I appreciate these stories and I appreciate the time and effort you put into getting all this man, this is gold. Thanks for preserving a big part of Ag history
Thank you Ethan for taking your time and resources to put this video together for us to enjoy. I really enjoy the stories! My Dad retired from International Harvested in Ft Wayne Indiana in 1981 with 38 years of service. I loved listening to him tell his stories from his years at the factory. Larry
I am 59 years old,my dad was a mechanic at an Oliver dealership for nearly 30 years. I grew up there from takin out trash,sweeping the floor etc. to eventually working in the parts dept. Have heard the Perkins flutter in person and All the possible causes,also all the questions as to weather or not it is or was an issue. At today years old because of this video I get the answer I have been looking. Thank You for doin this sooo much Ethan...
Manny thanks Ethan! For 2 verry imteresting history of this workers on the Oliver company! This video tell us a lot , and nothing was bad, a nature conservation whit a relax people. And what a stories they tell us. So once again Ethan,manny thanks for sharing this.
Dealer made a lot of difference. When dealing WFE, with white farm, our MM G900, 1755 Oliver 2-105 white & 1600 Oliver & A4t 1600. Steve korf& Randy Hess made a lot of difference
Ethan just to let you know there are only two buildings left standing at beaver dam green giant. The main office building and the newer warehouse. The tractors that max talked about came from a local dealership in Fox lake Wisconsin. My husband’s grandfather operated some of those 1800s cutting green beans for Stokely canning back in the late 60s.
I also would like to say thank you for conducting these interviews, I find it very interesting. My wife and I toured the museum last October and I was able to get the build card and the parts manual for my 1650's. I especially am interested in any info they have on the Perkins engine in the 1850's. I rebuilt that engine six years ago and in that process replaced some timing gears to eliminate the high rpm "flutter". In my opinion just too many gears to get from the crank to the injection pump.Don't get me wrong I still love the 354 Perkins but it does have some quirks.
He was talking about an f-5 tornado in charles city,ia. in may of 1968. My home town, Tracy,Mn. had an f-5 tornado that killed 9 people on June 13,1968.
This sheds light on some things that went on and if these guys had been given more power as to the companies direction chances are we would have something here in this day . Agco has really killed off most ties to any of the legacy colors and names. I sat at the table with may dealers when CNH came along and we has many discussions on keeping the colors and names intact since it was apparent . And those little Fiat Sourced tractors underlines how bad Fiat had wanted to Be in the USA Ag market which might have been a savior for Oliver/MM instead of White
An interesting thing about the 1850 diesel was that it was made at the same time as the Massey Ferguson 1100 diesel. Same engine and I ran both back to back doing the same job and the engines do not act the same. My brother doesn't like to drive my cousin's Oliver 550 because of the left hand shifter I don't mind it but I am left-handed. The 550 in the 70s didn't have some features that small tractors needed regardless of build quality. A Deutz D45 06 and a small Same tractor had MFWD available which is a lot better for loader work.
That was the point about the 550. They didn’t keep it updated like they should have because management was on the Fiat band wagon. Yet they were still selling them trainloads at a time right up until they stopped building them.
@@Oliver66FarmBoy I guess the question is then how easy is it to modify to add a front axle? I have seen pictures of MFWD 930 and 1030 Case tractors that never came out of the factory like that.
Also sad to see dealers like KLS implement elrosa MN & Hess WFE at eagle bend MN gone. Ethan if you want a good even tho it's the MM side I know Elrosa MN be worth the trip & going east about 15 miles to lake Henry MN dick Frieler was Oliver dealer there. KlS & lake Henry were good dealers
Taken from "Charles City Press" William Tracy Sweet, 86, of Nora Springs, died Jan. 25, 2024, at the Nora Springs Care Center of congestive heart failure. He was a former longtime resident of Charles City. Tracy was born July 1 1937, in Madison, Wisconsin, the son of Lowell and Edna (Hodge). Tracy grew up in Charles City, graduated from Charles City High School in 1955, and attended Iowa State University (known at the time as Iowa State College) and the University of Iowa. On October 17 1959, Tracy married Sheryl (Sherry) Bonzer at the First Methodist Church in Charles City. Tracy worked for a number of years at Salsbury Laboratories and then became a technical writer for the Oliver Corporation in Charles City. He became the company photographer at Oliver (which later became White Farm Equipment) and held that position from 1969 to 1976. In 1976 Tracy and Sherry established Tracy Sweet Photography in Charles City, which they operated until their retirement in 2010. After retirement he devoted more of his time to his artwork. Tracy was well known for both his photography and his paintings, and for his lifelong advocacy for the arts. He served on the board of directors of Iowans for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council. Locally, Tracy and Sherry were among the founding members of the Charles City Arts Council in 1961, and he served on its board of directors four separate times. He was president of the Arts Council in 1970, and director of the Charles City Arts Center from 1997 to 2005. He eventually received a lifetime membership in the Arts Council. Tracy was also president of the Charles City PTA Council in the 1970s, and during that period he and Sherry helped organize the Friends of Talented and Gifted in the Charles City school system. Later, he acted as president of the Charles City Community Concert Association for 16 years. Tracy had been a member of the Elks Lodge in Charles City since 1962. During 1970 he served as exalted ruler of the lodge. That same year he had the privilege of both breaking ground for the new Elks Lodge and laying its cornerstone. He was granted a lifetime membership in the Elks several years ago. Tracy is survived by his wife Sherry, daughter Sally Sweet and her husband Keith Patterson of Minneapolis, and son Andrew Sweet and his wife Deena Lewis of Seattle, a number of nieces and nephews and several cousins. Tracy was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, and his sister-in-law. A memorial service will be held in early spring. Sweet has been cremated and will be interred at Riverside Cemetery alongside his mother and father. In remembrance of Tracy, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to the Charles City Arts Center.
Couldn't believe how fast the time flew listening to the stories. Just fascinating. Thanks for taking the time to interview these fine folks!!
I appreciate these stories and I appreciate the time and effort you put into getting all this man, this is gold. Thanks for preserving a big part of Ag history
Awesome job with these interviews. Enjoying every one of these videos, the stories are amazing.
Thank you Ethan for taking your time and resources to put this video together for us to enjoy. I really enjoy the stories! My Dad retired from International Harvested in Ft Wayne Indiana in 1981 with 38 years of service. I loved listening to him tell his stories from his years at the factory. Larry
I’m surprised nobody is doing this for Harvester employees as big as that company was.
I bet they have so many memories of working there. Its good they share the memories
Some great history your save
Glad you take time to do all the work 👍👍
I am 59 years old,my dad was a mechanic at an Oliver dealership for nearly 30 years. I grew up there from takin out trash,sweeping the floor etc. to eventually working in the parts dept. Have heard the Perkins flutter in person and All the possible causes,also all the questions as to weather or not it is or was an issue. At today years old because of this video I get the answer I have been looking. Thank You for doin this sooo much Ethan...
I was always under the assumption it was just a Perkins thing that happened as they aged. Never knew they did it from new.
Oh my! This group is Great. Well done just letting them talk. So cool👍🍻
Yes they were.
Manny thanks Ethan! For 2 verry imteresting history of this workers on the Oliver company! This video tell us a lot , and nothing was bad, a nature conservation whit a relax people.
And what a stories they tell us.
So once again Ethan,manny thanks for sharing this.
Thanks
I really enjoyed this video. It is so entertaining i am so glad them guys talkin about workin at Oliver buddy
Thanks for watching
That was very interesting to listen to. Enjoyed it immensely. LeSueur, Mn. original headquarters of Green Giant.
They were big Oliver and moline customers.
Dealer made a lot of difference. When dealing WFE, with white farm, our MM G900, 1755 Oliver 2-105 white & 1600 Oliver & A4t 1600. Steve korf& Randy Hess made a lot of difference
I Enjoy these stories from these guys. Cant wait to see more on Dean talking about his time with White.
He has stories for days.
Ethan just to let you know there are only two buildings left standing at beaver dam green giant. The main office building and the newer warehouse. The tractors that max talked about came from a local dealership in Fox lake Wisconsin. My husband’s grandfather operated some of those 1800s cutting green beans for Stokely canning back in the late 60s.
Ethan, great video thanks Michael
Thanks for watching
I also would like to say thank you for conducting these interviews, I find it very interesting. My wife and I toured the museum last October and I was able to get the build card and the parts manual for my 1650's. I especially am interested in any info they have on the Perkins engine in the 1850's. I rebuilt that engine six years ago and in that process replaced some timing gears to eliminate the high rpm "flutter". In my opinion just too many gears to get from the crank to the injection pump.Don't get me wrong I still love the 354 Perkins but it does have some quirks.
They changed the pump drive on later engines.
I had realatives that worked at Minneapolis Moline lake st plant
One of my high school classmates grandpa was an Oliver dealer in Slayton, Mn.
He was talking about an f-5 tornado in charles city,ia. in may of 1968. My home town, Tracy,Mn. had an f-5 tornado that killed 9 people on June 13,1968.
This sheds light on some things that went on and if these guys had been given more power as to the companies direction chances are we would have something here in this day . Agco has really killed off most ties to any of the legacy colors and names. I sat at the table with may dealers when CNH came along and we has many discussions on keeping the colors and names intact since it was apparent . And those little Fiat Sourced tractors underlines how bad Fiat had wanted to Be in the USA Ag market which might have been a savior for Oliver/MM instead of White
I'm not far from lesuer MN my dad had a checker board 770 wf gas that came from the local canning factory
An interesting thing about the 1850 diesel was that it was made at the same time as the Massey Ferguson 1100 diesel. Same engine and I ran both back to back doing the same job and the engines do not act the same. My brother doesn't like to drive my cousin's Oliver 550 because of the left hand shifter I don't mind it but I am left-handed. The 550 in the 70s didn't have some features that small tractors needed regardless of build quality. A Deutz D45 06 and a small Same tractor had MFWD available which is a lot better for loader work.
That was the point about the 550. They didn’t keep it updated like they should have because management was on the Fiat band wagon. Yet they were still selling them trainloads at a time right up until they stopped building them.
@@Oliver66FarmBoy I guess the question is then how easy is it to modify to add a front axle? I have seen pictures of MFWD 930 and 1030 Case tractors that never came out of the factory like that.
Also sad to see dealers like KLS implement elrosa MN & Hess WFE at eagle bend MN gone. Ethan if you want a good even tho it's the MM side I know Elrosa MN be worth the trip & going east about 15 miles to lake Henry MN dick Frieler was Oliver dealer there. KlS & lake Henry were good dealers
It's really honestly sad to see what this country has become. There's no more competition to go shopping around for a good deal on farm equipment
Taken from "Charles City Press"
William Tracy Sweet, 86, of Nora Springs, died Jan. 25, 2024, at the Nora Springs Care Center of congestive heart failure. He was a former longtime resident of Charles City.
Tracy was born July 1 1937, in Madison, Wisconsin, the son of Lowell and Edna (Hodge). Tracy grew up in Charles City, graduated from Charles City High School in 1955, and attended Iowa State University (known at the time as Iowa State College) and the University of Iowa. On October 17 1959, Tracy married Sheryl (Sherry) Bonzer at the First Methodist Church in Charles City.
Tracy worked for a number of years at Salsbury Laboratories and then became a technical writer for the Oliver Corporation in Charles City. He became the company photographer at Oliver (which later became White Farm Equipment) and held that position from 1969 to 1976. In 1976 Tracy and Sherry established Tracy Sweet Photography in Charles City, which they operated until their retirement in 2010. After retirement he devoted more of his time to his artwork.
Tracy was well known for both his photography and his paintings, and for his lifelong advocacy for the arts. He served on the board of directors of Iowans for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council. Locally, Tracy and Sherry were among the founding members of the Charles City Arts Council in 1961, and he served on its board of directors four separate times. He was president of the Arts Council in 1970, and director of the Charles City Arts Center from 1997 to 2005. He eventually received a lifetime membership in the Arts Council.
Tracy was also president of the Charles City PTA Council in the 1970s, and during that period he and Sherry helped organize the Friends of Talented and Gifted in the Charles City school system. Later, he acted as president of the Charles City Community Concert Association for 16 years.
Tracy had been a member of the Elks Lodge in Charles City since 1962. During 1970 he served as exalted ruler of the lodge. That same year he had the privilege of both breaking ground for the new Elks Lodge and laying its cornerstone. He was granted a lifetime membership in the Elks several years ago.
Tracy is survived by his wife Sherry, daughter Sally Sweet and her husband Keith Patterson of Minneapolis, and son Andrew Sweet and his wife Deena Lewis of Seattle, a number of nieces and nephews and several cousins. Tracy was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, and his sister-in-law.
A memorial service will be held in early spring. Sweet has been cremated and will be interred at Riverside Cemetery alongside his mother and father. In remembrance of Tracy, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to the Charles City Arts Center.
I'm not far from lesuer MN my dad had a checker board 770 wf gas that came from the local canning factory
They bought a lot of Oliver’s and molines.