The Daily Sentinel-Tribune, Bowling Green, Ohio · Saturday, July 20, 1946, page 1.
This brief announcement on page 1 of Robert Green’s hometown newspaper heralded the arrival of a new era in Farm Jeep history. Within a few weeks, there would be the national rollout of the Love/Newgren hydraulic implement lift for the Universal Jeep.
Charles Sorensen, president of Willys-Overland, had requested George Newlin and Robert Green to form an independent company to act as distributors of the Love lift and to sell implements through WO dealers.
We consider the history of the Newgren Company and its co-founder, Robert Green, to be among the most important research we have conducted over the past 24 years. The best way to understand Newgren’s history and its importance to the Farm Jeep is to read Robert Green’s story.
You can see Newgren equipment in action in this video.
We hope you will join us in a toast to the Newgren Company and the Farm Jeep!
We wanted to do something special for this 250th Anniversary 4th of July. In the spirit of the day, we present WWII jeeps at 4th of July celebrations. This post is the first in a series exploring how the jeep became part of America’s Independence Day celebrations. Beginning with 1942 and continuing through the end of the war, we’ll look back at newspaper accounts, photographs, and hometown stories that captured the jeep’s growing role in Fourth of July parades, War Bond rallies, military exhibitions, and patriotic celebrations. Long before it became a civilian icon, the jeep had already become a symbol of American freedom.
Join us in exploring how the USA combined the spirit of 1776 with the cold reality of war through a series of posts that will look across cities and small towns and how they embraced the machine called a “jeep.” Begin your journey here.
July 2026 is filled with causes to celebrate. The 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the 4th, followed by the 80th anniversary of the formation of the Newgren Company on the 19th. We will post more about these important events.
We have updated the Jeep-A-Drill section with a Dispatcher Magazine article and additional information about Matt Amos and Scott Sperling’s restoration of the rig pictured above.
Sticking with the dig deeper theme, now is a good time to check out Barry’s book. Each chapter ends with a “Dig Deeper” section that includes links to all references and resource materials used. So even if you have read the book, you are sure to find more information about this great machine.
Our friends Matt Amos and Scott Sperling have asked us to help find information on this unique mower. We have created a Turner Mower page based on the limited information we have been able to find.
Please contact us if you have any information on the mower or Turner of Indiana.
A photo of the e-book cover has joined the other information
What a wild May! We had the Farm Jeep at four shows, and there was even a book signing event. The first weekend found us at the Brown County Antique Machinery Association, where our show adventures began long ago. The second weekend saw us at a new show for us, the Monroe County Antique Machinery Association in Bloomington, IN. You can check out both shows on their respective Facebook pages.
The next weekend found us in North Canton, OH, at the Spring Willys Reunion. This is always a great show, and this year it was bigger and better than ever. We had so much fun, we are planning to attend the Fall Reunion in Fulton, MO.
The following week, Barry had minor surgery, but was well enough to celebrate a friend’s reunion. Then it was off to Heuston Woods State Park for the Midwest Willys Rally. Just like the Spring Reunion, this one seemed bigger and better than ever. Both shows offer their own twists, so they are “must-be-there” events for us.
Our “friend” Scott Sperling posted on the Rally’s Facebook page that Barry would be signing his free e-book at the event. He did hear a lot of comments and signed one Jeep hat, but no one offered up a phone screen.
Speaking of the book, it continues to get good reviews, especially of the free part:
“All I can say is Wow, very cool!! I couldn’t stop reading it until I was done. A long time ago, I knew you were the guy to figure out all this Farm Jeep stuff.”
“I have been a Flatfender fan for most of my life, but never paid much attention to the Farm Jeep aspect. Your book has sparked my interest in a whole new part of our hobby.”
If you have comments, good or bad, suggestions for improvements or additions, drop Barry a note at barry@farmjeep.com.
As we approach the 80th anniversary of the Newgren Company’s founding in July, we continue to uncover interesting facts. Todd Paisley, in his 1997 interview with Robert Green, learned that the bed extension was the first and most successful product, with around 20,000 units sold.
Check out www.farmjeepbook.com to read more about Robert Green and the Newgren Company.
2026 marks the 80th anniversary of two milestone events in the history of the Willys Jeep. On July 19, 1946, the Newgren Equipment Company was formed to supply hydraulic lifts and farm implements for the Universal Jeep. Two months later, in early September, Willys announced the availability of the Love Implement Lift, to be distributed by Newgren. The Farm Jeep era had begun. We are celebrating these events all summer long, with a series of fun posts.
What makes a Jeep a Farm Jeep?
Any post-WWII Jeep (models 2a, 3a, 3b, 5, & 6) could be equipped with add-on accessories to make them into a two-bottom plow utility tractor. The variable-speed governor, PTO, hydraulic lift, and front weight could be obtained from the factory or your dealer, or you could install them yourself. They all just bolted onto the existing components (engine, transmission, or frame) with little or no modifications.
The “official” use of the term Farm Jeep appeared in 1952 with the “Farm Jeep” model. However, we know from Fred Coldwell’s book, “Preproduction Civilian Jeeps: 1944-1945 Models CJ-1 & CJ-2”, that Willys had wanted to name the CJ2A, released in 1945, “Farm Jeep.” The term “Farm” was deemed too generic by the trademark board, so Willys went with the “Universal ‘Jeep'” instead.
Last fall, I invited a friend to visit me at an antique farm-machinery show where I had our Jeep on display. He fell in love with the tractors he saw and bugged me to provide him with a list of books covering tractor history. When he had read those, he slyly asked me if there were any books on the Farm Jeep. I said, “No, but there should be a book.”
Some eight months later, there is a Farm Jeep book. It is a living e-Book at this point.
In May 2012, I took our 1949 CJ-3a Farm Jeep to a local antique tractor show. Evan and I had been restoring it for several years. We wanted a way to show it to the public, and we had attended the local show many times as antique tractor fans. I asked the first official I saw where I should park. He said, “Over there with the rest of the trucks.” I quickly realized I needed a way to explain — or perhaps justify — why a Jeep needed to be among the rows of John Deeres and Farmalls. That single event and what took place there began our journey for the next fourteen years. It changed FarmJeep.com forever.
When we go to a show these days, the Jeep is a rolling museum display with waterproof binders containing all kinds of data and ads. It has even appeared on YouTube. We spend as much time as we can with the Jeep, answering questions and listening to stories. But we can only attend so many shows.
We started this website to record our own history of working on our Jeeps. But we needed to have answers to the questions we were asked at the shows. Over the last fourteen years, I have written hundreds of pages and a dozen articles covering the Jeep’s agricultural history. All of this history is spread across these pages. And “spread” is the operative word.
We needed to get all this information organized, and an e-Book seemed a good first step. We launched this project now to coincide with a major milestone: 2026 marks the 80th anniversary of the true launch of the Farm Jeep, beginning with the birth of the Newgren Equipment Company in July 1946 and the announcement of the Love lift in September 1946.
We are already receiving feedback for improvements. That is part of the magic of an e-Book. We will be making additions to some chapters and adding new information as it is uncovered. We will post those here. If you find any errors or have ideas to improve things, just let us know.
Way back in 2012, we received a call asking us to help find a Farm Jeep that could become part of an art museum display. We did a post at the time and have now turned it into a page.
If you answered “At your local Willys dealership,” you would be only partially correct. You might also say at the local farm, implement, or feed store. Willys had dealerships within non-automotive establishments. This fact is part of a much larger story about the challenges of selling this new technology, and we are just beginning a long-term research project on the subject.
While this might not sound exciting, how we got involved in this venture is very much part of a real-life mystery. Check out Central Willys.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch.
We have undertaken a major project, connected to the 80th anniversary of the introduction of the Love/Newgren lift. If marketing research doesn’t sound exciting we guarentee that whats coming will be.
