Oliver’s line of beautiful, stylized tractors looks almost like something a child would draw if you asked them to draw a tractor. The heart of the Streamline Moderne Era was the 1930s and ’40s, and this 1940s Oliver Row Crop 60 tractor fits right in. It can be found listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Rollingstone, Minnesota. The seller is asking $3,750, and here is the original listing.
Rollingstone, Minnesota? The Rollingstones? I mean, Rolling Stones? The name is derived from the Rollingstone Creek that rambles through the area and is said to be translated from the Dakota language as “The stream where the stone rolls.” There are just over 600 people in Rollingstone, so it isn’t big, but apparently, there are some mechanical treasures there aside from its natural and human treasures.
The seller says this Oliver Row Crop 60 has been restored, but it isn’t perfect. Restoring an old tractor can be expensive, as with every other vehicle type, and for $3,750, this has to be a deal, if a person can haul it home themselves. Oliver offered the smallish 60-series Row Crop tractors from approximately 1940 until 1948. They’re known by many as the “tricycle front” configuration with the two front wheels close to each other. There was also a Standard series with wider front wheels. We’ve seen five Oliver tractors here on Barn Finds over the years, three somewhat similar to this one, and two bulldozers.
Known in Canada as the Cockshut 60, this line of Oliver tractors was built in Charles City, Iowa, and was far outsold by competitors. John Deere gets most of the love when it comes to green tractors, but give me an Oliver every time. The 60 was what the company considered a one to two-plow tractor. You moved to a Row Crop 70 if you needed a solid two-plow tractor, and an 80 if you needed three plows. There was also a 90 for those four-plow jobs, and the 99 was said to be the most-powerful tractor on wheels, at least as far as Oliver marketing material went. This tractor would have been around $1,700 new, which is around $30,000 today.
Powering this green jewel is a 2.0-liter Oliver inline-four with 20 gross horsepower, 17 horsepower at the drawbar, and about 19 horsepower at the belt. A 4-speed manual sends power to the 32″ rear wheels, and it looks clean, clean, clean to me. The seller says it runs great, and I’m sure it would be an attraction at any vintage tractor show. Yes, there are vintage tractor shows. Are any of you into vintage tractors? How about the price on this gem, doesn’t this seem like a great deal?
Wow!! Another Oliver. I think I mentioned the last time an Oliver was on Barnfinds that the town we used to live in had an Oliver dealer. And there were quite a number of old Oliver tractors and even a Cletrac of two as well. From wrist I can see, the tin work looks great, very straight, nice paint too. A guy I new had a 70 series Row Crop from the ’50’s and I just remember that funky gear shift patern it had. When they get old and a little sloppy its kind of like Pick a gear…. ANY gear!! I’d love to have an Oliver one day. Unfortunately today’s not that day. . I’m really enjoying all the tractors and trucks on here too please keep them coming!!! Thanks Scotty, I enjoyed your writeup!!!
I saw lots of these in upstate SC at a tractor show. The owners told me they liked that six cylinder engine for it’s smoothness compared to other brands with only four cylinders.
Too cool 😎 👍 🌽 🌾
Gonna see my smilin’ face, on the cover of the Rolling Stone,,,aww,,beautiful,,always tough to go on stage after the success of the terlet post, but Scotty, the professional he is, pulls it together. In a related topic, coming from cow poop flats( Wisconsin) I can say without reservation, maybe one(1), “Olievah” compared to 8 million of that “other” green tractor, John Deere. In fact, if an Oliver was seen, it was often mistaken for a JD. A tractor like this new cost the farm just over $3grand, or half the price of a small home, but they usually only bought one. Vintage tractors are the salvation for old car hobby fanatics, as that hobby went down the toilet,,,,but vintage tractors still have a following. This, I think, still has a mechanical lift, and non-live PTO, which can be a real hassle, offered later on bigger tractors. Rural folks that still are on the family farms, are very keen to their roots, and often have several tractors the family had through the years. Those multi engine pulling tractors, all from family farms. Obviously, city slickers have no use, or room for something like this, but if you are in a rural setting, you need one of these, if for nothing else, give family rides and watch the smiles. Controls are pretty straight forward, this old gals working days are over.
Big guy, +100 for a Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show reference!
This tractor was around $1,700 new, as I mentioned in the fourth paragraph. Ha, nothing about me is professional, but that’s darn nice of you to say. Maybe my mustache. JD definitely owned the green tractor market; there’s no question about that, they still do. Our own Jamie Palmer worked for them for decades as an engineer.
vintage tractors are so cool. what styling.
First, a correction, 60s used a 4 cylinder Continental engine, in good condition and well tuned, could squeeze 20 horses. 70s used the 201 Continental 6 cylinder. Great little tractors to cultivate 2 rows at a time, the little box with the foot pedal below the steering column is the mechanical lift for the cultivators. Spent a lot of time leanin’ on the left fender watching the tater rows go by.
You are right, Jim! Thanks for the correction. I had that originally, but then saw two spec pages listing a six. Thanks much.
2 readers correctly commented about easy controls. I had hundreds of hours in Olivers’ like this one in the 60s configured as pea swathers with the seat and steering wheel turned around & driven backwards for 14/7 during summer harvest. I was around dozens of them and never saw one broken down or out of service.
Not many years ago I stumbled across a perfect radiator shell for $25 and snagged it for a friends’ hot rod ’27 roadster project. :-) Terry J
I hate to rain on any potential collector’s parade out there but a number of folks are looking to do, or are doing small to medium sized homesteads these days (myself included in the looking category) and I think this tractor would be perfect for that. It’s reliable, pulls a single row plow (and I imagine several other things even with only 20hp), and it seems to be reasonably priced, not to mention that it would certainly look handsome sitting in the barn on off days.
I wonder if this is the is on the town flag.
Sorry, I had to do it.
I’m a vintage tractor guy, even though I don’t live on a farm. I have a 1946 Ford 2N tractor that I bought a few years ago for $1300. It runs and drives, but the hydraulics don’t work. Last year I had the radiator repaired and new tires fitted and this year I want to get the hydraulics working. Eventually I want to get either a grader blade, box blade, or York rake for maintaining my gravel driveway and either a front end loader or a snow plow for snow removal