Pulling with the Partridges

Ke e p up wit h t h e la tes t and g reat es t i n t he Worl d of Ol i v e r !

April/May 2019 $5.99 U.S.

OLIVER

HG-31 p.26

POWER

BOOSTER

DRIVE

p.40

PULLING WITH THE

RON FELT’S

REPAIR

p.14 p.50

PARTRIDGES

www.OliverHeritage.com

90

Pulling with the

PARTRIDGES

By Ch r istina St af f

A n 88 0 pride fueled by th ree generations of Oliver

Walter “Papa” Partridge on the family’s Oliver 770 diesel that he and Jeff restored together.

“Our Oliver story starts with my grandfather. Growing up on a dairy farm, he saw lots of equipment and brands, but struck a fancy to Olivers,” Dillion Partridge tells us of his late grandfather, Walter “Papa” Partridge.

What began as a small, tinker project for the beloved patriarch of this Southern Maine family turned into a heartfelt tribute nearly a decade later.

14

Oliver Heritage 2019

Approaching retirement from the local paper mill in 1996, Walter began scouring the state collecting tractors and parts. Soon, he had his two grown sons, Jeff (Dillion’s dad), and Gene, traveling with him to auctions or estate sales looking for anything Oliver. “There was a good five or ten years where my Grandfather, my dad, and my uncle would go to every equipment auction within New England, and if it was green and Oliver, they brought it home no matter what it was.

And that’s how we acquired so much.”

Dillion, a third-generation tractor enthusiast, was bit by the Oliver bug at a young age. And like most farm kids, he was driving tractors long before pickup trucks. In fact, he made his first pulling debut at the age of 14. “The Maine Antique Tractor Club is the organization that I started with when I was younger. That’s kind of how my family got into pulling and shows, and all of that. Being underage, as in not having a driver’s license, they used to make everybody under 16 take an onsite safety course with whatever tractor they planned on driving. They would setup a cone course and make you drive through it, back up, and do everything you needed to do. It was like a little tractor Driver’s Ed kind of thing.”

“My dad first started me off on a 60 because I wasn’t really that big of a kid. When I was 12 or 14, I couldn’t push in the clutch on the other tractors, so he got me something that was small enough, yet fun at the same time, and not a little toy. He thought the 60 was perfect, and it really was.

When he bought it at an auction, it was completely rusty. He put new rims and tires on it, but I wouldn’t let him paint it because I thought it was cool.

He completely rebuilt the motor so it was all brand new under the hood, but nobody knew that.”

“I wouldn’t let him paint it because I thought it was cool. He completely rebuilt the motor so it was all brand new under the hood, but nobody knew that.”

This Oliver 60 was the first tractor Dillion ever pulled with.

He was only 14-years-old and still claims it to be his favorite.

Anyone who has ever tractor pulled knows the all too familiar adrenaline rush you feel when hooking up to the sled. Combine that rush with youthful inexperience and you’ve set the stage for a life-altering moment.

“With my dad by my side, I hooked up to the sled for the first time and off I went. Right down the middle and out the door! With 24 tractors in the 2500-pound class, I put 12 or 15 feet on everyone and came out with a win!

This was the moment I knew I was an Oliver fan for life! That tractor turned out to be, and still is in the back of my mind, my favorite.”

Between pulls, collecting, and various other projects, Walter’s fleet had grown to include a 1958 880 Row Crop, purchased in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, sometime around 2004. “He had the highest hopes for this tractor and began stripping it down to nothing, from the transmission gears all the way through the motor. This took years.

Little by little, we made progress up until 2015 when he passed. On that day, me, my dad, and uncle all said to each other we need to finish that tractor for Papa! The very next spring, we went full steam ahead.”

The Oliver 880 was the product of a steady progression of power from the Fleetline Series, starting with the 88, before becoming the Super 88, and then finally the 880. It was introduced in 1958 and powered by the 6-cylinder Waukesha 190 series engine. Walter’s tractor, Serial No. 70137, was a gas model. The price guide from Charles City listed the 880 Row Crop gas at $3,673.

“When me and my dad took over the project, we didn’t know where anything was that my grandfather had

bought. He would buy it and put it in a box or stick it on a shelf so we wouldn’t use it for another project, and I don’t know how many times we had to go re-buy parts because we couldn’t find them. And sometimes we’d go out and buy parts just to later find the one he had stashed away,” Dillion laughed.

“We had the motor went through completely - brand new everything, brand new carburetor, the clutch is all new, everything. Then we painted it, and the transmission got all re-done.

Probably the biggest headache for me

ISSUE 90 • Apr / May 2019

15

was the electrical. It was just a little bit confusing because the wiring diagrams out there aren’t the best. Try the switch; see if the headlights come on. Nope, okay, let’s try something else. And the other issue we had was the 2-speed; we couldn’t get it to engage. It wouldn’t work properly.” Despite the hardships and challenges, the father and son duo persisted, determined to see the project through to the end for Papa. “If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have any of this, and I try to keep that in mind when I’m frustrated or down about something,” said Dillion.

Having only driven the finished 880 up and down the driveway a few times to get the bugs worked out, Dillion and his dad loaded it up and headed to a pull, hoping for the best. “We showed up with no expectations, because it was brand new to us, but it performed flawlessly. We pulled it in two classes.

I pulled it once and my dad pulled it

16

Oliver Heritage 2019

in the other class once, and we both finished first. A few weeks later, we went to another event, pulled two more classes and won those two. The same thing happened the following year. We went 6-0 before we lost, so we were on cloud nine.”

“It was another notch in the proud belt for me and my dad after spending countless hours in the shop to see this beauty do what it does and look

ISSUE 90 • Apr / May 2019

17

good doing it. Most importantly, we did it for Papa. We finally finished his almost 10-year project, and nothing made us feel more connected to him than grinding away at that 880. In my opinion, it’s better or at just as good as when it came off the assembly line.”

Since the tractor is setup for pulling more so than agricultural use, a few modifications have been made to ease transitioning between weight classes, including a set of brackets fashioned for the back rims. “On the hubs, those are factory Ford highway brackets.

And there are 40-pound triangle pieces that bolt on and you can take them off individually. We bought the brackets and then made a little conversion so we could bolt it to the rim. We used to do it to all the bigger tractors we had. It would add 500 pounds to each wheel. And we used to pull multiple classes, so you could put them all on for one class and then take some off for another class. Being only 40 pounds a piece, they weren’t that heavy so it was convenient and easy to change. So it’s just a Ford weight bolted to the Oliver, then we painted it Oliver green and everybody would always ask where we got them.”

“I will never forget that day, Father’s Day 2016, we started shooting paint on the 880. It started to seem like we would finally finish this project after all. It was a masterpiece! This will not be the last project for us by a long shot, and there won’t be any more projects for Papa, but every time I step into that shop, I’m with him and that’s all that matters.”

In addition to the 880 gas, the Partridge Family fleet consists of a 660, 770, 60, 1750, Super 88, 880 diesel, a couple Super 55s, 550, Super 77, and several other chassis and parts. The 770 is a diesel that Dillion’s dad and grandpa restored together, and still gets

18

Oliver Heritage 2019

A proud moment for Dillion when he took first place pulling with his grandpa’s tractor!

The bracket and weights bolted to the back rim of the 880 were an idea fashioned

by Dillion and his dad for ease of adding/decreasing weight between classes.

Jeff and Dillion enjoying their favorite pastime together – Oliver tractor pulling!

Pulling with the

PARTRIDGES In addition to the 880 gas, the Partridge Family fleet consists of a 660, 770, 60, 1750, Super 88, 880 diesel, a couple Super 55s, 550, Super 77, and several other chassis and parts.

used at pulls occasionally. “My dad wants to completely repaint the 1750, so for Christmas, I bought him a gallon of paint to get him all amped up to do it. Hopefully that’s our spring project once it gets a little warmer out.”

Currently, the Partridges are members of two local tractor clubs: the Maine Antique Tractor Club and the Maine State Pullers. “The Maine State Pullers do truck and tractor pulling, and they’re a lot bigger, as far as bigger tractors, bigger equipment, and newer.

And they have more classes, as well. They’re more Central and Northern Maine.” You can also follow the family’s pulling adventures via Dillion’s Instagram page by searching @teamoliverpulling.

Dillion and his wife, Kaitlyn, were marred last spring and are expecting their first child in September. “It’s going be a big year. When we went and told my dad he was going to be a grandfather, he said, ‘I don’t care if it’s a boy or girl, we’re still going to teach it how to tractor pull!’”.

And so begins the fourth generation to carry on the Oliver flag… another Partridge in the Oliver tree.

“...there won’t be any more projects for Papa, but every time I step into that shop, I’m with him and that’s all that matters.”

ISSUE 90 • Apr / May 2019

19