Original “Stuttgart Special” Lives On In Arkansas
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In the 1950’s, Don Oliver owned the largest Minneapolis Moline equipment dealership in the country, located in the small town of Stuttgart, Ark. The thriving business sold MM equipment across a large area. Oliver knew that farmers were interested in more power to work their fields, so he, along with his sales manager and shop foreman, built a 4-WD tractor they called the Stuttgart Special.
Don’s son, Gary, was a teenager at the time and remembers the project well. He says they used the transmission out of a Minneapolis Moline Five Star tractor, the rear end out of a Moline M5, and a two-speed dropbox that Caterpillar made. Power was supplied by a MM 605A engine running on propane. The operator station sat high between the wheels. The tractor ran well and with 100 hp. it had more power than anything on the market. However, the builders agreed that since the parts were all new, the cost would be too high, and nobody would buy it.
That didn’t prevent Don from using the rig himself, often putting Gary in the driver’s seat. “I probably drove that tractor several hundred hours across our rice fields, and I got a lot done. It was noisy and dirty and not very easy to drive, but it did the job.”
The tractor was eventually retired and now Gary Oliver keeps it in what he calls the “family museum”. The shed is also home to several dozen other tractors from that era. Oliver says his nephew drove the Special in a high school parade last year and it attracted a lot of attention.
“Dad and his friends were way ahead of their time building that tractor,” Oliver says, “and his customers at the dealership noticed.” He built 26 tandems using a combination of new parts, spare Moline tractors that customers owned or those he could buy from salvage. They were all powered with 800cc LP engines.
Gary says the Stuttgart’s growing reputation caught the attention of the MM factory and his father hauled one to the company’s Minneapolis engineering facility. There it became a prototype for the MM A4T-1400, which was introduced in 1969. “I think that Dad had orders for 10 or 15 more of the Specials when he discontinued building them,” Gary says.
A Michigan collector sold a restored model for $12,000 in 2021. “They’re not as valuable as they once were because the people old enough to remember them aren’t around anymore,” Gary says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary Oliver. Stuttgart, Ark. 72160.
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Original “Stuttgart Special” Lives On In Arkansas TRACTORS Conversions In the 1950’s Don Oliver owned the largest Minneapolis Moline equipment dealership in the country located in the small town of Stuttgart Ark The thriving business sold MM equipment across a large area Oliver knew that farmers were interested in more power to work their fields so he along with his sales manager and shop foreman built a 4-WD tractor they called the Stuttgart Special Don’s son Gary was a teenager at the time and remembers the project well He says they used the transmission out of a Minneapolis Moline Five Star tractor the rear end out of a Moline M5 and a two-speed dropbox that Caterpillar made Power was supplied by a MM 605A engine running on propane The operator station sat high between the wheels The tractor ran well and with 100 hp it had more power than anything on the market However the builders agreed that since the parts were all new the cost would be too high and nobody would buy it That didn’t prevent Don from using the rig himself often putting Gary in the driver’s seat “I probably drove that tractor several hundred hours across our rice fields and I got a lot done It was noisy and dirty and not very easy to drive but it did the job ” The tractor was eventually retired and now Gary Oliver keeps it in what he calls the “family museum” The shed is also home to several dozen other tractors from that era Oliver says his nephew drove the Special in a high school parade last year and it attracted a lot of attention “Dad and his friends were way ahead of their time building that tractor ” Oliver says “and his customers at the dealership noticed ” He built 26 tandems using a combination of new parts spare Moline tractors that customers owned or those he could buy from salvage They were all powered with 800cc LP engines Gary says the Stuttgart’s growing reputation caught the attention of the MM factory and his father hauled one to the company’s Minneapolis engineering facility There it became a prototype for the MM A4T-1400 which was introduced in 1969 “I think that Dad had orders for 10 or 15 more of the Specials when he discontinued building them ” Gary says A Michigan collector sold a restored model for $12 000 in 2021 “They’re not as valuable as they once were because the people old enough to remember them aren’t around anymore ” Gary says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gary Oliver Stuttgart Ark 72160
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