Pulled this old Oliver out of the field...

[mopardude318]

I think DE was admitting to some tire OCD in the first post

My used 2wd tractor came with flotation (forage wagon) tires on the front, as it had been used in a Parks dept.

I'm liking the one new 4 rib I finally threw on it last Fall - the one on that side had too many cracks for my liking, and was leaking air, so I got the OK from the CFO for a new one.... turns are less vague now, and I'm looking fwd to getting another 4 rib.

At the rate Mdude is going, he'll have his Olly parade ready :thumbsup: before I justify the next 4 rib on mine :laughing:

Rgds, D.

why thank ya!

Man, 4 rib tires are not cheap!

I was thinking of just using these, new, cheap, and MATCHING!

TWO New 5.5-16 Tri-Rib 3 Rib Front Tractor Tires 4PR B Heavy Duty 5.5x16 | eBay

 

[dragoneggs]

why thank ya!

Man, 4 rib tires are not cheap!

I was thinking of just using these, new, cheap, and MATCHING!

TWO New 5.5-16 Tri-Rib 3 Rib Front Tractor Tires 4PR B Heavy Duty 5.5x16 | eBay

Now you're talkin'!

Great progress with the sandblasting and painting. :thumbsup: Rattle cans after a sandblast is the way to go for small parts in my opinion. No clean up of gun! I love my HF heavily modified blast cabinet. Makes all the difference with a little solvent wipe afterward, in the finished spray painted product and the paint will last!

 

[Garandman]

Interesting history, including coining the term “Tractor.”

Oliver Farm Equipment Company - Wikipedia

 

[NoTrespassing]

Wow, wish I had that energy! I'm a fan of self etching primer too.

Kevin

 

[3930dave]

why thank ya!

Man, 4 rib tires are not cheap!

I was thinking of just using these, new, cheap, and MATCHING!

TWO New 5.5-16 Tri-Rib 3 Rib Front Tractor Tires 4PR B Heavy Duty 5.5x16 | eBay

Those look like a great deal; I'd jump on those quick. When I was looking around for deals, I found one killer deal, but somebody bought the entire lot the day before.

4rib - definitely pricey. My other tire is holding out for now, and I want to spread that cost out over time. Ton 'o rubber on that 4rib though, it weighs probably twice what came off the old rim. My rims are fairly wide, so I bit the bullet and went 4 rib - drove a good hour West to big-farm country to get the deal I needed (still stupid money, this is Canada.....), but way better than what the one big local industrial tire shop wanted for a 4 rib.

Unless you plan on doing some crazy loader work with Olly, I'd have those 3 ribs rolling your way ASAP :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Wow, wish I had that energy! I'm a fan of self etching primer too.

Kevin

Clearly (shortly), I'm definitely not a painter....

I know of self-etching primer, but have never used it.

I'm not setup for sand-blasting, and being Canadian, rust is my birthright..... so I've usually stuck with using a rust-paint primer (red-oxide preferably) after scraping off heavy rust. Yeah, I need a mediablaster......

My perception of self-etching primer is that it is best used as Mdude has done, on freshly blasted metal. Am I correct in thinking that it won't manage residual rust well ?

Rgds, D.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Clearly (shortly), I'm definitely not a painter....

I know of self-etching primer, but have never used it.

I'm not setup for sand-blasting, and being Canadian, rust is my birthright..... so I've usually stuck with using a rust-paint primer (red-oxide preferably) after scraping off heavy rust. Yeah, I need a mediablaster......

My perception of self-etching primer is that it is best used as Mdude has done, on freshly blasted metal. Am I correct in thinking that it won't manage residual rust well ?

Rgds, D.

Probably correct. At work I use it on new aluminum.

Kevin

 

[ovrszd]

That may very well be a rare tractor. Looks to be an Oliver 550 Industrial. Probably the only difference is the front cowling, and grill. I did a photo search, and only found one, and it's in a salvage yard. Model number decal says 551. Used Oliver 550 tractor parts - EQ-21198 | All States Ag Parts

Hope it doesn't take much to get it going, that's a pretty unique model 550. If you happen to needs parts, such as castings, etc., here's a list of 24 in various salvage yards. TractorHouse.com | OLIVER 55 Dismantled Machines - 24 Listings - Page 1.

I agree. Very rare. First one I've ever saw. I grew up around 55s, Super 55s and 550s. It's a 6spd forward, 2spd reverse trans tractor with an Oliver unique shifter pattern. With the shifter in neutral pulling upward on the lever puts it in high range with 3f 1r speeds in an H pattern. Neutral again, push downward on the lever puts it into low range with 3f 1r H pattern. Been 40 years since I drove one, but I remember this very unusual setup. It was used on their rowcrop tractors as well.

 

[ovrszd]

It's definitely an Oliver 550 industrial model. First thing I would do is get a tech manual for it. There's a few listed on ebay. Don't waste your money on the I&T shop manual, I bought one for my Oliver Super 55 and it just doesn't provide enough information on a lot of topics. It's Ok but the Oliver reproduction manual was 10x better.

You got a great tractor there if there isn't too many issues with it. A lot of the parts for a Super 55 will also fit on a 550. There's a lot of these old Olivers still out and about and parts can be found.

Absolutely love my Oliver Super 55 I have had it for about 8 years now and this tractor gets worked. Only issue I've had so far is the PTO needs new clutches but haven't gotten to it yet because I use the tractor so much for other tasks.

I mowed a LOT of hay with a 55 as a kid. Loved running that tractor.

 

[3930dave]

Probably correct. At work I use it on new aluminum.

Kevin

I know Duplicolor has a yellow Zinc Chromate primer spec'd for aluminum, and galvanized surfaces (?) too.

It seems that Self-Etching primer uses an acid (phosphoric ?) to etch the bare metal and promote bonding of zinc to prevent future rust issues. It seems to work well, from the number of good comments I hear - I should quit being lazy and try it on my next bare-metal project....

Where I start to get a bit confused is that zinc strikes me as not the easiest metal to paint over.....

Thanks to Mdude for letting me drift this great Oliver thread by displaying my lack of attention in Chem class....

Rgds, D.