Rare White 1955 startup and walk around 

They sure did Jon. They were huge in transport in the 50s and 60s in the US, and they thought a move into agriculture was a good move, so they acquired Oliver and Minneapolis Moline. They effectively ended up shutting down both companies in the mid 70s and then sold the Agricultural side of the company in the early 80s.

Thanks Kerry, it’s certainly a unique tractor. I guess it’s an early form of badge engineering. We see it now with Case and New Holland having similar or the same running gear with different coloured panels on top.

They certainly were rare out here Damien. There were quite a few green 50 series tractors sold here, but the 55 series were pretty thin on the ground. They were quite a solid tractor, and the 3 speed power shift was a good feature.

Thanks Scott, I really appreciate your comment mate 🙏🏻

Thanks Alan, I’m glad you like it mate 🙏🏻

Good on you Daryl, thanks mate. Haha it would look alright in his collection, it would sit nicely next to his 1800.

G’day Kym thanks for that magnificent recollection mate. I think there might’ve been a White dealer around Jamestown, and of course OGR were the big dealers. I’ve got copies of some old sales ads for OGR when they opened the big premises in Mt Gambier in the early 70s and they had the trucks and tractors on display. White Motor Corporation certainly did own the tractor section, but they fell on hard times in the late 70s and early 80s and sold the tractor side, before eventually closing up the truck section as well. These red coloured White tractors were only available from about 1972 until 1974-5, then they made their own silver and great coloured tractors. That big dealership would’ve been fantastic to see back in those days. Do you remember whether the V8 Whites you saw were red or silver?

@@oldrigsdownunder7301 Dave your a wealth of imformation mate ,id think the Tractor i saw out at Blyth was a silver one which when everthing else was Red or Chamberlain orange,,but the Blyth area had some well to do cocky,s who were into some of the more expensive gear like Deutch guess because they were nearly all Germans out that way,the Chamberlain deere sedan cab was a masively popular tractor remember they moved the cab forward for an almost car like ride ,if memory serves i recon they called it the Sedan cab . Take it easy Mate Kym Adelaide

The 886 is probably an 8-10 year later tractor to this model at a guess. An 866 would be a closer comparison I reckon

Yes mate, there’s a few similarities there. It’s just the evolution of 8 years or so between the 2 models. A few features were changed over the course of of that time.

Half ya luck Steve, 4-53 GM, neighbour had a fwa 1950 pulled a 5yd hyd scoop, built a big dam for us with it 50 years ago, audioed magnificence 🥲

G’day Geoffrey how are you mate? I hadn’t heard of Waukesha engines until I started looking into Oliver tractors so my knowledge is very limited, but I’m learning a bit as time goes by. This slasher is wider than it needs to be, but when it’s in thick heavy material it can still get the grass away ok.

Yes it is a Lucas motor. The cabins were made in western Victoria, so in the early 70s there was still a lot British content in Australian manufacturing.

G’day Angus thanks for watching mate 🙏🏻 An 1870 is a cool tractor, they are also quite rare. I’d be surprised if 40 came out to Australia. I reckon 30-40 might’ve pulled it up. That’s only a guess. They were only around for a couple of years. The 2270 was the most common red White out here, and there was 96 of those. There were 18 A4T-1600s. They are the only numbers of red tractors I’ve seen. Where’s home for you mate?

Yeh interesting. I know of three 3x1870 3x 2270 tractors within an hour of us and we are at lake bolac western vic.

Western Victoria seems to have been a good place for them. Maybe it stemmed from good old Minneapolis Moline dealers before White was around. The 1955 and the 2255 seem to be rarer than the 1870 and 2270

Yeh there was a dealer in Horsham or Warracknabeal years ago who sold a few, I by chance met a bloke who worked there at the Horsham swap meet and bought a couple of books off of him and he knew all about them. The only 2255 that I know of used to be around Elmore but is now in a collection in South Australia. I’m not sure if it was a red or green one though.