Learn More About Wayne Wiltse

I grew up in Charles City, Iowa, just a few blocks from the Oliver plant. My dad, Bob Wiltse, started working for Oliver in 1936 and spent 42 years there as a machinist. Two of my grandfathers also worked for Hart-Parr, and a number of other relatives worked for Hart-Parr, Oliver and White Farm over the years.

Machines were part of my life from an early age. Our neighbor Harry Brenton had worked for Hart-Parr and Oliver and had also operated Case steam engines. I started helping Harry with his 80 horsepower Case steam engine when I was young. My dad and Harry taught me about steam engines, tractors, machinery and how things worked.

My dad and I worked on machinery in our shop at home. Over the years our projects included gas engines, cars, trucks, Oliver and Hart-Parr tractors and even a working steam locomotive.

While I was in college, I worked in the experimental department at White Farm Equipment in Charles City under Ivan Anderson. The work included tractor testing, troubleshooting production problems, sound and vibration testing, prototype work and other engineering projects.

I also became involved with preserving material from the Charles City plant. I worked with Mary Ann Townsend and the Floyd County Museum sorting and cataloging manuals, records, photographs and other material from Hart-Parr, Oliver and White Farm.

In 1989, I was one of the founders of the Hart-Parr Oliver Collectors Association. Over the years I served the HPOCA in several roles, including president and historian. My work with the organization included helping document and preserve the history of Hart-Parr, Oliver and White Farm.

After college, I went to work for Twin Disc. I started as an experimental engineer, later became laboratory supervisor, then R&D manager, and eventually Chief Engineer of Research and Development.

I have also collected Hart-Parr and Oliver tractors, parts, literature, patterns, photographs and other historical material. Much of what I know about the companies came directly from working at the plant, working with the machinery and knowing many of the people who designed, built, tested and worked on these tractors.

These stories are my record of those people, machines and events as I remember them.