Five Veterans Row Westbury, Tasmania 7303
This little saga started in July 1985 when we had a
display of about six tractors at our annual steam day (our
collection has grown to fourteen since then!) and a passerby
remarked how he had heard of an old Oliver tractor in a water hole
about ten miles from our home. Both my father and I laughed a bit
about this one! We had seen a 10-20 Titan with a tree growing
through it, but a tractor in a water hole?
After a number of people told us this was true, we found the
property and approached the owner who broke into a large grin when
I asked if by any chance there were any tractors submerged in his
many watering holes. He replied laughing, ‘There is, but I
didn’t put it there, the original owner did!’ He continued
by saying the tractor was an Oliver but he was unsure of the
model.
We journeyed a short distance to the water hole and all we could
see was about 2 inches of exhaust pipe above the water line
(photo 1).
We looked long and hard at the situation. The water was black,
cold and uninviting and none of us felt like diving in with a wire
rope to hook on it. My mate who tagged along (featured in the
photos) scratched his chin thoughtfully and pondered over the
idea of trying to pump the dam out to a respectable level, the
farmer agreed enthusiastically (it seems he was just as anxious to
see what was in there as we were) and he offered the use of his
tractor to power a pump, charging us only for the diesel we used
and giving us the Oliver.
Next weekend we borrowed a 5 inch Ajax irrigation pump and set
off in ideal conditions (fog, frost and ice!) at 6:30 AM when any
normal person would still be asleep. By nine o’clock we were
pumping water as fast as we could, and as the water level receded
we could not believe the junk thrown in there! Rolls upon rolls of
bailer wire, two headers which had been dismantled and thrown in,
the chassis of what was a 1930 Chrysler 6 and more indescribable
goodies! The waiting was agony for my mate, who decided to try and
wade out and find which way the Oliver had been put in, but he got
about ten feet before sinking in sludge up to his neck! (see
photo 2) He finally got out there, and shouted back that we
indeed had a ’70’ and that everything still opened and shut
on it, although he couldn’t see much from the driver’s
seat! (photo 3).
We pumped the water for thirty more minutes until we could see
the best way to pull it out with the wire rope, (4 &
5) it looked like the Loch Ness monster surfacing as it
dragged half the weeds and junk from the dam as it was towed
backwards up over the bank onto dry land for the first time in six
years (6 & 7).
The first thing to hit us about the Oliver was the acrid stench
of slime, rust and oil. The tires on the rear were still inflated
and inexplicably, the engine was not seized. We had actually
thought of putting the ‘thing’ back in the hole, but if we
could get good panels we might just be able to get it going; and
further inspection revealed the correct amount of oil in the
gearbox and believe it or not clean oil in the air cleaner!
Word of the rescue brought onlookers from miles away, one of
whom had worked for the original owner and explained how he sold
his farm, but not the Oliver and he drove it into the dam to get
rid of it! Imagine our surprise when we found our Allis Chalmers
‘U’ came off the same farm, and was also going to be
‘drowned’ until a neighbor bought it after the auction
where the Oliver failed to sell!
We worked solidly for three months on the Oliver as it started
to deteriorate rapidly out of water. We used the original bearings
and block and really only replaced the bodywork. When ‘fire
up’ day came around, we were besieged by onlookers who told us
we were mad at first and then got interested themselves. Imagine
the satisfaction we felt when that 6 cylinder engine purred into
motion!
Restoration was not yet complete as we were missing side panels
and and half a grille and the whole thing was in Killrust enamel
undercoat, but we loved it!
The actual paint job was a bit of disaster as the paint dried
with absolutely no shine at all, the first time that’s ever
happened to us, even so, the Oliver was a hit with the crowd at
this year’s steam day and one chap even had the side covers for
us!
The future now sees a new paint job for the Oliver and more
vintage tractors for us!