Mid 1920s 1 row mounted Nichols and Shepard corn picker mounted
on model F Fordson. Owned by Dan Zilm, Claremont, MN.
The 10th annual summer convention of the National
Hart-Parr/Oliver Collectors Association (HPOCA) will be held in
conjunction with the 27th annual Le Sueur County Pioneer Power
Show, August 25, 26 , 27, 2000. The Pioneer Power show grounds are
located six miles east of Le Sueur, Minnesota, on County Road
26.
1991 was the first year for a summer show for the HPOCA. People
knew at that time that there would be plenty of Oliver tractors and
equipment to put on a show. Ever since that first fledgling show,
the membership and size of the summer shows have grown
tremendously. The national membership now stands at nearly 7,000,
and at the annual summer show it is not uncommon to see between 250
and 300 Olivers and related tractors on hand plus many pieces of
equipment.
The Hart-Parr/Oliver Collectors take in several other well-known
early manufacturers of equipment, such as Nichols &. Shepard
Company of Battle Creek, Michigan, who were builders of early steam
engines, threshing machines, and eventually started building their
own line of gas tractors. N&S Co. was also an early maker of
combines and corn pickers. Another prominent related company is the
Cleveland Tractor Company (Cletrac) of Cleveland, Ohio. Cletrac
were builders of crawler tractors dating back to 1916. A few other
prominent names that are related to Oliver are the American Seeding
Company, Oliver Chilled Plow Works, Ann Arbor Machine Company, A.
B. Farquhar Company, and Be-Ge Manufacturing Company, just to name
a few. 1929 was the year that the merger of the American Seeding
Company, Oliver Chilled Plow Works, Nichols & Shepard Company,
and Hart-Parr Company formed the Oliver Farm Equipment Company.
During the next 30 years Oliver would acquire a number of short
line equipment companies and in 1960 the Oliver Corporation was
sold to the White Motor Corporation. The Oliver name would stay
prominent until 1975, when it was dropped and a new line of White
Farm Equipment tractors appeared.
At Le Sueur this summer you will see a 1903 Hart-Parr 3 HP
inverted oil engine, Hart-Parr washing machine, 1928 one row
mounted Nichols & Shepard corn picker, a huge 1913 36 x 60
Nichols & Shepard wooden threshing machine, plus many other
surprises that you will have to see in person. One of our goals is
to have a tractor for every year possible lined up in a row, which
should be quite a sight. Pioneer Power is a working show with lots
of things to do with your equipment, such as plowing, belting your
tractor to the sawmill, threshing, and we usually have two or three
machines going continuously, test your horsepower on the dyno, or
enter the tractor pull and see what it can do, or try your driving
skill at the barrel race. The 60 x 130-foot ‘Feature
Building’ will be a beehive of activity with various
displays, vendors, HPOCA and Oliver chapter information. The
feature tractor will be the 18-36 Hart-Parr and we are expecting a
good turnout of lightweight Hart-Parr tractors built
between 1918 and 1930.
Come and meet the collector-restorers that help keep alive the
heritage of this wonderful equipment. The Hart-Parr Collectors and
the Le Sueur County Pioneer Power will try and show everyone in
attendance the story of all the companies that make up the
Finest in Farm Machinery.
For more information on the Hart-Parr/Oliver Collectors write to
the Hart-Parr/Oliver Collector, PO Box 685, Charles City, Iowa
50616.
