9800 Linen broker Road Rosebud, Missouri 63091
During my years of collecting and restoring ‘Old Iron,’
I have had the opportunity to meet, and work with, a unique
individual, Emil Leimkuehler. Emil is a third generation farmer in
the Gasconade River valley of central Missouri.
Emil’s father farmed with first the Hart-Parr, then later
with Oliver tractors and equipment. Emil has maintained that
tradition throughout his farming career. As newer, more modern
equipment was produced, Emil took advantage of this, but kept the
old, and began restoring these back to new condition. He now has
many of these, along with other rare models in his private museum,
located on the farm.
Included in his collection is a 1917 Titan which he had removed
from a water filled tiff mine in Missouri. The tractor was left on
a ledge in the mine, covered with water for over 40 years. This
tractor is now also in like-new condition. Since he is now retired,
the larger tractors and equipment have become more cumbersome for
him to handle, restore and show, so he has resorted to building his
own scale models of the Oliver line. Bear in mind, Emil was a
farmer, not a machinist. He has only the basic hand tools to work
with.
He started with building a tractor with a 10 HP Koehler engine
and a Cub Cadet transaxle, using the dash and sheetmetal from an
Oliver 88 and cutting it down to half-scale. This was so
successful, he then built a half-scale plow, manure spreader, and
corn planter. These are exact to the original, fully functional
including the gears which he formed with hacksaw and file. The
planter even plants corn in 20-inch rows.
These were still too large, so now he has just completed a small
version of the Oliver 88 tractor, which has a 3 HP motor and is
fully functional, as well as the disc, which he also formed with
hacksaw and hand tools. He seems to be satisfied now, since the
last tractor and disc are small enough to get into his living room.
When he gets Oliver on his mind, he can just look down and admire
his own workmanship. He says he isn’t going to make any more,
but just check out the shows in Missouri, eastern Illinois, and
southern Iowa in the future and you will see these works of art,
and perhaps another piece of Oliver equipment.