By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent

FRANKLIN, Ind. – Dan Poe of Franklin grew up around several tractor brands. His father favored John Deere, while one uncle drove Internationals and another the Oliver brand.

When he started farming on his own, Poe bought out his uncle with International tractors but had a fondness for the Olivers.
“Oliver tried to build tractors like cars,” he said. “The (Model 70) 6-cylinder was smooth running and quiet, and sounded like you were riding in a car.”

He rescued his first Oliver tractor about 25 years ago from a salvage heap ready to be hauled off for scrap. The 1935 Model 70 was one of the first produced after the company went into the tractor business, and Poe bought it for $17.

He worked in his spare time as a Franklin College professor and restored five more copies of the Model 70 produced over 10 years, each with modifications. His goal was to show the five different tractors with the changes made by the company, changes such as different wheel combinations.

For instance, he has a 1941 “tiptoe” Oliver with steel wheels that barely touch the ground and was standard on the Olivers until World War II. His 1944 model features back rubber tires and the wide front wheels used for row crops in sandy soils out West.
Poe will display some of his tractors this weekend at the Johnson County Antique Machinery Assoc.’s Annual Show at the Johnson County Park near Camp Atterbury.

The show runs Friday through Sunday and includes tractor pulls, entertainment, flea market, consignment sale, parts vendors, Parade of Power, kids’ games and women’s activities.
Daily activities include a sawmill, threshing, corn shredding, horse-powered baler, rock crushing, corn shelling, grinding, steam engines, antique cars and trucks and, of course, the antique tractors.

This year’s show features four companies that crossed paths through the years: Oliver, Hart-Parr, Co-op and Cockshutt.
Oliver was founded in 1868 as South Bend Iron Works in South Bend, Ind., by Scottish immigrant James Oliver. His blacksmithing expertise led him to patent the process for poured steel and invent the chilled plow. The business grew to offer a line of farm implements.

Hart-Parr of Iowa built the first engine powered farm implement to replace horses in 1901 and is credited with naming it a “tractor” in 1907. Oliver’s son, Joseph, led the formation of the Oliver Corporation in 1929 by merging with Hart-Parr and two other farm companies.

The first Oliver Hart-Parr row crop tractor was produced in 1930, and in 1935 the Model 70 was introduced, powered by the quiet and smooth Continental 6-cylinder engine.

Poe has been a member of the Johnson County Antique Machinery Assoc. for 12 years, and has 25 tractors in his stable now, each in various stages of restoration. He says his biggest challenge in restoration has been knowing what colors to use, especially since Oliver made a transition from the Hart-Parr hunter green to a lighter shade in the 1930s.

“What colors went where, since there were only black and white photos in the early years? What is proper for each model each year for fenders or lights? Olivers started with truck lights, and when did they change lights?” are some of his questions.

For more show schedule, maps, area hotels or more information on the show, visit www.jcamach.org or call chairman Dwayne Hansford at 317-729-5415 evenings. Camping with limited electric is available on grounds by calling Bob Naylor at 812-876-2072.