Combine Tales: The 55 EB and the legend of the flaming Gleaner

Here we change a couple hoses real quick on the John Deere 55 EB combine and also tell the story of the F2 gleaner that burned up
I’m Ross aka “The Oliver Man”. I farm with Oliver and White tractors here in beautiful Southern IN. I have over 30 Oliver and White Tractors in my collection (plus a few other colors). Please Like and Subscribe for more Oliver and White Videos!
GET YOUR MERCH HERE: my-store-ca9db1.creator-sprin...
Shop my Amazon Store: www.amazon.com/shop/rosstheol...
*I get a small commission off each sale.
Follow Me on:
Facebook: / rieckersfarms
Instagram: rossrieckers?r=...
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@user732404530...
If you wish to contact me, send an email to: [e-mail]
If you wish to send me stuff, fan mail, or more likely hatemail, send it to:
Ross the Oliver Man
PO Box 81
Brownstown IN 47220
If you’d like to help support the channel through PayPal or Venmo feel free to do so here:
PayPal: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...
Venmo: account.venmo.com/u/Rosstheol...
Thanks for Watching!!!


[@dennisfoltz7880]

Here,s a story about buying something that is immaculately taking care of . My dad was in the navy during ww2 ,he got out in 1946 and wanted a new car . Finally buying a new ford. His sister my aunt borrowed it an wrecked it ,totaled. So my dad is in need of a car again . His dad my grandfather's has a 34 dodge thats like new 800 or so miles on it kept in the garage . My dad buys it from him has it about a month and the engine develops a nock , so he has it fixed , then a little while later it caught fire . He had that fixed , then the clutch broke and he had that fixed. By now he doesnt want to drive the car fearful something else will go . Well my aunt borrowed the car , same one that wrecked the ford . This time she was driving the dodge and the engine blew . Well my dad jokingly would bring up how she ruined his beautiful car every time he saw her. Dad ends up buying a chevrolet that looked like it was going to die at any minute and drove that car for 6 years trouble free .

[@dougschmitii6165]

I loved your special effects on the video, ha ha!!!!

[@rosstheoliverman]

🤣🤣🤣

[@user-is1cb5me8v]

great story about your gleaner sorry it burned while you were running it😊

[@jasonandholliehuffman8291]

Great story. 👍👍👍👍👍

[@MrJeep75]

I like old combine to, there used to be two open stations combine was left at a farm house we rented as a kid use to play on them

[@jamieebersole6755]

Wow! I'm surprised that old combine runs that good. I was assuming we would get to see all kinds of sadness but that might be waiting for a later episode 😂😂

[@shanerickert1304]

My dad was the first person to bring a self propelled combine to the farm. It was a John Deere but I don’t recall the model. Before that we were running Allis Chalmers 90 all crops. The long shot was we had a serial arsonist in the area who torched the combine as well as the full bin of soybeans. To say the least he was devastated.

[@rosstheoliverman]

That’s sad that people can’t leave stuff alone. I don’t have much use for people who mess with other peoples equipment.

[@hughperkins707]

My first Gleaners was bought new in 1973 model F. Had it for about 5 years and traded it for a used model M. Next came a model L and finally a model N6. That ended 20 years of Gleaners. Very reliable machines. My last combine was a NH TR98.

[@rosstheoliverman]

I think the N’s were probably the last of the “heyday” of gleaners. I don’t think the Deutz engine did them any favors. Just too hard to keep clean. And the poor 426 was pushed past its limit in the combines

[@corydriver7634]

When you did the “dramatic reenactment” of the Gleaner fire it was like I was there. 😂

[@jonathancrissinger2301]

I'm on board with what ever you do with it. I like the idea of having as much original equipment as possible. I don't think you will make just a couple of rounds and be done. Maybe you will, but I would want to do atleast one hopper full before I quit, lol. I love the idea of getting it up and running again for memory sake. I'm guessing you never lived down the fire. Lol. Lots of interesting history about the combines. It was fun to reminisce and I was remembering back to the Gleaner and case we had. Gleaner had a cab and I don't recall the model of either one, but the case didn't have a cab. I recall the Gleaner was a Chevy 6 cylinder, very hard to get started. The Case had a Chrysler slant 6and always started very easily. Thanks for sharing and bringing back memories of my past.

[@johnbender1596]

Your comments on repairing a fire damaged unit was spot on. I have personally experienced repairing this kind of damage on farm equipment and working with the insurance companies is usually a challenge. There is nothing worse to repair then a half burned machine! My advice to operators based on this experience was that if you ever experienced a fire while operating equipment was “take care of your safety first”.

[@martymurphy7477]

cool 55B video

[@alkennedy1124]

Vary interesting story, nice , I had a scrub back to rewatch it, thanks, oh yeah in alternators get stuck, they will tar up a lot of things, thanks BigAl California.

[@rosstheoliverman]

Thanks Al!

[@samholmes1156]

Your Gleaner story is similar to what happened to the guy we used to hire to do custom work. He had a G they had run for years, and it caught fire in a cornfield one day. It was a gas with a V-6 Chevy engine in it as I recall. The gas line burned through and fed the flames like yours. It did get fixed and lived to harvest again so I think the damage was limited to the engine compartment.

[@emmitt00]

Excellent video RossSquatch. The pictures of the reenactment were hilarious. I feel like they were very accurate. lol

[@TomBiggerstaff-gn1ws]

That story gives me new meaning to the phares smoking trash can

[@rosstheoliverman]

🤣🤣🤣

[@tylerlowery3753]

Always a farmer or an equipment owners biggest worry is losing something to a fire no matter the cost of it. Also love the dramatic special effects. It really made the video 🔥 lol.

[@rosstheoliverman]

🤣 thanks!

[@pagrainfarmer]

Ross, I thoroughly enjoyed this video. I like hearing the backstory/history on a tractor or piece of equipment. That's something I try to do in my videos, too. Congrats for getting the JD 55 started. I sounded pretty good after it's looooooong sleep. Hope you are feeling better soon.

[@gregdavis8152]

Another good combine video. Glad you got it going. It was good that Chris was there during the fire. He must have shown up to help put it out.

[@rosstheoliverman]

🤣🤣🤣

[@DonWelter]

The old girl was humming along...now comes the long journey to field readiness. Plenty of future video material. Several Gleaners in our area have burned due to failed/overheated bearings. Unfortunately any brand can and will burn, so careful inspection, regular cleaning, and a working fire extinguisher are steps to fire prevention.

[@keithwuchter624]

Great video Ross. The ole combine sounds like it's ready for the field. Love those ole farm stories. Thanks for sharing.

[@rosstheoliverman]

Thanks Keith!

[@adamsuess3449]

I had a Gleaner F diesel and an Oliver 5555 when I started on my own. I encountered so much "Sadness" with that F. It nearly broke me. Was very happy the day it left. From time to time I think of buying it back for my combine collection. Still have the 5555. One warm starry night I was out with the 5555 when suddenly front and the windows started getting wet spots on them. Took me a second to realize hey that's not sprinkles its gas. Rubber line up near the carb decided it had enough. Aided by a the fan it eagerly shared it's contents with the entire engine compartment. How it never ignited I'll never know.

[@utahbrumley7473]

Congrats Ross, never any doubt you could get it running well! Thank you for working your hind end off, not only to video this project for all of us, but doing all you've done while not feeling well! Very happy for you; my family and I are sentimental about tractors, trucks and other things that belonged to our loved ones also so we understand and are eager to see if be brought back to it's glory and see you enjoy using it once again! I hope you get to feeling better soon and recover quickly! In a few days might be able to share with you a new addition here to our place if i'm fortunate enough to purchase it. Definitely caught the Oliver/White buy me disease lol!

[@michaelsheeder148]

Ross, thanks for the stories and I think that John Deere combine may be ready to harvest next year. Thanks Michael

[@NEAFarmKid4010]

I grew up around my grandpa's Gleaner F, and the first combine I cut beans with was a K2. I love Gleaners for that nostalgia, but there are a lot of things about Gleaners that I don't like. Number one being the dual-function hydraulic levers. I'm just not a fan of pushing straight down and pulling straight up to raise and lower the head. But again, the K2 was the first combine (and so far the only combine) I really cut beans with, so they do have a place in my heart.

[@berniemarkley]

Best fire re-enactment ever!

[@ThatOliverGuyChris]

I'm Mister Heat Miser!

[@rosstheoliverman]

You sure showed that Silver Seeder who was boss!

[@ThatOliverGuyChris]

@@rosstheoliverman I'm too much!

[@rosstheoliverman]

@ThatOliverGuyChris you must be thinking of that other YOuTuBeR 🤣

[@rog4864]

Hah, I know she would run and boy she runs really good for sitting 20 plus years. I have run Gleaners before and they always seemed like really good machines. Hardly any gas combines down my way, mostly diesels. Great video Ross.

[@johnkissack5295]

Great video! Learned a lot from you and videos. I have my dads F Gleaner with 18 ft grain head and have a pickup attachment head for it. It’s been shedded it’s entire life but not used for 20 yrs.

[@farmworkMi]

I'm a huge fan and I was wondering about the 2 combines in the shed. I feel like they don't have nearly as much work to bring back to the field as the old johnny . I love that you are getting it back around to the field but boy oh boy . Keep up the great work

[@banditfarmer1900]

My first combine was an AC 60 pull type ($25 at a sale) then a I bought a Gleaner A my junior year in high school for $3500 and paid for it in 2 years doing custom work. 13' head with a flouting cutter bar hume reel and a 2 row wide corn head man I thought I was on top of the world ! LOL Between me and dad we had 4 Gleaner A's 2 E's an E3 an A2 a K and a C2, Dealing with the only AC dealer left I had my go around with them and sold all the Gleaner I had and bought a JD and never looked back ! I've never had a fire on a combine before but I did roll one on its side one time but thats an other story ! LOL I liked the old Gleaners but when the dealer screws you over you just dont want to run them anymore. Bandit

[@rosstheoliverman]

Cool! I never would’ve guessed that you were a Gleaner guy before. Thanks Bandito!

[@banditfarmer1900]

Me and dad ran lots of AC combines from a 60 66 72 90 and 100 SP and lots of Gleaners combines. But when the only dealer is a pain in the butt to deal with and screws you over simply because he doesent want to fool with it when Agco says they will fix and pay for everything and the dealer just has to say its because of there new parts were bad well I just get screwed over. He said I didnt buy enough parts or equipment to make it worth his while to do anything for me. So we sold about all the AC stuff we had and bought more Oliver and JD stuff ! His loss is another dealer gain $$$$$$$$ ! LOL Bandit

[@OldFarmAcresJoelK.]

Your dad's gleaner f2 had a typically 292 straight 6 chevy engine (turd). My F gleaner has the same engine and kinda wish they should have went with Ford 300 but I understand they had a competition back then. Gleaners are ok combines.

[@stevenzimmerman4901]

Great story but the dramatic reenactments had me like🤣!

[@craigrasnic4178]

I knew you could do it buddy I never had any doubts lol, also Bandit has some NOS parts for one of those

[@gleanerk]

Belt’s always flopped a bit on variable speed on my old 55 ! Thanks for the story time uncle Ross . So Chris burned it up huh?

[@frankwurth5375]

When I started out farming on my own, 1968, We were trying to use the farms old model 18 pull type Oliver combine. The thing had sat out in the weather for years and was in bad shape. The former Oliver dealership was operated by the FS coop. They had a real crab-ass old guy running the place and he hated young guys like me, so one trip there was enough for life! I got a chance to buy an early model A gleaner. Man I thought I really was making headway. Nope! That was the biggest POS ever built! Had to keep a full supply of those little sealed bearings on hand as you rarely got more than a weeks running out of them. The motor was an old flat head Herculese. Was freshly rebuilt when I got it, but never was good, only lasted a season before it threw a rod. Had to find another motor, and it too only lasted a season before it dropped a valve head and destroyed the motor. II finally gave up and parked it out in the timber. Bought a round back Deere 55, it too had the same under powered Herc. But I got a lot of work from that machine. Well, both the Allis dealer and the new Deere dealer, that replaced our good Deere dealer, were both total A-holes. Found a pair of somewhat tired IHC 403 machines. I had a good IH dealer so we've been running red combines ever since. I had the impression that the Gleaners were the ultimate machine, till I had one. An older neighbor had a new F Gleaner, at the time. He was visiting with me at the elevator then and when asked about the new F, he wasn't too happy. He related that the new machine broke down as often as the old machine he got rid of!

[@JohnBryant-qc5zg]

Great story Mr. Ross!!

[@rosstheoliverman]

Thanks John!

[@petergardner2334]

nice to see gleaner again

[@thomasharrington5369]

Heck of a story Ross👍👍

[@markflick1641]

Wow I could hear that wind rippin ,brrrrr. . Great video Ross . Don’t be afraid to play us another song sometime . Maybe you could incorporate a few animal sounds 😁 . Hope ya get to feeling better . See ya tomorrow .

[@rosstheoliverman]

🤣 thanks Mark!

[@terrynoland487]

Another runner great job Ross

[@paulcrawford8425]

Don't feel bad Ross. a few years ago, a one time neighbor got a brand new John Deere combine. I don't think it had more than 5 or 6 hours on it, but it caught fire the first night he used it and you could see the flames for miles.

[@rosstheoliverman]

It can happen pretty easily.

[@burrridgefarms]

The M2 hydro that Dad had almost started up once on me. It had fuzz built up around the injectors and a spark from the mantifold started it smoldering. I used up everything I had to drink and got it out. The first M2 he had lost the oil plug and ventilated the crankcase..... Is it a wonder I got a Deere? That isnt the whole story, I ran Deeres for another farmer for a few years. The feeder house reverser, header hight control and Deeres attractive financing at the time, put me over the edge. Like Bandit said, I didn't look back.

[@larryklostermann5779]

Interesting story Ross

[@rosstheoliverman]

Thanks Larry!

[@billkroczyk3749]

I am interested that thing started up in the idol

[@jorgesaavedra9158]

Ross, Ford made an in line 6 cyl. Motor that was used for some of its F-150s, but they are mostly known for industrial and agricultural applications. Is the JD 55 EB 303 motor that 300 ci. Ford motor? thank you

[@73buickman]

My wife noticed you sounded under the weather in the last few videos she hopes you feel better

[@rosstheoliverman]

Yeah I have been sick but getting better. Thanks!

[@NCOliverfarm]

Ive got a library too. And i try to get the factory binders whenever i can. All Oliver and White except for 1 MF one.

[@rosstheoliverman]

Cool!

[@NCOliverfarm]

Glad im not the only 1 crazy like that.....my buddies give me hell for it and love of meadow green.

[@bigun447]

He who dies with the most toys wins.

[@rosstheoliverman]

🤣🤣🤣

[@MrJeep75]

Now you need to change oil

[@paulprillwitz9901]

😄😄👍👍👍👍👍

[@rosstheoliverman]

Thanks Paul!

[@Eli-lb7em]

You were talking about flat bat reals verses soyabeen reals. Around here, in the wheatland if you saw a soyabean real it was a slam on the brakes and go take a picture deal because they were unheard of. Swathers all had flat bat reals and nobody did beans sit you never saw those steaks up here. Now that is all you see. I have a bunch of nos flat bat boards for a massey

[@apollorobb]

Your graphics skills are on point. Chris needs to take a note or 2 from your play book .SEE

[@rosstheoliverman]

🤣🤣🤣

[@darweb3417]

getting it mobile would be helpful.

[@MrJeep75]

Like original to

[@codyshaffer6925]

Ross,I have a question what video were you upset about a part that wouldn't fit one of your tractors and smashed it and mentioned it was made from chinesium I just told my uncle about it and want to share it with him I think it was a pre cleaner part for one of the 1365s