Oliver 500 Orchard

[rrlund]

Ever seen one of these before? LOL
I've had a heck of a time keeping this one under my hat until I could go get it,but six and a half hours on the road today and 297 miles later,this little beauty is sitting in my shop right now. Not only is it an Orchard,it's serial number 3. That's right,the number stamped in the frame is 2-OA/D 100003. It's a diesel.

When I got there,I noticed it didn't have a serial tag,just a little brass tag where the serial tag should be that said Made in England. It's riveted on and is too straight to be home made. The holes aren't even drilled for the Oliver tag. I scrapped the grease off the frame and found the serial number. From the angle of the sun and the shadow of the hood,I thought it was 100603. We took the hood off to haul it home and when I got it here,I did some more scrapping and spit shining and found out it was 003,not 603. That might help explain the lack of an Oliver tag.

I wish I knew more history on it. I got it near Hartford Michigan,in southwest Michigan orchard country. The old guy who owned it died. It had been tucked away in a barn for years. His son in law didn't know much of anything about the history on it. I just hope some day it doubles in value so it's worth half what I paid for it. Until somebody tells me where there's another orchard model though,I'm not gonna claim to be the guy who owns A 500 orchard,I'm the guy who own THE 500 orchard. LOL

 

[IHRedRules]

What a find Randy, congrats! Are you going to purdy her up a little or leave her as she is? Just let me know when she?ll be the feature tractor in Oliver Heritage magazine.

 

[rrlund]

I'll get it fixed up when I can. Meanwhile,as unique as that thing is,it's going to Sheridan,McBride and Blanchard next year even if I have to take it there in pieces and put them back together as is.

 

[Oliver 500 Wa]

Is the orchard conversion "factory", or homemade?

The low low s/n is awesome!!

What a find!

There is a pretty straight looking 500 gasser about a 3 hour drive from me. I'm not very interested in gas models, else I'd go have a look.

https://yakima.craigslist.org/grd/d/oliver-tractor-with-mower/6367035171.html

 

[Oliver 500 Wa]

Also, don't see batteries in the side boxes. Just MIA or are they relocated?

 

[rrlund]

"Is the orchard conversion "factory", or homemade?"

I wish I knew. I'd feel better if I knew of another one. It would add legitimacy to this one. That's why I pumped the guy for information. The just didn't have any. It it's a conversion,it must have been done real early on. The patina matches the rest of the tractor. It's got some braces welded on it,but that might just be to hold it together later on in life. I just don't know. That screen in the grill is either factory or somebody did and darned nice job on it. I've seen a few DBs with orchard fenders but never really looked them over all that close. It could be they were installed at the DB factory I suppose.

 

[rrlund]

MIA. We put one in and hooked it up. It turned over and smoked a little. We haven't messed with it to see if it'll run. We unloaded it,took some pictures,pushed it in the shop and shut the door.

 

[FLOLDFORD]

Randy that is a great find and not something you see every day for sure. Here in Florida there were a handful of small companies that converted tractors to orchard or as we called them grove tractors. You could take them a utility tractor of any make and they would build and mount the fenders and guards for you. About the only true factory build orchard tractors down here were the JD's Case and the rare Oliver. I've seen just about every make set up like that over the years and there still are quite a few around. Now if you could verify and I hope you can that the tractor came from the factory setup like that it sure would be a rare and valuable piece!

 

[rrlund]

I've got a hunch it was a conversion,but it must have been done real early on. It sure is an eye catcher though. The parts book doesn't show orchard fenders for them,but being number 3 made me question whether or not DB did it. Those extensions fit over the stock fenders like a glove.

 

[FLOLDFORD]

I'm not that familiar with the DB tractors but there was a few here in Florida and I do recall seeing some with orchard metal but not one like that. Hope you can find the documentation to prove it was from the factory. That would surely make it one of a kind!

 

[J.Wondergem]

Looks pretty straight too. Nice find Randy.

 

[Married2Allis]

Nice project tractor.

 

[rrlund]

Either way,I'm gonna leave it on there since it's obviously been there most of,if not all of it's life. I paid three time what I would have given for one if it didn't have the orchard fenders.

 

[el6147]

saw it listed on CL a week or so ago not far from my location, could have well been
converted to an orchard by Friday or Love. I assume you paid the asking price.

 

[rrlund]

I got him down a little,but it still smarted a little having to pay what I did.

 

[OliverNate]

The link got posted on a Oliver facebook page but got deleted before I could see it. Glad it found a good home with you. Finally got to work on my 500 a little, sure is fun making stuff fit those British bolts.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Good looking old 500.I've seen right many of the 500 series and haven't seen any with orchard fenders so I'd say its more than likely one of a kind.Really hard to tell on the orchard stuff but it all matches up good and will look pretty sharp when you get it fixed up either way.You never know for sure I have a Bush Hog Garden tractor that is factory that has some things that look shop built and has they 'decals' hand painted thats the way they did the early ones so you never know.If you can find out the dealer in that area you might might figure it out for sure.

 

[oleclint]

What a super find, Randy. Latter on, You will never regret getting it , no matter the cost. That serial number is great!
I noticed that the drawbar roller looks like it is off of a M-M. I have had a couple like yours on M-M s.clint

 

[super 55]

Has anyone seen a photo of a David Brown orchard tractor?

 

[rrlund]

This is the only picture I could find of one,but it's a whole different kettle of fish. Every now and then you'll see one advertised around here with fenders more like mine. Here are some other brands with similar fenders.

 

[super 55]

Thanks, I was just wondering if there was a David Brown that would have looked like your 500. Congrats on your find. 500s sure are getting popular, it seems.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Man, you're gonna wear out a bunch of Emory paper. gm ;-)

 

[J. Schwiebert]

Good find! Gladen Haas also made orchard fenders.

 

[rrlund]

I had to buy a new sander for the last one. I burned up the air compressor motor with the sand blaster and air sander too.

 

[rrlund]

That tag makes me wonder if it was one of the two that were sent to Georgia for testing before they actually made the final deal for them?

 

[oliver jim]

What a great find Randy and that serial number makes it even better. Any chance it has a down swept exhaust on it? that would be great to have. It will make a excellent display along with your 500 gas at the shows.

 

[rrlund]

It doesn't have the underbelly exhaust,but it will have when I get done with it. When I get it running,I'll take it to the muffler shop and have a pipe bent. I've looked and there's room for one. Since it needs restoration,I'll have a hood patch welded in.

Do you have a fuel pump for one of these? Somebody has put an electric fuel pump on it. The lines are still on the old one,they put tape over the ends.

 

[Oliver 500 Wa]

.....Do you have a fuel pump for one of these? Somebody has put an electric fuel pump on it. The lines are still on the old one,they put tape over the ends.

I got a replacement fuel pump for mine from the local Case IH dealer. Not sure if I kept the part number, but I'll have a look for it.

 

[Oliver 500 Wa]

I ordered a K902135 from Case/IH for mine. The dealer cross referenced that to a new part number which I can't find. The pump fit fine mechanically, but had to tweak the alignment of one of the fuel lines. The pump I received looks exactly like the one for a DB850 on this page....

http://www.davidbrownparts.com/page92.html

 

[rrlund]

I'm gonna check the auto parts store. The Agco parts book says it an AC Delco E/FP62542.

 

[Oliver 500 Wa]

This pump "looks" exactly like what I got from Case/IH.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/K311939-Fuel-Pump-for-David-Brown-DB-Tractor-Models-990-995-996-1294-1390-1394/401136324285?hash=item5d65968ebd:g:6sMAAOSwa~BYdBUa

That AC Delco number you posted does not come up with much on a Google search.

 

[rrlund]

Ya,I tried it myself. Tried Amazon too and it just kept bringing up electric pumps. Made me wonder if E/FP meant electric fuel pump. I can check with the CaseIH dealer when I get time to mess with it.

 

[J. Schwiebert]

IF I remember correctly, the E on fuel pump is for an English Delco pump. About the time your tractor was built there were some minor changes in the fuel system. One was about the fuel pump and one was about the fittings for the injection nozzle return line. Then Oliver also had a bulletin on resetting the fuel delivery of the injection pump. Maybe this afternoon I can look this stuff up. E-mail should also be open cause I can photo copy some of this information. J.

 

[rrlund]

Ya,I re read that article on them and read the part about the change in the fuel delivery. The fittings on my fuel pump look different than they do on Jims in the article.
I'll send you an email incase you've lost my email address.

 

[oliver jim]

Randy I don't have a fuel pump for it but I think you can get a repair kit for the old pump or a new one thru Sparex which is owned by Agco. The new one needs one line tweaked like Oliver 500 Wa said but it will fit and work fine. In that lot of parts that I got for the 500 and 600 tractor there is a few rubber inserts for the hood to close off the exhaust opening. If your interested in one just let me know I don't think I'll ever need them.

 

[rrlund]

I'll make a list of things I need Jim,then you can check and see how much of it you have. I should get those rubber grommets and wing nuts to hold down the hood on that one and the gasser one of these days.

 

[Oliver 500 Wa]

..... and wing nuts to hold down the hood

I'm still planning to machine some of those for mine this winter. If you don't find any old stock, let me know and I'll make a few extras.

 

[rrlund]

I drained the stale stinking fuel out of it yesterday,put new fuel in it,bled it and it started. The tach works,so unless the cable was broke for a while then replaced,it has 1394 actual hours.

 

[Rich Iowa]

That is quite a find!