Oliver cultivators

[LenNH]

Back in the 30s and 40s, an uncle farmed only potatoes. He had bought an F-12 with--I THINK--the memory has faded over the past 60 years--an IHC shifting-gang cultivator. He always wanted an Oliver 70 because he said that Oliver had a better cultivator for potatoes. I remember that the Oliver cultivator was mounted on two pipes that went through the frame, and it looked really rigid.
My father cultivated only corn with his F-12. It had a very rigid cultivator that did not have the shifting-gang feature. I always wondered if my uncle's idea of the Oliver cultivator being better for potatoes had any basis in fact.

The "shifting-gang" cultivator, by the way, was
a feature of the first Farmall. That lever that sticks out in front of the vertical steering column moved the cultivator a little bit if the driver steered to try to miss a hill of corn that was out of line. Don't know if this was really necessary. I cultivated a lot of my father's corn with the F-12 and the non-shifting cultivator.

Anybody have any comments on all this, especially about the Oliver in potatoes?
 

[oliver fan]

I never have cultivated potatoes, but I have my share of corn.

I am a strong believer than Oliver had the best tractors, plows and disks ever built. But, in my opinion the Oliver QD cultivators left a lot to be desired. I don't think they were any better at digging or throwing dirt than any other brand on the market.

When I was a kid in the late 50's and 60's, we had one of the QD models. I had another name for it. You could not mount that cultivator with out pinching your fingers. Even to this day when I see someone talk about a QD cultivator, my hands and fingers start to hurt. My dad also had an Allis Chalmers tractor and when I was 14 years old I could mount the cultivator on it in 15 minutes, and it did a lot better job in the field.
 

[Devin Schatzel]

I have a 60 w/ QD cultivators. I'll let you know how they work out this year. Also looking for a spare set for trips and whatnot. Anybody know where there might be a set? Thanks, Devin
 

[MCL]

I have a complete set of 2 row pipe-mount cultivators. Even got the track eradicators. Located in central Indiana near Frankfort. Interested?
 

[jerrad 77]

I HAVE A 77 W/ 2 ROW PIPE CULTIVATORS THAT I PLOW DARK FIRED TOBACCO WITH. THEY WORK PRETTY GOOD BUT DONT GET HARDLY DEEP ENOUGH. MIGHT BE BETTER IF THEY WERE ON A 66 OR SOMETHING. NOT SURE WHAT MODEL THE CULTIVATORS ARE.