Various views of the Olmstead #27
Oscar Cooke, of Billings, Montana, owner of ‘Oscar’s
Dreamland’, has the only known Olmstead four-wheel pull tractor
known to exista Montana product owned by a Montana collector.
The Olmstead was made and sold by the Olmstead Gas Traction
Company which got its start about 1912 at Big Timber and was later
moved to Great Falls.
Oscar and his associates are in process of restoring the engine
he owns, which is No. 27. He bought it from Frank Scott of
Meeteetse, Wyoming.
‘Several parts were gone when we got it,’ Oscar reports,
‘and we made most of them and had the sprockets cast new as Mr.
Scott said his grandchildren had tossed the originals into the
Burlington River where he could not find them. We also put on all
four new chains.’
The engine was first sold to a county for road work, Oscar
understands, and then went to a rancher who used it to plow heavy
land and perform other general farm work.
Since the county had bought the tractor for drawbar work only,
the belt pulley did not come with it, and Oscar is still trying to
find one.
The original maker had the castings made in the old Billings
foundry, which burned to the ground in 1935. A part of the old
office is still standing, along with some of the machine shop, and
is occupied by the Great Northern Tool Co.
An early catalog, evidently now in the famous Hal Higgins
collection in California, describes the ‘unusually substantial
construction’ of the Olmstead. It goes on to say:
Here are some pictures from Oscar’s collection:
‘The power plant of the Olmstead Four Wheel Pull is a four
cycle Clifton engine, conservatively rated at 28 HP, with a brake
test at 400 revolutions per minute and guaranteed to stand a
working speed of 600 revolutions. This engine is equipped with
priming cups and compression or release cocks. Each cylinder is 6
inch bore and 7 inch stroke and the crank shaft is 2 inches in
diameter. The cylinders are what are known as L head and the design
and construction provide ample space for water with an abundant
circulation, insuring cool cylinders when the motor is working its
limit of power and speed as well as when running a light load. The
crank shaft is made of forged steel with bearings of Parson’s
white bronze. The main crank shaft is carefully turned, machined
and fitted. There is an impulse every 1 inches as the tractor
moves. The pistons are carefully turned. The engine is assured of
longer life than in most tractors because the machine is spring
mounted and the springs take up all jars, keeping the engine
protected when ruts or obstacles are encountered while at
work.’
If you can furnish any further information on the Olstead, Oscar
would be happy to hear from you. He’s at Billings Route 9,
59102; telephone 406-656-0966.
