Preserving an Heirloom: Family Finds New Home for Rare Ford Combine

By Bill Vossler
Published on January 13, 2015
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Production of the Ford 611 was limited to 51 units in 1959.
Production of the Ford 611 was limited to 51 units in 1959.
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The Ford 611 self-propelled combine is identical to the Oliver self-propelled combine, with the exception of the paint color and the engine.
The Ford 611 self-propelled combine is identical to the Oliver self-propelled combine, with the exception of the paint color and the engine.
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The 1959 Ford 611 self-propelled combine.
The 1959 Ford 611 self-propelled combine.
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The combine and corn head loaded, chained and ready to roll.
The combine and corn head loaded, chained and ready to roll.
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The combine's operator platform.
The combine's operator platform.
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A view of the controls from the driver's seat. The biggest lever is the shifter (reverse, first, second, third, fourth). This combine has variable belt drive. There's a lever that adjusts the speed from high to low.
A view of the controls from the driver's seat. The biggest lever is the shifter (reverse, first, second, third, fourth). This combine has variable belt drive. There's a lever that adjusts the speed from high to low.
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A top view of the combine's 45-bushel grain bin shows little wear. Despite being in a damp climate near Saginaw Bay, Mich., the combine's 55-year-old engine is still covered with original paint and shows little rust or deterioration.
A top view of the combine's 45-bushel grain bin shows little wear. Despite being in a damp climate near Saginaw Bay, Mich., the combine's 55-year-old engine is still covered with original paint and shows little rust or deterioration.
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An original brochure advertising the 1959 Ford 611 self-propelled combine.
An original brochure advertising the 1959 Ford 611 self-propelled combine.
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A battered operating instructions booklet for the 1959 Ford 611 self-propelled combine.
A battered operating instructions booklet for the 1959 Ford 611 self-propelled combine.

As a boy, Dan Depner regularly saw his great-uncle Joe’s 1959 Ford 611 self-propelled combine in action. But he had no idea of its rarity – a Ford combine manufactured under contract by Oliver Machinery Co. in its plant in Battle Creek, Michigan. Nor did he realize that just 51 of the models were built that year. And he certainly didn’t realize that, 55 years later, he and his brother, Eric, would sell the combine in an online auction.

The Ford 611 self-propelled combine is identical to the Oliver 25 self-propelled combine, with the exception of the paint color – red vs. green – and the engine. The Ford used a 223-ci straight 6-cylinder Ford engine, while the Oliver had a flathead Continental 6. In 1959, 101 combines were built at the Oliver plant in Battle Creek: 51 Fords and 50 Olivers.

Just two nights outside

Joe Pelant would be classified as a character. “He never did anything fast,” Dan says. “He never drove anything in high gear or fast, not even his car or pickup truck. He would drive the two miles to town to get groceries in low and slow. On the combine, standing most of the time, he drove low and slow.”

Joe, a dairy farmer, bought a new combine in 1959 from the Webber Bros. Ford dealership in Pigeon, Michigan, eight miles south of Caseville, Michigan, where Dan lives. “He planted wheat, corn and dried beans taken up with a bean header pickup,” Dan says. “Though an attachment was available for a corn header, Joe never bought one.” After he died, his machinery went to his younger sister, Dan’s grandmother. “Some machinery was distributed to other family members and some was sold,” Dan says, “but my brother, Eric, kept the combine.”

Eric is a Ford lover. He’s restored a couple old Ford pickups. And as a teenager, he helped out on Joe’s farm. “That combine was the one thing that we didn’t let go,” Dan says. “We just kept it in the shed where it had always been stored. We didn’t know too much about it but we knew we hadn’t seen any others like it around.”

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