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It is hard to believe that it is already the 4th of July. We hope everyone is having a safe and sane holiday – and maybe a Jeep ride for extra fun.

Now for something a little different

A common question we are asked is “Do you have any other Newgren implements?” We have displayed three different Newgren plows at shows, including a very rare Bantam tagged version. But perhaps it was time for something different.

We have had the Newgren 6 ft Spring Tooth Field Cultivator for a few years now. It is missing a couple of “teeth” and two “backer springs” but otherwise it is just rusty. It wasn’t going to take much effort to make it show worthy.

We are searching for the three missing “teeth” and two “backer” springs. In the meantime, we stiffened the mounting with two small pieces of flat bar steel. These are visible in the picture – the none rusty parts.

We hadn’t spent much time examining the cultivator. When we starting looking at the Equipment Book entry, we noted that you needed to specify the type of 3-point hitch you were using. As with the plows, the cultivator would ship with a different top-link configuration for the Newgren and Monroe lifts. Our cultivator is a Monroe version but appears to work well with the Newgren lift. The cultivator pictured in the Equipment Book is the earlier Newgren version.

The cultivator is hard to miss hanging off the back of the Jeep. So far, there has been little reaction at shows to the change from the plows. But it is a nice change for us. Something different to discuss.

The return of an old problem

The cultivator is about half of the weight of a double bottom plow, so we weren’t concerned about the hydraulic system. However, when Barry went to load the Jeep on the trailer at the end of the last show, he saw fluid on the deck. The leak was at the front of the engine. We have fought leaks from both the hydraulic pump and the engine crankshaft seals.

The fight isn’t over. Barry disconnect the pump from the crankshaft pulley and determined it was the hydraulic pump that is leaking. That was good news from the perspective of easier to fix,. But it was bad news in that the chronic blowing of pump seals seems to still be with us. We had thought that changing the pump mounting bracket from the early strap style to the later Monroe forged style had solved the problem. This was after installing a pressure relief valve.

We have removed the radiator to make the job easier and acquired a pump seal. We had hoped to have the pump reinstalled and tested before this update. It didn’t happen. So stay tuned as the saga continues.

It is the middle of June and antique machinery shows are in full swing. It is a great time to checkout shows near you. If you haven’t been to a show, you can expect to see a variety of tractors, farm equipment, working displays, and fair-style food. The shows are fun for the whole family.

While you are there, we would appreciate it if you would keep an eye out for any Farm Jeeps. The are easy to spot among the rows of red, green, and orange tractors. Check out our spotter’s guide if you want to learn how to recognize the different types of lifts.

We would also like for you to snap a photo or two to add to our collection of Farm Jeep’s in the wild that we have just started. Just send them to barry @ farmjeep.com (remove the spaces) along with location information. Other information appreciated, but not necessary

Not sure how to find shows near you? Just search for antique farm tractor shows. Hopefully, we will get to see you at one of the shows we attend.

We try to do a monthly update, just to let you know what is going on at Farm Jeep. This past month, the answer to what is going on has been too much! We have attended two Jeeps shows and photos (unedited and not captioned) are list below. We have some interesting things in the pipeline, but they aren’t quite ready. Hopefully, they will be worth the wait.

2024 Spring Willys Jeep Reunion

2024 Willy Jeep Rally

With the summer show season underway, we are asking for your help in collecting pictures of Farm Jeeps in the wild (or at least not on the internet). You can check out the complete Farm Jeep Spotter’s Guide, but the process is quite simple.

When you are at a Jeep show or an antique tractor show, just look for any model Jeep in the years 1945 to 1970. The model doesn’t matter. It can be a CJ2a, CJ3a, CJ3b, or CJ5. Look at the rear. If there is equipment back there under or in the bed, it is probably a Farm Jeep. Snap a picture or two with your phone and send them, along with your location, to barry@farmjeep.com or evan@farmjeep.com. It is that simple.

We will be building a gallery of pictures from around the country with your help. We won’t share your personal information Happy hunting!

Last January, we announced that we were going to create a hydraulic lift registry database. Then, things went dormant. But spring and Jeep and antique tractor shows are about to burst forth. So in the next few days and weeks, we plan to restart the project with a little twist.

While we hope to collect enough data to provide insight into how many Farm Jeeps are still out there, we may need to settle for simple sightings. People who might not want to provide details (like a serial number) might be willing to share a photo and location.

We plan to send notices to Facebook, Jeep and antique tractor forums and to anyone who might listen. We will shoot (no pun intended) for details, but settle for pictures or even references to videos.

Stay tuned.

We have spent the last month working on our Love story. While we continue to find new information, you can see the results of our research of Jabez Love.

Daryl Dempsey sent us the photo above along with many others Daryl has been helping us with our Jabez Love and David Friday research. It turns out that Daryl also has a Jeep story!

March is coming in like a lamb here at Farm Jeep. We thought we would be roaring like a lion about all our progress on projects. Unfortunately, the Hydraulic Lift Registry remains on hold. We haven’t been able to find software that will allow us to easily backup and restore the data. We will continue our quest.

Now on with the fun stuff (with apologies to Tina Tuner)

So what does a LOVE Tractor have to do with this photo? We always have multiple research projects open and on-going. Jabez Love designed the first “Jeep Approved” hydraulic lift. Barry has been researching Jabez for many years. He even visited Love’s hometown of Eau Claire, Michigan twice. He knew that before he became involved with Willys, Love had designed speciality tractors. But no real new information has been uncovered in the past 5 years.

A few weeks ago, Barry re-opened his Love project. He sent a note to the Berrien County Historical Association (Love’s home county) asking if they had any new information on Love. The curator was not aware of the Love story. However, he is interested in our research. He also put us in touch with the Michigan Flywheelers Museum(MFM). We learned the organization, only a few miles from Eau Claire, is beginning a Love Tractor restoration and they too are interested in our research.

The MFM was able to put us in touch with a man whose father had written an article on Love back in 2000. The son didn’t have any more information on Love, but he has a good friend in SE Ohio who collects Love Tractors and gave us his contact information.

That is how these things happen

Suddenly after 5 years of searching, we have news leads and new information. In the coming weeks and months, we plan to publish an article or two based on this new data. We are also building Jabez Love’s history here.

Daryl Dempsey is a Love Tractor collector. And a Friday Tractor collector. And a John Deere collector. You get the idea. Although we have only been working together for a couple of weeks, Daryl has provided new information and, importantly, photographs.

At some point, Daryl mentioned that his father had used Jeeps on the farm. He sent us the great picture above. We plan to write about Daryl and his tractor collection. And about those Jeeps too. Stay tuned.

Dave @ eWillys.com has found several examples of WWII-era cards, including this one. We thought it would be a nice way to start our February post. Especially since the rest of the news isn’t so much fun.

Last month, we introduced a project to register or identify as many hydraulic implement lifts as possible. We are pausing the project to reengineer the data collection and display forms. We are hoping we can, in Barry’s favorite fashion, “throw some money at the problem.” If all goes well, we should be back in business in a couple of weeks.

Now back to something more interesting. Derek at CJ3b.info recently shared a post on Facebook about the “Jeeps on Broadway” story. It is a fun and informative read.

Above is one of the many dealer documents that have survived to tell the story in a manner rarely seen. Enjoy.

As we start our twenty second (!) year of posting our adventures and discoveries, we want to wish you a joyous and prosperous New Year! Thanks to all of you who have joined us on the fun ride.

Pictured above is the outline of our 1949 CJ3a Farm Jeep with a Newgren lift. This picture, along with period ads and other photos, can be found on our Farm Jeep Spotter’s Guide page. So why we would we need to post a spotter’s guide? Because we hope to recruit Jeep fans of all kinds to help us with our latest project.

Last fall, in a discussion with a group of Farm Jeep fans, we all were lamenting the lack of lift production data. A question we have heard a thousand times is how many Farm Jeeps were sold. No one has an answer. There are no – or they are yet to be discovered – production records for any of the Jeep Approved lifts. That discussion led to the idea of a simple hydraulic lift registry. After several iterations, we came up with a form for collecting a minimal number of items that may still yield useful data. The data are displayed in the Farm Jeep Hydraulic Lift Database. We are already looking for an improved display, so please hang in there while we find a better design. For now, you can at least view the data elements.

The focus is on the lifts. We want to know about them regardless of the Jeep they might be attached to or even if they are sitting on a shelf or barn floor. There is a shared concern for balancing privacy issues with producing a registry that has some research validity.

Our hope is that owners and non-owners will help us build the registry over the coming months and years. We plan to reach out across as many platforms as possible and to repeat our request throughout the year.

We look forward to an exciting Farm Jeep year!

Barry & Evan

This year we are giving you our latest history report – Where did Santa get that Jeep?

Santa’s Jeep – A Brief History