Oliver 1450 vs 550

pcastleberg · Apr 24, 2013

Hi all I am in the market to pick up a tractor for dragging our horse arena (TR3 3pt drag) as well as running our 6 foot flail mower (also 3pt) in for mowing pastures. It will also be used to haul manure.

We had a ford 9n but it was underpowered for what we needed.

We also have an oliver 770 which works well but needs lots of TLC (power steering is flaky, hydraulic hoses leak at joints etc). Its my project tractor and I need to be able to tear it down and fix it up.

Also the 770 is a diesel wide front and is a bit long when trying to turn in the arena when dragging, especially with the power steering being flaky.

There is a dealer in MI that has an oliver 1450 and oliver 550 both for sale. The 1450 is a 60 horse diesel and the 550 is a 40+ horse gas.

Anyone here have experience with both the 550 and the 1450 that can give me a comparison? I am looking mainly for handling differences in ease of steering and in the turning radius. Is the 1450 any smaller than the 770 from a wheelbase perspective? I can't find good specs for the 770 wheelbase online and I am not at home to measure mine because I am on the road.

Anyone who can offer insight it would be greatly appreciated.

Also anyone know what a fair price would be on the 1450? The dealer doesn't know the hours because they aren't readable on the gauge..but the tractor looks clean, good lines, little if any rust, 1 remote, 60hp, good rubber, good tin, good but faded paint. He's asking $3950...does that seem like a good price?

Thanks!

Anonymous-0 · Apr 24, 2013

You are comparing apples to watermelon!. If the 1450 was newer I would say snap it up. The 1450 is a Fiat built tractor If wheelbase and all that stuff like that is important the 550 is a lot shorter. Make sure the 550 has a remote valve and a drawbar. Also remember at least around here very few early 550 tractors had power steering. We sold 3 of the 1450 tractors. Two are left, the owner of the other one died and it was sold on his sale. We never had many problem with those 3 tractors.

pcastleberg · Apr 24, 2013

(quoted from post at 17:43:00 04/24/13) You are comparing apples to watermelon!. If the 1450 was newer I would say snap it up. The 1450 is a Fiat built tractor If wheelbase and all that stuff like that is important the 550 is a lot shorter. Make sure the 550 has a remote valve and a drawbar. Also remember at least around here very few early 550 tractors had power steering. We sold 3 of the 1450 tractors. Two are left, the owner of the other one died and it was sold on his sale. We never had many problem with those 3 tractors.

Thanks! My only concern with the 1450 from what little I've looked around is they seem like parts are hard to come by. From your experience is that the case? I think it's not a bad deal and the tractor looks very clean but I have to drive 9 hours just to see it in person so I would want to know that if I am going to buy it that it won't be too hard to find parts.

What is the size and turning radius of the 1450 like in comparison to a 770?

rrlund · Apr 24, 2013

In my never to be humble opinion,that price is WAY out of line for a 1450. About $3000 too high. I bought this much newer 1365 FWA with a loader for $5850. And to paraphrase John's words a little,that's comparing apples to a lemon. The 1365 is pretty much bulletproof,the 1450 is kinda sketchy at best. A neighbor passed away 2 or 3 years ago,had a 1450 two wheel drive with an Oliver loader,not used much,brought less than $2500 on his auction.

pcastleberg · Apr 24, 2013

You don't want to sell that 1365 do you?

I'd love to get one with fwa, don't care about the bucket but love the fwa, tough to find those.

I haven't seen anything listed for close to the prices your saying unless they were in very tough shape. This is from a dealer so I think the price is reflecting that.

It sounds like from what your saying that the 1450 had more mechanical issues? And that the 1365 was more refined/issue free?

oliverkid · Apr 24, 2013

We had a couple 550s in our area. They will do a lot of work for a 40 horse tractor. Those little 4 cylinders are pretty much bullet proof and are fairly easy on fuel. The working speeds are really good for what you want to do. It is light years ahead of that ford. If you get it you will wonder what you ever did without it.

rrlund · Apr 24, 2013

I bought that 1365 from a dealer right here in Michigan. There was another one,but painted green as an Oliver instead of a Cockshutt at another dealer north of here a while back,FWA with new paint,no loader,asking $7500. But it hasn't been advertised for a while now. Long gone I strongly suspect.
But yea,the 1365 came later and the bugs were out of it.
Why don't you check out this link. It's the best advise written on those import Olivers.
Import tractor buyers guideline

rrlund · Apr 24, 2013

You might want to periodically check this site. It's a dealer in southeast Michigan where I bought mine. He seems to get an unusually high number of those Fiat builts for some reason.
Van Paemel

pcastleberg · Apr 24, 2013

THANKS! Those are excellent resources! Really appreciate it, that 1450 just got crossed off my list of possibilities.

I'll just have to be patient for a while. I would love to get a CUT but I can't afford the $$ right now so I am looking for an older less pricey alternative.

That guide helps a lot for any of the foreign origin ones.

Thanks!

gordey · Apr 24, 2013

Get the 550, there a handy tractor, easy to get
parts for, the 1450 is just asking for trouble.

pcastleberg · Apr 24, 2013

rrlund,
How do you get that link to post? whenever I try to post hyperlinks it gives me an error saying there are "not allowed words"?

Interesting that you posted the dealer link. I was looking at that dealer for a used Kioti DK55 he has in stock but the $12k is a bit out of my price range right now. Nice to know you have dealt with him and like him though!

pcastleberg · Apr 24, 2013

(quoted from post at 20:19:21 04/24/13) Get the 550, there a handy tractor, easy to get
parts for, the 1450 is just asking for trouble.

I saw a 550 Diesel last year, wish I had picked that up. I would prefer it since all my other equipment is diesel, its cheaper than gas and then I only have to have one kind of fuel.

I'll probably keep looking for a 550 unless he's willing to negotiate on the one that's for sale. Its in ok shape but the hours are pretty high (4260) on a gas engine. He's asking $2,950 and while it has a drawbar and 1 remote there are no running lights, which I would definately want. Not that I couldn't add them but hell for around $5,000 I have seen fully restored beautiful 550s for sale.

I'd post a link but I can't get it to work.

pcastleberg · Apr 24, 2013

Based on the link you rrlund provided I found a local Minneapolis Moline G350
41hp diesel, They want $4700 though...seems a little steep?
Paints a little rough with some rust spots...tried to link a picture using the img tags but it just posts a long link.

Looks like its the equivalent to the Oliver 1265 (also 41 hp)

gordey · Apr 24, 2013

I have both gas and diesel 550's and I would
recommend a gas because there are a lot more around,
engine parts are fairly hard to find for a diesel.
The diesel's don't start great either, especially
when its cold.

pcastleberg · Apr 24, 2013

(quoted from post at 20:48:07 04/24/13) I have both gas and diesel 550's and I would
recommend a gas because there are a lot more around,
engine parts are fairly hard to find for a diesel.
The diesel's don't start great either, especially
when its cold.

Thanks Gordey...that's helpful too. I have an oliver 770 Diesel and that thing starts like a dream even when its cold, thing looks VERY rough but it's got a good heart.

When I get another tractor and can give it the attention it deserves its going to get a serious makeover. My favorite memories when I was a kid was helping my dad tear down and rebuild one of his olivers each winter. They were beautiful tractors when we were done.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 24, 2013

If you get on tractor house there is a long 360 in wellston Ohio
it is also a fiat tractor looks just like the 1355 or 1255 very low
hours and good price it may be worth a looking into parts are
available thru agco we own a 1355 and its not going anywhere
any time soon

pcastleberg · Apr 24, 2013

(quoted from post at 21:54:48 04/24/13) If you get on tractor house there is a long 360 in wellston Ohio
it is also a fiat tractor looks just like the 1355 or 1255 very low
hours and good price it may be worth a looking into parts are
available thru agco we own a 1355 and its not going anywhere
any time soon

Wow! That is a nice tractor, from the link that rrlund posted the long 360's were not built in Italy like the fiats but rather in Romania, so the quality control wasnt quite as good but they are still listed in the good category.

The low hours on that are great though and it looks very clean. I wonder how negotiable the price would be? 12 hour drive each way for me.

That's a long way to go, especially if it had some issue.

rrman61 · Apr 25, 2013

i have owned and used long tractors and there oliver counterparts for 35 yrs.engines are pretty much bulletproof and the rest of the tractor is as good as any other brand .very reliable tractor.these are the romainian built fiats. my 2 cents .

pcastleberg · Apr 25, 2013

(quoted from post at 11:21:34 04/25/13) i have owned and used long tractors and there oliver counterparts for 35 yrs.engines are pretty much bulletproof and the rest of the tractor is as good as any other brand .very reliable tractor.these are the romainian built fiats. my 2 cents .

Thanks,

Can anyone weigh in on the difference in turning radius/size between a 1365 and a 550? Again my frame of reference is a 770 wide front oliver. I've seen 550's and know their pretty comparable to the 9n that I used to have. I just don't know where the 1365's fall in there from a size/turning radius standpoint.

One main use for this tractor will be dragging the indoor and outdoor arenas, which are 80x160 and 70x140. So it will need to be able to be easily manueverable and the tighter the turning radius the better!

pcastleberg · Apr 25, 2013

Man looking in Iowa, wi, mn and Michigan there are several 550's listed on Craigslist but the sellers all seem to think slapping on a fresh coat of paint makes them worth $4,500-$6,000.

Wow!

If I am going to pay that I would want it to have very low hours or a fairly recent overhaul.

Is that what they should be going for?

pcastleberg · Apr 25, 2013

How hard is it to find drawbars for the 550 (I don't care if its one that slides back and forth...It can be stationary.

Just wondering.

rrlund · Apr 25, 2013

You can put a drawbar on them like the 9N Ford used. The one that goes on the 3pt.
I made this swinging drawbar for my Super 55. Wasn't much to it.

pcastleberg · Apr 30, 2013

Anyone ever added Powersteering to an Oliver 550 or a Super 55?

Is this even possible and if so how difficult would it be? I am finding several different 550 tractors without power steering but hard to find ones that do have it.

How hard would it be to get the parts to convert it? And did Super 55's even come with that option?

Thanks!

wmthrower · May 1, 2013

It is a luxury to have PS on a 550 in my opinion. Mine does not have it and without a loader on it, I cannot see ever needing it. It steers pretty easy.

pcastleberg · May 1, 2013

(quoted from post at 11:36:42 05/01/13) It is a luxury to have PS on a 550 in my opinion. Mine does not have it and without a loader on it, I cannot see ever needing it. It steers pretty easy.

Yeah for my purposes (pasture mowing, pasture dragging, manure hauling) I don't think it would need it either but my wife will be driving it a lot and she has/has had shoulder issues and we had a ford 9N without PS and she felt that if it was similar she would need the PS.

She's going to be using it to drag in an arena (both indoor (pole building) and outdoor with a fence around it. So its important that she be able to manuever the tractor easily in corners etc so she doesn't hit anything.

pcastleberg · May 20, 2013

Thanks for all your help everyone. I finally purchased an Oliver 550 "husky" yesterday and so far am very happy with it. I am sure I will have some questions as I get used to it.

Oliver 1450 vs 550

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