Oliver factories

[K. Peters]

Just wondering if any of you guys ever took a tour through one when Oliver was still in business? If so, what were they like and what did you think after the tour was over? Are any of these factories still operating or even in existance?
Thanks.

 

[oliver fan]

At one time or another I was in all six of the Oliver/White plants in the USA. The only one I toured was the tractor plant in Charles City, IA.

The plant in Charles City, Ia. has been torned down and is now an empty field. The cement floors are still there, but the last time I was there the weeds had taken over the bare ground.

The plant in Battle Creek, MI. was torned down soon after Oliver moved out in 1962. I was there when I was a kid. That area was prime space for an industrial park, as it was located across the street from the Post cereal plant, and Kellogg was near by.

The plant (buildings) in Springfield, OH. are being used by some manufacturing Company.

The Shelbyville, IL. plant is being used by some company that is building some farm equipment there.

South Bend, In. plant #1 is mostly torn down and the land sits empty.

South Bend, In. plant #2 only consisted of one big building, and is being used by some company.

I never was to the Brantford, Ont. Canada plant.

None of the above plants are owned by White, TIC, Allied, or AGCO.

Looking back, I can see that all the plants were old, and by todays standards, they wouldn't be efficient.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Do you want to count Coldwater Ohio where the White tractors were built? Also I agree on the age of the plants, The part across the road in Branfort where the Cockshutt tractor were built was probably the newest of any that I was in which included Charles City, Branfort and Coldwater. Newest part of Charles City was the seperate building where in the 60's they put the crawlers together. Also Cleveland Ohio was not new either. Anybody that was to York? I also took my high school mechanics class one year to tour the facility where the Perkins engines were assembled. This was to have been the place where the corporate engines were to have been built. There was one of the 6 cylinder corporate engines setting by the back door yet when we finished the tour. That was the most modern of any that I was in.

 

[SherryS]

I've been to the York site but it has been torn down. Replaced with apartment buildings. The old Cletrac site has senior living apartments on it. The Shelbyville plant is being used by P&H for manufacturing. The last time I was in it, they were even building drawbars for Caterpillar.

 

[jimont]

The only buildings left at the Cockshutt plant in Brantford is the Time Office and a few buildings used by others as storage.

 

[rrlund]

Never went,but I had a 1965 plant souvenir book from the Charles City plant. Don't know where it ever went.

 

[Merlin in Rushford]

Hello!
BRRR!!! -20F here in Rushford (Minnesota) this morning! (Probably not much better in Rushford, New York!) I have had the privilege of seeing White tractors built at all three factories:
1. My brothers and I saw White 2-135's and 2-155's being built in Charles City on June 10th, 1980.
2. I saw the very last White American tractor (silver, 2WD, Model 80 with cab) being built in Coldwater, Ohio in September of 1991.
3. My wife and I saw the last of the White Workhorse 3x6 (Over/Under) equipped tractors being built in Independence, Missouri in late October of 1992.
It's hard for me to fathom that so much heavy manufacturing has gone away. I don't live too far from Waterloo, Iowa, but have yet to tour the John Deere Tractor Works. Maybe I will this year.
Stay safe and warm!
Merlin

 

[Matt_In]

The Brantford remains a few years ago.