Some Oliver 500/600 information

AngryBobKing · Oct 10, 2022

This might not be new/big news to anyone but I have been in contact with the David Brown Tractor Club LTD, the Editor of their magazine, Tractor News, is none other than Stuart Gibbard, the author of the David Brown book that I purchased earlier this year and the source of most of the Oliver 500/600 literature posted here previously.
Anyways, I've been trying to get to the bottom of this Oliver 600 outside of the serial number business.
I was able to have them scan the articles published in their Tractor News magazine issue number 42, and 44. In these issues, they ran a 3 part series on these tractors. the first 2 parts were the same articles published in the HPOCCA in May 2006, But the third article is one I haven't seen before and does finally put the theory of "pulling DB 990's off the line to become oliver 600's" in writing. Albeit, it claims that there is only 2 known to be outside the range.

J. Schwiebert · Oct 10, 2022

The Service bulletins were furnished by me. Before I went to the hospital I had a copy of an article that showed the first 500 models coming off the assembly line. I
think it got pitched. I also had a picture of the first ones on the way to the ship on the train. Do you have any of that? Send me an e-mail and your phone number.
Thanks! J.

rrlund · Oct 10, 2022

I've got all those pictures in my other computer John. I'll post them when I have more time and you can download them from here. Just in for a quick sandwich. Picking corn. I'll have to download Bobs articles that he posted so I can blow them up and read them when I have more time too.

Gotta run.

AngryBobKing · Oct 10, 2022

(quoted from post at 06:51:41 10/10/22) The Service bulletins were furnished by me. Before I went to the hospital I had a copy of an article that showed the first 500 models coming off the assembly line. I
think it got pitched. I also had a picture of the first ones on the way to the ship on the train. Do you have any of that? Send me an e-mail and your phone number.
Thanks! J.

I do have those pictures, but they are in a book and I don't have a scanner

AngryBobKing · Oct 10, 2022

Randy these are pictures of the pdf files that were emailed to me. I had to use snipping tool since YT wouldn't let me upload PDFs, or at least I couldn't figure it out. If you want the PDFs I can email them to you.

rrlund · Oct 10, 2022

I just downloaded them. I can blow them up big enough to read them.

Nelson was here last week. He brought me a new grill, fender braces and a lid for the cross box. He has a pair of fenders that need
work. I don't know whether to buy those or take the ones that are on it to the fabricator and have him do some modifying on them.
Nelson was surprised by how original they already look.

I got a seat from a boneyard in Kentucky a week ago Friday. I got that put on yesterday. It's coming around.

rrlund · Oct 10, 2022

Except for that one little addendum at the end of that one page by the DB guy, I guess I've read the rest of that in HPOC magazine.
The claim that there were two after the last serial number has been proven wrong by the fact that Nelson has 14 in the registry
now. You told him about those didn't you? Mine has an original Oliver tag with the number matching what's in the frame, and a well
worn Oliver grill emblem.

AngryBobKing · Oct 10, 2022

(quoted from post at 16:38:35 10/10/22) Except for that one little addendum at the end of that one page by the DB guy, I guess I've read the rest of that in HPOC magazine.
The claim that there were two after the last serial number has been proven wrong by the fact that Nelson has 14 in the registry
now. You told him about those didn't you? Mine has an original Oliver tag with the number matching what's in the frame, and a well
worn Oliver grill emblem.

Yeah I told him that's what was happening and he didn't really have any info for me other than to be very careful of frauds.

rrlund · Oct 10, 2022

I don't think there are enough of us who care about these things for there to be any frauds. Most of mine still has original paint
and decals. I showed Nelson some decals on mine that he's never seen. I think they just had more of those things ordered when they
ended the deal than had been made up until then and they had to pull some version 2 Implematics to fill the orders. Peter told me
that the version 2s came out the same month that the Oliver deal ended. I don't think anybody has dug deep enough in to the records
to have found a record of the later ones.

When you read that article, it claims there were only 1648 500s, but we know now that that isn't right either.

scootergmc · Oct 10, 2022

There would have to be an insane collector market for anyone to even attempt to fraud up one of these, and there just isn't. Maybe in another 25-50 years, but right now nobody is beating down the door to collect these things. They were an oddball for sure.

AngryBobKing · Oct 10, 2022

(quoted from post at 20:53:13 10/10/22)

There would have to be an insane collector market for anyone to even attempt to fraud up one of these, and there just isn't. Maybe in another 25-50 years, but right now nobody is beating down the door to collect these things. They were an oddball for sure.

Well, maybe in the US not so much, but in the UK and Australia, they seem to be more coveted. In reality they are basically a David Brown version of the New Zealand Hart Parr special. Also the article mentions frauds, maybe there was more of a following for them a couple decades ago, who knows. It just seems to be an interesting conversation everytime one is mentioned.

scootergmc · Oct 11, 2022

If they're still sought after in Oz, I would think there would be collectors snatching up the cheap ones out here on the west coast, much like they've done with the antique Caterpillars.

What I do know is that someone would have to dig up some records at Floyd County to finally put this issue to bed. Seems like this would be a good investigation project for a future issue of either one of the Oliver magazines.

AngryBobKing · Oct 11, 2022

(quoted from post at 22:00:26 10/10/22)
If they're still sought after in Oz, I would think there would be collectors snatching up the cheap ones out here on the west coast, much like they've done with the antique Caterpillars.

What I do know is that someone would have to dig up some records at Floyd County to finally put this issue to bed. Seems like this would be a good investigation project for a future issue of either one of the Oliver magazines.

According to Nelson, Floyd county didnt track any of the imports like they did the other Olivers. They told Nson that any records would have been at the cletrac plant and likely not around anymore since White did not take Cletrac with them

scootergmc · Oct 11, 2022

I thought the Cletrac plant was shut down in 1961 and everything moved to Charles City. Correct me if I'm wrong.

AngryBobKing · Oct 11, 2022

I believe you are right, I also would believe that they didn't take a bunch of boxes of records with them. Not sure. Just going off of what Nelson said since he fought this good fight for the last 5 or 6 years

scootergmc · Oct 11, 2022

I'm sure he has been. But if the timelines are correct as I remember, I would think there has to be records somewhere, especially after '61. These were around through '64, no?

AngryBobKing · Oct 11, 2022

Correct

rrlund · Oct 16, 2022

Don't forget Bob, to fake one of those with one with the battery in front, you'd have to find a Canadian second version red and
yellow 990 Implematic. The ones sold in the US had the free standing fenders instead of a cross box. I'd be easier to find a 600.

Jim Radtke · Sep 18, 2023

(quoted from post at 23:20:18 10/10/22)
I'm sure he has been. But if the timelines are correct as I remember, I would think there has to be records somewhere, especially after '61. These were around through '64, no?

I appreciate all your research. I just bought an Oliver 600 with a serial number of 460301. Original plate under the seat on the battery box. Does this make any sense? Guy also sold me a 500 gas and 500 diesel

scootergmc · Sep 18, 2023

Boy that sure is a pretty tractor.

Oliver 500 Wa · Sep 26, 2023

Looks nice but it's too bad someone put so much work into their take on a grill without at least taking off the OEM grill attachment clip. You need a hood badge too. Nelson LeCount should have some. I made a batch of 10 for him this spring

Some Oliver 500/600 information

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