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on Stilts p. 26
Euclid Green
4-80-17 White&Deutz
Cletrac
p. 34
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Oliver Heritage
p. 40
www.oliverheritage.com
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The 900 and the
LaPlant Choate
Scraper
A New Toy! By Sherr y
T
he Industrial Division of Oliver came out with numerous units available for specific applications. A lot of those were never really publicly promoted. We all know that Oliver had a good relationship with Be-Ge and they eventually became a company under the Oliver flag, but prior to that, Oliver teamed up with a company by the name of LaPlant Choate to offer earthmoving equipment. 22
Oliver Heritage
The 900 and LaPlant Choate scraper in this story was found in a quarry outside of Kansas City, MO. It had not been used for many, many years. However, it has been brought back to life.
Having an office just down the road from an Oliver collector offers an opportunity to see some rare and unusual items. One morning I received a phone call from collector Ollie Schaefer (aka Dad). He said “Get your camera ready. We’re on our way.” That’s all I knew. Sitting at my desk, I saw a yellow blur go by the window. I headed out with my camera wishing it was
the yellow Camero I’ve been eyeing. Sitting in my parking lot was a freshly restored Oliver 900 coupled to a scraper that was NOT the usual Be-Ge model. While I had seen this unit sitting at Dad’s before, it was in need of quite a bit of TLC and I had no idea that it was in the restoration process.
How many times have we heard someone say “I’m going to restore that someday”? (Dad’s list is pretty long in that area.) The 900 was a heavy-weight model in Oliver’s industrial lineup for many years. While I’ve never seen a 900 coupled to a scraper like this, I was able to locate a picture of one in the October/November Oliver Shield. A model looking just like this was on display at the American Road Builder’s Association held in Chicago at Soldier’s field in July 1948. This particular unit used a LaPlant Choate C40 model Carrimor scraper. LaPlant Choate was located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The company was founded in 1911 by
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E. W. LaPlant and Roy Choate. The two began developing equipment used in house moving and stump pulling. They started in the allied equipment business in 1923 building dozers and hydraulic control systems. The first scraper they built was designed to be used by Caterpillar equipment. In 1952 LaPlant Choate was acquired by Allis-Chalmers. AC scrapers and equipment were then manufactured at this plant. AC eventually moved production out of Cedar Rapids and the plant was taken over by Harnischfeger, who built P&H cranes and backhoes there. Ironically, the plant was torn down last year, exactly 100 years after LaPlant Choate started in business. Little is known about the LaPlant Choate and Oliver association at this time. However, there are service manuals and books at the Historical Construction Equipment Association archives in Bowling Green, OH for the C42 and C44 models used on the Oliver 900. Obviously the C40 was an earlier model. Perhaps AC didn’t want to sell equipment to Oliver when they purchased LaPlant Choate in 1952. Regardless, Be-Ge was also offering a scraper to be used with
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Oliver Heritage
the Oliver 900. Oliver continued to use Be-Ge equipment until 1960 when White Motors entered the picture and chose not to purchase the Be-Ge line when they took over Oliver. The 900 and LaPlant Choate scraper in this story was found in a quarry outside of Kansas City, MO. It had not been used for many, many years. However, it has been brought back to life. The original 900 that was part of this unit was in sad shape and locked up so it was swapped out for another 900 that was sitting in the yard at Dad’s. The original tractor was a 1948 model but has been replaced by a 1949. The fuel gauge, which is mounted in the fill cap, is a true Oliver gauge and is in excellent condition for its age. Hydraulic controls for the pan are conveniently located to the right of the operator, allowing him to rest his arm on the padded armrest during operation. The cylinders all work well and the pan is fully functional. If anyone else has a unit like this, we would sure like to know about it. With only 281 Oliver 900 models built, this could possibly be the only one left in existence. What a great piece of equipment to see sitting in your parking lot! And really, how much dirt could you move with a Camero anyway.
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