The Four Rivers Career Center Night Shift program is receiving national recognition after being featured in the October/November 2026 issue of Oliver Heritage Magazine.

The magazine highlights the Night Shift students’ restoration of a rare experimental Oliver Super 77 tractor equipped with a GM 2-71 Detroit Diesel engine. The tractor, known as the XO-271, originated from Oliver’s research and development department in Charles City, Iowa.

Night Shift instructor Dan Brinkmann said the significance of the tractor was discovered in April 2025 when owner Sherry Schaefer located photographs in the Oliver archives showing the tractor in the company’s experimental department. Numbers on the original negatives matched the tractor, confirming it was a one-of-a-kind experimental unit that was reportedly supposed to be destroyed after testing.

Students began the restoration in the fall of 2025 and carefully documented the teardown because little information existed about how the tractor had originally been assembled. Working toward a firm deadline, the Night Shift crew completed the restoration June 22, just two days before the 2026 National Oliver Show in Wooster, Ohio, where the tractor was unveiled.

The project carried special meaning for Brinkmann, who had known Schaefer for several years and admired her efforts to preserve the history of antique farm machinery.

“Everyone can see a nicely restored tractor, but I see the people behind that shiny paint and all the hard work that went into it,” Brinkmann said. “My hope is for the students to look at it and see themselves in it.”

The recognition also shines a spotlight on the Night Shift program itself. Led by Brinkmann, Four Rivers Career Center’s Automotive Technology instructor, Night Shift gives students the opportunity to work beyond the regular school day on hands-on restoration projects while developing technical skills, teamwork, responsibility and leadership.

“I tell the students that join Night Shift they will be different people when they graduate senior year,” Brinkmann said. “I don't think they will fully realize the effects until later in life. I do tell them the reason for Night Shift is not to restore a machine and it will take time for them to realize the real reason why.”

The restored Oliver Super 77 will continue to receive national exposure in February when it is scheduled to be displayed at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky.

The feature in Oliver Heritage Magazine and the upcoming appearance in Louisville highlight both the students’ craftsmanship and the unique learning opportunities available through the Night Shift program.

The Oliver Super 77 tractor, restored by Four Rivers Career Center Night Shift students, is pictured at the 2026 National Oliver Show in Wooster, Ohio.