Oliver Super 55 Diesel

Bob_Skurka · Aug 30, 2003

My wife says 4 tractors are too many so I am selling my restored Oliver Super 55. It is listed on Ebay if anyone wants to take a look.

Ebay Listing for 1965 Oliver Super 55

5030 · Sep 1, 2003

Bob:

That's a nice old tractor. Remids me of the Oliver that my buddy has in his barn. I don't know what model it is, but the engine is enclosed with sheet mtal. It's completely restored and waxed regularly.

Your Oliver looks like a Ford Golden Jubilee.

Old tractors are like old women, nice to have around, but a pain in the ......!!

Bob_Skurka · Sep 1, 2003

The olivers that had sheet metal enclosing the engine were the row crop series and I think the fleetline series. My Super 55 was designed to out utility the Ford 8n utility tractors. It really is hard to part with, but I can't keep it in the garage anymore. It is fun and dependable and comfortable, but that could just as easily describe an old shoe. My little New Holland TC 24D is alsmost as powerful but is 5 times as practical. The new tractors weigh so much less than the old farm tractors that driving them is a differernt animal . . . you can't get any momentum with the light Japanese tractors when you engage the ground! It is hard to beat the weight of the old iron for plowing or blade work.

5030 · Sep 2, 2003

Bob:

I have to tip my hat to you. You have Orange and Blue and White and Yellow too.

I think you and Henro should compare notes.

Why do you have a Kubota and a New Holland? I'm reasonably sure you mow the lawn with the Cub, lie I mow the lawn with my MTD (Huskee).

Bob_Skurka · Sep 4, 2003

The Cub and the NH mow the lawn. The NH does light landscape duties like work in ditches with a blade. The Kubota is 1/2 owned by me and my neighbor, it is the workhorse with the FEL and Backhoe and I have more seat time in the Kubota than the NH but the Kubota is rigged for landscape construction and I do less of that now than I did over the past few years. The NH is used for 3pt work while the Kubota is not (because the backhoe is on it).

As for WHY I have NH and Kubota. That is a dealer / pricing issue. 3 years ago Kubota was a bargain and a good tractor. The Kubota dealer & I have a 9+ year relationship and we know each other on a first name basis. He is also the Cub dealer. But when I went to inquire about a new and smaller Kubota I got one of his sales people because he was out of the office. I told the guy what I wanted and that I was looking at NH as well. The guy didn't call back. After a couple days, I did. Got a bad answer. In the mean time I talked to the NH guy, he was on top of everything got back to me several times, and generally out sold the Kubota guy by a factor of 10. So then I get a call from the Kubota dealer's owner and I tell him my problems. And I mention the price his sales guy finally gave me is almost $1200 higher than the comparable NH. And that is not to say the NH guy spit out the low price right off the bat, he did not and took some beating with a stick to get me a good price, but he did.

And while some on this forum would disagree, I find the NH to be the better designed tractor, and the better value, and am glad things turned out the way they did. I have been back to the Kubota dealer several times and played with the Kubotas since I got the NH and I know for fact that Blue beats Orange (at least in the compact class of tractors).

By the way, I also own a John Deere push mower and a John Deere weed wacker . . . does that count for anything in my multi-color collection?

Bob_Skurka · Sep 6, 2003

WOW, I can't believe it, I got $3550.00 for the Oliver by selling it on Ebay. I had it listed for 2 months on several sites, got 1 inquiry that was serious. 2 dealers offered me $1000 and $1500. A bidding war started and 3 people really wanted the tractor. Similar Ford 8Ns that were for sale at the same time sat with no bids or had low prices, none of them hit $2000 except for one that had a loader, and that went for just over $2000. Another that had a brand new 60" finish mower went for $2200.

cowboydoc · Sep 8, 2003

Have you gotten paid yet Bob? I've had some friends go that route and they got a really good price. Then the people backed out on them.

Bob_Skurka · Sep 9, 2003

The ebay auction ended on Friday, he was in my driveway with cash on Saturday morning. So all is well that ends well.

He was from near Louisville, I am near Chicago, so he got up real early to arrive at my house at 11am.

And in all fairness the tractor he bought was very sound mechanically and is very nice looking cosmetically so he paid top dollar but got a very nice condition tractor that should give him no problems and should do what he wants.

I did wonder if I would be paid, and if Ebay was the right way to go. I have seen Ford 8n's on Ebay sit without bids, in my area they sell for about $2000 in decent condition. I expected to get about $3000 to $3200 for my Oliver if I could find the right buyers. What was the biggest surprise is that there were 4 buyers who bid on it AFTER it was already at $3200. So maybe I undervalued (in my mind) what a restored Oliver is worth? I think the guy got a FAIR deal, given the condition of what I sold, but he certainly didn't get a bargain.

That said, I guess I would do it again, but I also think that selling a Ford 8n would probably be better done locally than on Ebay, an unusual tractor that is strong mechanically, and has collector value, is probably the best type of tractor to sell on Ebay.

cowboydoc · Sep 9, 2003

Yea I can't believe what those little tractors sell for sometimes. Esp. if they have a loader on one. A couple weeks ago a friend had an older one. I can't even remember what it was now. It had a loader on it and he set that thing out in front of his farm by the highway and was asking $4500. I thought man he'll never sell that thing for that money. That night I saw him out there with a guy. I asked him the next day how it went. He said the guy paid him 45 $100 bills and loaded it up and took it home. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Macroman · Sep 10, 2003

I sold a gas one a few years back. I had used it around the farm and considered restoring it but it was in rough shape. It sold for $800. The oliver had the Perkins gas and Diesel engines definately superior to the Ford or MF of the same era.