The western Pennsylvania borough that birthed NFL legend Joseph Willie “Broadway Joe” Namath is home to another legend of the green-and-white: farmer Fred Pflugh’s beautifully restored Oliver 1855 tractor.
Pflugh, 70, has cobbled together an impressive collection of classic Oliver tractors; he thinks he acquired the 1855 back in 1988 or 1989. The old workhorse hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down just yet: “This tractor just wants to run,” Pflugh says. “It’s strong … it likes to throttle.”
Pflugh’s collection started with his Oliver 1655, and he just kept adding to the fleet over the years. He still farms corn, soybeans and hay to feed to his beef cattle on just over 120 acres, while his son and wife manage a local farm meat market that sells fresh freezer beef.
“The 55-series is just a nice tractor,” he says. “They dressed them up from the fifties.”
Pflugh says it was the eye-pleasing look of the Oliver line that drew him in right off the bat. From the two front headlights to the styled grill and iconic white trim that sets off the engine compartment, the classic tractors have that timeless, from-another-era-Americana feel that you can’t replicate today.
Don’t let the good looks fool you, though: Plugh still uses the Oliver 1855 around the farm, grinding feed, mowing hay, disking fields and hauling manure to spread across his rolling Alleghany valley fields.
The tractor’s engine, a Waukesha Turbo, features a straight pipe exhaust that triumphantly juts to the heavens from the front hood scoop. Waukesha Motor Company (Waukesha, Wis.) was founded in 1906 and built over 400,000 lightweight, powerful tractor engines before closing shop for good in the early 1970s. Oliver Tractor Co. was reportedly the engine builder’s largest customer, according to the Waukesha Engine Historical Society.
Pflugh makes no bones about how he envisions the future for his Oliver fleet: These steeped-in-history tractors will never leave the family farm.
“I think my son will keep them all up, and I wouldn’t doubt that he’ll be showing them, too, ya know,” he says. “I like that they still go to the field, and I like them on this farm, I can tell you that.”
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