Oliver 4-WD Gets Cummins Power

Oliver 4-WD Gets Cummins Power REPOWERED EQUIPMENT Repowered Equipment 20-5-28 You don't see many tractors like the one we spotted recently at Farmfest near Red-wood Falls, Minn. This 1970 Oliver 2655 4-WD is unusual for a couple of reasons: very few were built and this particular tractor is re-powered with a new Cummins engine. Built for only three years, from 1969 through 1971, less than 1,000 of these Olivers were ever produced, with half sold by Oliver dealers and the other half sold by Minneapolis-Moline dealers. About two-thirds of the originals are still reportedly in service. The tractors were originally powered by long-block Minneapolis-Moline D 585 cu. in. engines. The one pictured, owned by Donald Sparks, Rochester, Minn., needed major engine repairs this spring at 2,300 hours. Since it had so few hours and was otherwise in good shape, Sparks contacted Merlin Stephan of Altura Truck & Tractor who repowers equipment with Cummins engines. In April, Stephan installed a Cummins 6 BTA 5.9-liter engine, the same used in Dodge diesel pickups. The engine was 18 in. shorter than the original, so the biggest challenge was designing and machining an adapter plate for the bell housing and engine block, Stephan notes. Cost of repowering the tractor with the Cummins, which delivers almost the same hp (160) as the original, was $11,500 in-stalled. "It runs like a top," says Sparks, who's extremely pleased with the work because the tractor starts easier on cold mornings and uses about one-third less fuel than before. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Altura Truck & Tractor, R.R.1, Box 10, Altura, Minn. 55910 (ph 507 689-4667).

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