Oliver 1800 Tractor Repowered With Deere Diesel Engine

Oliver 1800 Tractor Repowered With Deere Diesel Engine REPOWERED EQUIPMENT Repowered Equipment 26-5-25 When Duane Wright tore down the worn-out 6-cyl. diesel engine in his 1962 Oliver 1800 tractor, he found that both the head and the block were cracked. He tossed the engine and picked up a Deere 329 cu. in. diesel engine from a local salvage company. "I paid $600 for the engine, and did most of the machine work needed to mount it myself. A new head for the old engine would probably have cost as much as I paid for the entire engine," says Wright. "The engine came out of a combine. It was widely used in the company's 4400 and 6600 series combines and also used in the company's 4030 tractors. I figured I could make it work in my Oliver. I didn't have to modify the engine itself at all." He cut the combine engine's flywheel housing off, then machined the flywheel to fit the Oliver's clutch and pto drive plate. He welded the back part of the Oliver bell housing onto the Deere bell housing in order to maintain the original clutch linkages. The original engine mounts were in the way so he ground them out of the tractor's cast iron frame. The new engine's oil pan hangs lower than the oil pan on the original engine, so he had to cut out the bottom part of the frame. He also bolted a steel plate on front of the tractor to support the wishbone leading to the tractor's wide front axle. He welded new mounts to the front part of the engine and bolted the back end of the engine down at the sides. He used the tractor's pto shaft to align the rear end of the engine. He threaded a shaft into the front end of the Oliver crankshaft and used split collars and brackets to secure it to the frame. The tractor still has its original radiator, but he replaced the fan with a bigger 6-bladed one that came out of an old Case combine. He built a short adapter for the fan and centered it in the radiator's housing. He also installed a new Delco Remy alternator. The air cleaner mounts at the rear of the engine. "The Deere engine is a little taller than the original one, so there wasn't room for the fuel tank in its original place. I solved the problem by mounting fender-mounted tanks off another Oliver tractor," says Wright. "The conversion has worked out great. The tractor originally had about 65 horsepower, and that's about what it has now. Now my son does the farming and uses the tractor mainly for loader work." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Duane Wright, 46577 232nd St., Wentworth, S. Dak. 57075 (ph 605 483-3461).

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