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Richard
Dosdall's Story
Here on these pages you are going to find two stories
as told by Richard himself. The first is Richard's autobiography
covering his early beginnings right through his most recent project
(as of 2019.) Next you will read Richard's detailed account of one
of his most ambitious projects, his half scale Oliver 1655 tractor.
(Click
on any image to enlarge) |
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Autobiography
Acquiring the skills to build a
miniature tractor…or just about anything
By Richard
Dosdall
I will
start back about when I was in 2nd grade, or about 1972. My dad Earl
started selling and repairing the Oliver line of tractors and
equipment in 1950, after building a new shop in 1949. When I came
along in 1964, my parents had already had three children, and had
their parenting skills in place, and they were not to be changed.
The guidelines were: After school you get home and get to work in
the shop—-no sports, etc. The shop was heated with coal using a
stoker to feed the boiler. Dad said “If the fire goes out, you go
out.” In other words, you made darn sure that the stoker was full.
When dad would go to town with the truck and bring home a load of
about six tons of coal and back it in the shop, nothing needed to be
said, we just grabbed the scoop shovel and started unloading. A full
scoop shovel was quite a load for a little guy, but that was how it
was to be. What I am trying to say is that all of us kids were
brought up in a work-work-work environment.
(Continue
Reading) |
Earl Dosdall's Oliver sales
and
shop building circa 1970
.s.JPG)
A young Rich and his father Earl after
unloading
a new combine off a railcar in town
The radio-controlled airplane Rich
built
for a science fair at school |
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Building a half scale Oliver 1655 tractor
By Richard Dosdall
This is the story of the building of my half-scale 1655 Oliver
tractor, with a short history of our family's Oliver background. I
want to stress the fact that I personally built 99.9% of this from
scratch, including the engine. Very few items were bought and used
in the “as bought condition.” (Example: tires)
In
1946, my parents Earl and Marion Dosdall moved from town out to
rural Goodhue County. Earl had been working for an implement dealer
in town and thought that he could do better working on his own. He
soon became known as the man to see if you wanted your tractor put
on rubber tires rather than the steel wheels. He cut hundreds of
steel wheels and welded rubber-type rims to the spokes. (Continue
Reading) |
Rich Dosdall
stands behind his nearly
finished half-scale Oliver 1655 tractor. |
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New
Submissions Welcomed
If you have additional
information on a project or builder
shown on this site that your would like
to contribute, please e-mail mecm@craftsmanshipmuseum.com.
We also welcome new contributions.
Please see our page at www.CraftsmanshipMuseum.com/newsubmit.htm
for a submission form. |
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