Oliver Farm Tractors by T. Herbert Morrell with photographs by Jeff Hackett, was edited by Blanche S. Morrell and Judith Rae Lumb and published by Motorbooks International, Osceola, Wisconsin - 160 pages (1997)

Oliver Farm Tractors is currently out of print, contact Producciones de la Hamaca for information about future reprinting.

From its launch in 1901, Hart-Parr was extremely important to the farm equipment industry. Hart-Parr was the first successful tractor manufacturer, coining the word, "tractor." In 1929, Hart-Parr merged with several other farm equipment companies to create the Oliver Farm Equipment Company, which continued the same innovative tradition. Oliver Products were always ahead of their time, providing new concepts for the industry such as the first kerosene-burning engine, the first independent power take-off, the first practical diesel tractors, electrical control of hydraulics, equalizer brake pedals, double disc brakes, easy-riding seat, and many others. The famous Oliver Fleetline tractors, the Models 66, 77, and 88, which were introduced in 1948, led the industry into the modern age. Their post-war development is one of the most exciting stories in tractor design history.

In Oliver Farm Tractors, former Oliver Chief Engineer T. Herbert Morrell tells the inside story of the famous Oliver Fleetline tractors and their successors, the problems the engineers encountered and the innovative solutions they engendered. From design criteria to styling improvements, engines, brakes, independent power take-off, Hydra-Lectric implement power lifts, transmissions, axles, hubs, wheels, electric lights, easy-riding seat, noise reduction and safety devices. Oliver engineers kept the needs and well-being of the farmers uppermost in their minds.

One of the most significant projects in Oliver's history was the XO-121 research project, an experiment with high-compression gasoline-burning tractor engines that was done in collaboration with Ethyl Corporation. Oliver Farm Tractors also includes the industrial and other tractors specially modified for industrial, construction, and other custom applications. Crawlers are covered briefly, and a comprehensive appendix lists Hart-Parr, Oliver, and White tractor models and the years they were produced.

Author T. Herbert Morrell was intimately associated with all the details involved in developing the Oliver Fleetline tractors and their successors. Morrell was a design engineer at the Charles City Oliver plant beginning in 1944, rising to Chief Engineer in 1951, a position he held throughout the most productive period of Oliver's history.