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.