New to me OC-6

[Les Darsow]

This is the crawler I purchased. It is a 1960 Oliver OC-6. It has a 3-point hitch and live PTO and live rear hydraulic remotes. 1960 was the last year this crawler was made. There were only eight OC-6's made after this one, (verified by Floyd County Museum). It was purchased new by the Minnesota Department of Forestry, (pre DNR). It was used in the forestry nursery to keep the area around the trees cleared. When it was sold by the state in the early 80's, the DNR employee that had sometimes operated it, purchased it for his personnel use. Over the next 25 years, he used it a couple times each winter, when the snow got deep, to haul hay to his sheep. He died this year and his widow put it up for sale on Craigslist. It is in very nice condition. It is a 60" gauge, with 8" tracks. I am going to use my 5' brush cutter behind it. It should be a perfect setup.
 
Les

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[John Schwiebert]

I found your post interesting. The dealer I worked for sold the last OC-6 gas that was left in Oliver inventory. He went to pick it up at the Harrisburg Oliver branch in January of 1961. What is the serial number of your machine? Also an FYI for you. Your OC-6 will have the later larger 3-1/2 inch bore engine.

[Les Darsow]

John, the serial number is 2RM236. According to the Floyd County Museum, the last OC-6 gas is 2RM244, made in August 1960. I have sent you a PM.

Les

[John D]

This is the crawler I purchased. It is a 1960 Oliver OC-6. It has a 3-point hitch and live PTO and live rear hydraulic remotes. 1960 was the last year this crawler was made. There were only eight OC-6's made after this one, (verified by Floyd County Museum). It was purchased new by the Minnesota Department of Forestry, (pre DNR). It was used in the forestry nursery to keep the area around the trees cleared. When it was sold by the state in the early 80's, the DNR employee that had sometimes operated it, purchased it for his personnel use. Over the next 25 years, he used it a couple times each winter, when the snow got deep, to haul hay to his sheep. He died this year and his widow put it up for sale on Craigslist. It is in very nice condition. It is a 60" gauge, with 8" tracks. I am going to use my 5' brush cutter behind it. It should be a perfect setup.
 
Les

Congratulations on your 'new to you' OC-6.  Looks like it's been nicely cared for.  Nice to know the history of the machine too.  Good luck with it!

[Les Darsow]

John Schwiebert, did you get my PM?

Thanks
Les

[John Schwiebert]

Yes I did. I will contact you sometime this week in the evening.

[Les Darsow]

Just an update on the OC-6. I have changed all the fluids and put on all new hoses. Also a new seat cushion set from Zimmermans. I also got a proper drawbar setup from Landis. The next project is to make brush guards to go between the "bathtub" and the track frames. Here is a picture taken just before her maiden voyage to do a little brush cutting. It runs like a Swiss watch!

Les
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[hotratz]

I really like that crawler. You sure don't see many of them for how late they are. Aren't they built on an Oliver 77 platform?

[Les Darsow]

That is correct. The engine was the same as a 77, because this one is one of the last made, it has a Super 77 engine. I have been told that the tranmission is from a Super 88.

Les

[Les Darsow]

Steve, maybe someday I will have the patience to restore it like you did with your OC-46. For now she will be in her work clothes.

Les

[Big Pete]

Les,
That is a remarkable sight.
I have just bought an OC6D in Gladstone in central Queensland Australia and it is nowhere as good as yours yet - however I will try and get it looking better over the next few months.
Your photos have given me a very useful guide as to how the thing is supposed to look.
On mine a previous owner has widened the front to fit a different radiator so it is missing all the original shroud and radiator etc, so it is good to be able to see what it should look like.
Thanks,
Pete.

[james]

Hello Les. Thats a very nice machine you have there. I was wondering if you could explain what the MN DNR is? Thanks.

[Bob]

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is my guess...

[Red Wannabe]

Well it has been a long time since I have been logged on. I lost my user name and password, couldn't get it recovered. Anyway I decided to just use my username from the IH crawler board, Red Wannabe. I see that all my old pictures are gone, probably lost links. An update on the OC-6. Last Oct I did a lot of brush hogging with it on some ground that is usually very wet. Still kept the tracks wet, but didn't get stuck. I couldn't drive in my same tracks twice. Some of the brush was 10 feet high, most around 6 feet. Some clumps so large that I had to put a track down the middle so the mover could handle it. When I was done with that I had to put in a new clutch and throwout bearing because the old throwout bearing was froze and wore off the clutch fingers. I also had to rebuild the PTO. When the DNR owned it someone must have driven through a steep ditch with a PTO implement attached. It jammed the PTO forward and broke out the back of the PTO case. They cobbled it up so it would work, but it leaked oil when run for hours on end. Solution, a used case and parts from an Oliver 770. As many of you know, the OC-6 is based on the Oliver 77 tractor, with an 88 transmission. In ordering parts I found out that since my crawler is a 1960, it used some 770 parts, as the 77 & 88 were already replaced by the 770 & 880. When I figure out how to post pictures again, I will give you some more updates.

Les Darsow

[hotratz]

Very cool, I've always liked the looks of that model crawler. Anxious to see some more pictures.