The color blind plow

This is a promotional film was produced by the Oliver Tractor Company in 1960's. It was made to promote the Oliver plows ,and the fact that they were compatible with any brand of tractor.
This contains vintage footage of the tractors and plows at work in the field as well tons of technical information about the plows. This film also has some footage of the factory where the plows were made.
I found this on an old VHS tape of my fathers, and felt it was worth posting to the web.
I make no copy-write claims, and to my knowledge this should be public domain. He informed me that these tapes were available at one time from the Floyd Co museum in Charles City IA

[@ylwpyro9549]

I love these old videos. Thank you for sharing, and I'd love to see more.

[@billwhitman1529]

The thing about Oliver plows is how easy they pulled compared to other makes. Back home, no one ever argued about their ease of pulling though some complained that they didn't cover trash as well as IH and JD.

[@mikeskidmore6754]

I have a JD 4 14" and a Moline 4 16" and the Moline pulls easier than the Oliver does .. When I was 11 years old and Old-timer told me that the Oliver plow was the best plow.. I had a Z Moline and he had a 2 bottom plow I pulled for him .. I could have pulled 3 bottoms no problem .. He had on Oliver 77 Diesel and pulled 3 bottoms but has issues with his clutch slipping .. I could run in 3rd gear no problem .. @Bill Whitman

[@owenknight5344]

Mike Skidmore could I possibly give you a call. We have Minneapolis Molines and whites.

[@deanmeyer1815]

Before the days of Roundup herbicide and GMO crops, moldboard plowing was the best way to control weeds and insects, along with cultivating between rows a couple of times a year

[@barnfly6945]

Still is .

[@fokkerd3red618]

That's how we farmed when I was growing up near Battle Creek, Michigan. My Dad pulled 4/16 with a 3010 John Deere diesel and I never saw anyone who could plow as straight as he could.

[@briandietrich1373]

Too bad we couldn't go back and run the Whole Management team out of town. Oliver was the best!

[@bwilliams463]

This is honestly fascinating. The description said you got this from and old VHS, but it's clear that the film predates home video. I wonder how they disseminated this information to potential customers in the pre-home-video days? Would they invite local farmers to the dealership to watch the film? Maybe this was meant primarily to be viewed by salesmen?

[@dwightl5863]

Dealerships would sponsor a tractor day. John Deere Days was one I recall as a kid. The dealer would rent the local movie theater for a few afternoons and show films of the new equipment that was available. Then a trip to the dealers facilities where sloppy joes, baked beans, cake, coffee, etc, would be served and the farmers could see some of the new equipment and "kick the tires". Usually held in the winter when there was some slack time on the farm. Really loved going to John Deere Days with my Dad.

[@mjbirdClavdivs]

@@dwightl5863 The Oliver equivalent was the Growing 'O'. I have a home video my dad took of one mid-1960s Growing 'O' on my channel. It was a travelling show around the country. They would first run the local dealers through so they could use them to answer questions when the growers came through.

[@farkfamilyfarm]

I learned to plow with a 566 4 bottom on a 1650 diesel

[@thomasskapnit4479]

I wanna go back to the old days.

[@SAMIAMSAYSI]

Very nice. Absolutely worth posting. Thank you.

[@RedIron1066]

Thanks for sharing this. Keep them coming!

[@alwcurlz]

And, now days, no till crops do much better than these old methods!

[@banditfarmer1900]

+alwcurlz It depends on ware you farm, No-Till does not work every ware or every year sometimes the old way is still the best way. Bandit

[@alwcurlz]

Bandit farmer I live in North Dakota, and have seen both sides, literally. Two cornfields, on either side of the road. One was tilled, one was not tilled. The un-tilled field had a MUCH better yield, and much taller. And I imagine the cost savings was a plus!

[@banditfarmer1900]

Some places no-till works year after year no problem but ware I'm at (SW Ohio) no-till is 50/50 shot. It will work sometimes and sometimes it don't because this ground can be funky to say the least. I have ground that if you plant and the ground aint perfect dry the press wheels pinch the ground closed and it gets hard as a rock when it dries and the crop brakes it's neck trying to come up. I see plenty of guys no-till 10 miles away and it works good, But ware we're at this a 50/50 shot in the dark so most guys do some kind of tillage like turbo tilling 2 or 3 times or just work it up. Not much strait spray burn down and plant. I wish it worked hear like it does for everyone else, It would be nice. Bandit

[@andrewkiesling3334]

yea we see how their shit worked out for them

[@brieannateylar5810]

Bad management killed the Oliver tractor company and it came close to doing the same to IH but they where able to get a merger with Case . Oliver's attempts at a merger only delayed their closing . Their equipment was top notch , just as good as FORD , MF , JD , & CASE-IH .

[@farmall51]

Great video