what to pick for a project oliver or massey harris?

[farmerjim]

well i've been in the market for a project, was hoping to get another deere to add to the familys collection but everyone wants big $$ even for junkyard machines. i've found a couple of possibilities within driving range of me, the 1st is a pair of oliver 70 rowcrops both look pretty good and complete from the pics. and the 2nd is a 47' massey harris 20 a bit rough but its complete and supposedly runs. i'm not real familiar w/ either brand, we used to have an old oliver cletrac crawler w/ a loader when i was a kid. but was hoping to get some insight as to which would be easier to find parts for, seems the oliver may be the better route to go w/ some of the research i've done, but would like to hear from others. thanks jim

 

[flusher]

well i've been in the market for a project, was hoping to get another deere to add to the familys collection but everyone wants big $$ even for junkyard machines. i've found a couple of possibilities within driving range of me, the 1st is a pair of oliver 70 rowcrops both look pretty good and complete from the pics. and the 2nd is a 47' massey harris 20 a bit rough but its complete and supposedly runs. i'm not real familiar w/ either brand, we used to have an old oliver cletrac crawler w/ a loader when i was a kid. but was hoping to get some insight as to which would be easier to find parts for, seems the oliver may be the better route to go w/ some of the research i've done, but would like to hear from others. thanks jim

I'd go with the two Olivers. That way you have a source of spare parts readily available.

Last year I bought a pair of Minneapolis Moline P3-6 grain drills from a neighbor ($275). Between the two I was able to put together one good working drill. The spares unit is now serving as a lawn ornament.

 

[Soundguy]

check parts availability for both models... the one with a built in parts tractor sounds good though!

soundguy

 

[kudzu04]

A restored and nicely painted Oliver just looks "right".

 

[RoadGear]

+1 on the Olivers! 70 Rowcrops make super restorations!

Mike

 

[RoadGear]

Doesn't get much prettier than this.....

Mike

 

[professor]

Oliver all the way!

 

[flusher]

Doesn't get much prettier than this.....

Mike

Roger that. Nothing better looking than a restored Oliver from the 1940s-50s.

 

[vsteel]

Go with the Olivers, there are a lot more of them running around than the MH.

 

[bontai_Joe]

I don't know about parts availability, but the Oliver is and always has been one of my favorite tractors. They look cool, they sound cool and they were a pretty darn good tractor in their day.