were and he blew up! He spit on the ground and said "that"s like comparing Oleo and butter." He knew the entire history of the Oliver company and never forgot or forgave the executives who "ran it into the ground and sold the pieces". Once, I was kidding him about how it seemed like he felt more for Oliver tractors than he did for his wife. He looked at me real serious and said, "ya know, back on the farm, if I was lucky I would see the wife for about an hour a day before I went to sleep. Me and that damned tractor worked together all day long. Whatd"ya expect!." Lol.
Anyway, just by pure accident, yesterday I ended up at a farm/tractor auction. I never go to these things I really just happened by it and stopped. His tractors were all there and I ended up buying one. The "47 row-crop 70. Man, I love it. Red wheels "n all...slim
