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1655 Differential Lock & Snowblower

S

sodly

Member
Please excuse the newbie question but I am new to Olivers. Have always liked them and have been thinking lately of looking for one to (mostly) play around with. I've read great, glowing reviews of the 1655. But one big reservation I have about them is the lack of a locking differential on them. Is that correct? They [i:ad33f6f08b]DID NOT[/i:ad33f6f08b] come with a diff lock?! You see, one of the few "jobs" I want to use the tractor for is running a 7' 3 pt snowblower. Currently I'm using a 3020. Even with heavily weighted rear wheels I use the diff lock quite a bit with the snowblower. Frankly, it blows my mind that any 2wd tractor from the 60s or 70s would not have a diff lock available. That's crazy! How do you get through muddy spots in the field without a diff lock?!!? Rock the brakes?

So, what do those of you who own these tractors think? Am I over-reacting? Does anyone run a blower behind these tractors? What kind of luck do you have? I was really hot to trot on finding an Oliver until I learned about this one fatal flaw (well, that and no foot throttle, lol).

The other "off-brand" tractor I like is Minneapolis Moline. I also considered an M670 but it sounds like they have the same chink in their armor.

So what gives with all these non-locking diff tractors?!!? I'm bummed!!
 
Sodly, The White American 60 and 80 had diff lock. Transmission in the 60 is similar to 1555 and the 80 is similar to 1655. The diff lock has to be removed to replace brakes on the right side and is cumbersome. I had a problem with the seals and they did have some updates. I had a 2-70 and snow blower with a single auger and it got the job done.
 
Add some weights and chains and you won't need the diff lock. When you get older like me you will want a snow blower like this, and throw rocks at a rear mount. No more sore neck!
 
I run several US built Olivers and I agree differential lock would have been a big asset,most US tractor builders were slow to add differential lock and creeper gears.My Fiat built 1365 and 1465 Olivers have differential lock and very slow low range gears both are a big asset as far as I'm concerned.
 
I had a 7' Lucknow snowblower on the back
of my 770 for years. It worked well with a
good set of rear tires. I didn't have
chains. I live in the snow belt of WNY so
blowing 3 ft snowfalls a couple times a
year was not uncommon. Remember, you're not
pushing the snow, and once you blow it,
it's gone. Good luck.
 
(quoted from post at 19:56:03 10/18/18) Please don't take offense, diff locks are
for rookies! Lol
1655 is the best of it's era.
Click to expand...

No offense taken. I guess there must be 99.9% rookies out there, lol. It still shocks me that diff locks were so uncommon so late on 2wd tractors. Seems like a [i:897ee45ab2]no-brainer[/i:897ee45ab2] to me. Maybe that's why Oliver was an early adopter of FWA![u:897ee45ab2][/u:897ee45ab2]
 
Because the 1655 (and other Olivers, IH, etc.) had their brakes on the differential pinions not the axle shafts, applying the brake on the spinning side transferred the tourque to the other side like a limited slip differential in a car, not locking the axles together causing turning issues. Moldboard plowing is considerably more load on traction than backing a snow blower, and after tens of thousands of hours plowing with Olivers I never saw the need for diff lock.
 
If turning brakes were just as good for getting traction as differential lock I doubt every manufacturer would have gone to the expense of putting differential lock on their tractors.As far as I'm concerned nothing beats differential lock doing something like chisel plowing,better to never start spinning than to have to stop it once it starts.Plus differential lock eliminates a lot of wear and tear on the brakes.
 
I have spent thousands of hours plowing with a Oliver 1950 FWA, John Deere 4020, and a John Deere 4240. The diff lock is a life saver to get you though that tough spot and help keep you from spinning. Keep in mind that the on land wheel always breaks traction first. The diff lock is nice because you can engage and disengage it on the fly. My 1950FWA I would have to stop to engage and disengage the FWA.

If you feel that there is no need for a diff lock then you have never used a tractor with a diff lock.

It still surprises me that they were building new tractors all the way through the 70's and early 80's before they added a diff lock. I do think one or two different models had them in the late 70's.
 
(quoted from post at 11:41:40 10/19/18) I have spent thousands of hours plowing with a Oliver 1950 FWA, John Deere 4020, and a John Deere 4240. The diff lock is a life saver to get you though that tough spot and help keep you from spinning. Keep in mind that the on land wheel always breaks traction first. The diff lock is nice because you can engage and disengage it on the fly. My 1950FWA I would have to stop to engage and disengage the FWA.

If you feel that there is no need for a diff lock then you have never used a tractor with a diff lock.

It still surprises me that they were building new tractors all the way through the 70's and early 80's before they added a diff lock. I do think one or two different models had them in the late 70's.
Click to expand...

You and me both! I sure as heck like having it on my 3020, esp. when pushing my snowblower (which is already on skids on the ground so no weight transfer to the rear wheels) backwards around a curve on slick/icy concrete. I know, I know chains would do the trick too but I don't want to chew up my driveway if I don't have to.

So I'm wondering which tractors in that 75hp range DID have diff lock back in those days. I think MF and Deere. Not sure of others.
 
Go to Modern view, and type is best snow blowing tractor, a photo of my AC 7040 and front snow blower is there along with several others. Will try to post more photos soon, but so far neither Classic or Modern works for me. Don't know what's change, Classic worked fine as always last week.
 
Trying again
mvphoto25513.jpg
 
I have an 8? blower that I use on a 1655 sometimes. Does
pretty good. I?m use to not having differential lock, so don?t
miss it. It seems like with the blower on the back it has
enough weight, power is more of an issue than traction,
unless icy underneath.
 

cvphoto327.jpg
My 2-70 around 1988. The White 2-70 has the Oliver 1655 drivetrain and green paint showed up under the black. I thought it was a good tractor and even chopped corn with a 2 row New Holland. Used it on Case IH square baler the most.
 
Sodly, No Diff Lock on the 2-70. The White American series did in 1989. The 2-70 was 76-82. Picture is the diff Lock off my American 60. You have to pull all that off to get to the brakes. It has the same brakes as the 1555-1655.
cvphoto335.jpg
 
Does your 3020 have a SyncroRange transmission or the PowerShift? R1 on a SR would be around 3.3MPH at PTO speed. That could be plenty fast in heavy snow.
 

Yes, mine's a synchro. And, yes, it's plenty fast. That was one of the appeals of an Oliver 1655 with the 3 speed trans splitter... a slower R1!
 
My neighbor blows my snow away. Here the slow speed reverse gears are more valuable than a differential lock. I drive a 4440 to haul wagons with and I had to use the differential lock Friday and when I did I had both rear wheels spinning trying to pull 2 wagons out of the field. The light weight OIL PULL tractors had a differential lock back in the late 1920's as did most of the imported tractors from the 1960's but they were all manual and many could not be engaged while the tractors were moving.
 
more wheels working is always better...but...more wheels working can bury
you deeper. lol you know what I mean.

diff lock is great and I'd have it over one without.
 
How about Minneapolis Molines of the era? Did any of them have diff locks? Like the M670 or G900 or G1000?
 

Whether a diff lock works, or doesn't work, depends on whether you actually have traction on the non spinning wheel :lol: If ya don't, you can lock that baby up, then stand back and admire TWO perfectly dug holes :wink:

Sometimes I get lazy, and don't put the bale spike on the 3pt when feeding, or moving feeders, after wet weather. Hang a bale on the back end, and you can go thru muck clear up to the frame without a diff lock.


mvphoto26159.jpg


At this point, I'm heading back to the house to get the other tractor, and a chain, muttering to myself :D
 
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