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LenNH
03-08-2008 07:55:55
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Re: a few pics from the auction. in reply to glennster, 02-29-2008 20:03:29
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Memories of an Oliver HP Row-Crop. An uncle bought a 1930 Row-Crop, sometime in the late 40s. It was pretty tired, I guess, and I don"t think the governor was up to speed. It lumbered through the field like a snail. This was the model with the single front wheel right under the radiator. Lots of weight there, I guess, because I distinctly remember having to huff and puff to haul it around at the end of the field. Not a great choice for a "light chore" tractor, I"d think! My uncle had a neighbor who had an Oliver 80 RC, and he swore by it. It might have steered more easily with the duals farther out front, and I know they were built like battleships and probably ran for years without much in the way of maintenance (like most of the tractors I remember that were built in the 20s and 30s--slow-speed engines, huge gears and axles). I"d like to read impressions of people who used the RC and 80 RC, to get an idea of what they were like to use day in and day out.
Romantic ideas are a funny thing. About 20 years ago, I bought an F-20 that still had some life in it and stored it on my father"s farm, with the intention of "restoring" it. One day, I hooked it to his Bush Hog and headed for a rough meadow to chop down some weeds. I had used a "Regular" Farmall and an F-20 a lot in the 40s, and of course I loved them then--skinny adolescent handling BIIIII GGGG machine, feeling 10 feet tall. Well, half a day in the bumpy weed patch brought back the other side of these old bucks. The ride is atrocious, as is the noise,
and the steering requires constant attention if there are any ruts--sometimes the wheel jerks right out of your hand if you"re not holding on.
End of romantic notions.
My dad had a couple of H"s, which I always thought were incredibly beautiful--perfect proportions, shiny red paint, etc., etc. But I always lusted for an M. A few years ago, another relative bought a Super M for "chores" (mostly Bush Hogging). It was a lot more comfortable than
an F-20, and the steering wasn"t so likely to take your thumb off, but boy, without power steering, it sure took some muscle to maneuver at very slow ground speeds in and around trees, buildings, and so on. I loved the power, but I guess just a tiny bit of the romance wore off.
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