Born into a family of farm equipment dealers in Upper Sandusky, Ohio in 1932, Roger Bowen started helping in the parts department before he was tall enough to see over the counter. The 6-year-old had to stand on a shotgun shell box behind the counter so he could write the slips. 

In 1939 his father started handling New Holland and coupled one of its balers to an Oliver 70. He had to extend the clutch up 6 inches so Roger could reach it. This was only the beginning of a long relationship with Oliver that would be highly successful for the manufacturer, for Bowen and the dealership he’d one day run. 

When Bowen Implement Co. started in 1927, brands included Case, Massey Harris, Hart-Parr and American seeding. Oliver came a bit later.

Shortly after Oliver was brought in, Roger's dad, M.E. Bowen was selling about 50% Case, 30% Massey and about 20% Oliver. In 1942 Case approached the elder Bowen and asked him to drop Oliver and Massey Harris. Instead, M.E. promptly loaded all of the dealership’s Case equipment up and returned it. That left the dealership with just Massey Harris and Oliver. 

Massey Harris later approached Roger’s dad about giving up Oliver. Once again, he declined. The Oliver folks said they would double his allotment. So, Massey Harris was subsequently kicked out.  

The dealership moved in 1951 and moved again to its final location in Upper Sandusky in the late 1950s. In 1964 the dealership was incorporated and in later years carried AGCO/White, Steiger, Wheel Horse, Toro, Bush Hog, Great Plains, Sunflower and a full line of Ford/New Holland. Polaris ATVs, snowmobiles and watercraft were added in later years. 

Roger’s Crazy Idea

After graduating from high school in 1950, Roger continued helping his dad while making roughly $35 dollars per week. In early 1956, Roger bought 38 Fleetline Oliver tractors. This was all they had left over after the Oliver “Super” tractors had made their debut. They were scattered throughout the hills of West Virginia and Kentucky. He received a discount for the group purchase. 

Roger’s dad was initially upset and thought his son was crazy, but Roger had a plan. Oliver tractors had live Power Take Off (PTO), a feature John Deere couldn’t offer. So, he paid a visit to the farmers with John Deere tractors and Allis-Chalmers balers in the area. 

Most would say they weren’t in the market for a new tractor. Roger would then tell them, “I’m not asking you to buy it; I’m just asking you to try it.” Routinely, after about 30 minutes of use with Oliver’s live PTO the farmer would ask for a price.

As Roger recalled in an interview with Hart-Parr Oliver Magazine in 2023, every farmer he called on purchased one. Needless to say, the less-than-pleased John Deere dealer in town called Roger out on it. In its prime, the Bowens’ dealership was one of the largest Oliver dealers for 15 straight years.  

A Sense of Urgency

Once, in a 3-month period after Oliver’s 1650 tractors came out, Roger had sold 65 – mostly by demonstrating. He recalled an instance when he had a 1650 ready to go to a customer but when he drove it, he realized something was not right. 

“I thought it was a clutch problem,” Roger recalled in the interview with Hart-Parr Oliver Magazine in 2023. “They took it in the shop and pulled the starter. But the pressure plate had not been tightened against the flywheel from the factory. I fabricated a wrench to fit through the starter hole and tightened the bolts. All was well within about 2 hours and the 1650 was then delivered to the customer. The 1650 was one of my favorite tractors to sell.” 

Roger also recalled getting well-acquainted with the workers in Oliver’s shipping department over the years.

“My dad sold 31 No. 5  corn pickers in one year,” Roger said. “In the late 1940s they had a local guy that would convert side-delivery corn pickers to rear-delivery before Oliver did that. I would drive a 1-ton Dodge truck 200 miles to Battle Creek and pick up a picker and make the same trip home the next day. Needless to say, I got to know the guys in shipping very well. They would have our picker on the hoist ready to go the next day. We just kept adding them over the years. We were the first $1 million dealer in the 1950s.”

Rodger Bowen Photo Gallery

Roger was the type of guy who was willing to do whatever it took to get parts sooner. If he needed parts, he could not wait.

“I once needed an engine for a new combine that had a blown engine,” Roger said. “Columbus, Ohio, didn’t have one so I flew my plane and picked it up at another location. I had to take the seats out of the plane to haul it back.”

Roger’s favorite memory as a dealer was the good customer relationships he made along the way. He said “95% of the people were good people and easy to deal with. They trusted me.”

A Steward of His Community

Roger was deeply  involved in his local community in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. A town of just 6,500, Roger was an Honorary FFA member at Upper Sandusky High School and several other schools. He was closely involved with FFA chapters and hosted the FFA tractor-troubleshooting competition.

Roger was also a member of the sheriff’s department auxiliary in Wyandot County for 30-40 years and served as a volunteer fireman for 40 years at the Upper Sandusky Fire Department. 

A further testament of his character came during the blizzard of 1978. Roger took his Steiger tractor with a blade on it and rescued those trapped by the storm. The local hospital also needed blood from a hospital that was 30 miles away and Roger hopped on a snowmobile and retrieved the blood for Wyandot Memorial Hospital. 

Anytime there was a lot of snow, the sheriff’s department would contact Roger to transport nurses to and from the hospital for work. He used his 4WD vehicle for transportation.

Roger also gathered hay from local farmers and transported the hay to Eddyville, Iowa, after devastating floods using his own semi-truck and trailer.

He also served as president of the implement dealer’s association in Wyandot County. The group, which consisted of local implement dealers of all brands across Wyandot County, met once a month.

Separately from his local affiliation as president of the local implement dealers association, Roger proudly displayed many “Presidents Club” awards through the years from the Oliver Corp. A dealership had to meet certain criteria to earn this award from Oliver, and Roger’s dealership was one of their best.

Roger loved attending antique tractor shows and he still possessed his favorite brands of tractors in his collection when he passed away at age 91 in February 2024. 

Author's Note: At 90 years old when Roger Bowen was interviewed at the Florida Flywheelers show in 2022, he was a very colorful character with a great mind, cranking out fond memories from his years in business. Roger’s family dealership was open from 1927-2003 — a good run of 76 years. “When White bought Oliver, that was the beginning of the end,” Roger said. “They took all the money away from Oliver and put it in the trucks.” 

— Greg Davis, Editor, Hart-Parr Oliver Magazine

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