Those who have had the pleasure of meeting Lonnie and Marilyn can’t help being infected by their love and passion for early Jeeps. We have asked them to share their Jeep stories (there are many!) and are publishing the first installment today. We will keep you informed as new chapters are available.
A Conversation with Bob Westerman
The first link that appears in our Welcome page takes the reader to Bob Westerman’s article on the Willys Farm Jeep and the Jeep Tractor. We have referenced this article multiple times, online and in our published articles. In fact, we have used the articles at Bob’s CJ-3A Information Page as a primary resource in our research and in our Jeep projects.
We have just posted a short interview session we had with Bob. You can read it at https://www.farmjeep.com/bob-westerman/
Two early brochures – one for the farm and one for industry
J. W. Heater posted on the 2a page forum his find of two early sales brochures. These where published before the introduction of hydraulic implement lifts, so most likely from 1946. While we focus on the farm uses of the Jeep, Willys saw a similar market in industry.
See the entire farm brochure here.
You can see the industry brochure here.
Calendar Jeep!
Just for fun, we submitted a “beauty shot” taken at the Willys Jeep Rally to the Kaiser-Willys calendar contest. We were selected and are the month of April photo.
Some nice Jeeps in this calendar, including a CJ5 with a PTO parked in a hay field. You can find the calendar at https://www.kaiserwillys.com/2019-kaiser-willys-calendar-all-willys-jeep-vehicles-8167 We do wish that they published more info on the Jeeps
We are also big fans of the Holy Toledo calendar and you can find it at https://www.dispatchermagazine.com/calendars/
Can’t have too many Jeep calendars.
Love and the Empire
It may sound like a trashy romance novel, but we have just posted our friend Clint Dixon’s article on Jabez Love and the Empire tractor. Jabez designed the first 3-point hydraulic lift for the Jeep and the Empire tractor was built using Jeep parts.
More Bantam Plows and a deepening mystery
This summer we have been contacted by two individuals who were researching American Bantam tags on their plows. The first is a 16″ single bottom plow that has been in the same family since it was purchased. It is located in Virginia and is still being used to plow with a tractor.
The Bantam model is an “NSGP-16.” All Bantam plows we have seen used the same model number as used by Newgren. Newgren used a 5 or 6 character model code. The first two characters indicated the manufacturer and number of mouldboards. The codes we have seen are either “NS” meaning (we assume) “Newgren Single” bottom or “ND” meaning “Newgren Double” bottom. The next two characters indicate mouldboard types: GP – General Purpose, SB – Slat Base, or F-Forgy Base. The last characters are actually digits indicate the plow size – 12, 14, or 16 inch. So we know the above plow is a Newgren made single bottom 16″ plow with a general purpose base.
Our Bantam labeled plow has the model number “NDGP-12″as expected. Our working assumption has been that Bantam simply took the current stock of Newgren plows and replaced the tag with the new Bantam tag, copying over the model and serial number. But something else may have been happening too.
The second plow is located in Ontario, Canada and is the first example of a 10″ plow – Newgren or Bantam – that we have seen. This one is also still in use behind a Ford 8n.
The “Type” or model is “NDSC10” and the serial number is 114. As stated, all examples of Bantam plows discovered thus far had used the same model designations as Newgren. We have never seen the “SC” code, nor have we seen any 10″ model plows in the Newgren literature we have collected.
Is it possible that Bantam produced a plow that was not in the Newgren line? The “SC” code and the lack of the “-” before the “10” would indicate that this was not a direct copy. Did they expand what had been the Newgren line with a new product? Did “SC” stand for a new type of base or was it an error (it appears to be a “GP” base)? This simply adds to the mystery surrounding the final years of American Bantam. Stay tuned.
UPDATE – Clint Dixon has provide the following in an exchange of emails. As always, Clint is the source of a wealth of knowledge on all things Monroe and Newgren.
Clint writes –
“Take a look at this image:
This is Lonnie’s (DeWeese) plow (tag). It is a slat base, but the slats, furrow wheel, and bottom look out of place – more like those found on the early Newgren plows or a Wiard plow. I think this particular plow was assembled from more than one plow and have even pondered the idea that this plow may have started out as a fire plow.
Then there is this image:
Notice that the serial number is the same as the serial number of Lonnie’s plow. Too bad we cannot read the model number. It does look like it ends in a “-2”. This was on a double disk plow that sold along with a dirt scoop on ebay several years ago. Or, it may have been on the Dellinger dirt scoop. The auction really did not give a clue to which piece of equipment that particular tag was on.
I know this does not help answer your question, but it may add more to the mystery. It seems that Newgren/Bantam did not always adhere to a set model numbering scheme.
As a side note, the Monroe literature for the Dodge Power-Wagon lists a 10-inch double along with a 10-inch triple and they call both “Scotch Bases”. Both were obviously de-badged Newgren plows.
Interesting finds. Thanks for sharing.”
And then Clint writes this…
“Looking at your picture of the plow in Canada, it does indeed look like a Scotch Base. Ferguson used those bases too but I believe they did not use the “Scotch” description. They are supposed to stand the turned sod on edge – not lay it completely over – so that it can better absorb rainfall.”
So, based on Clint’s information, the Canadian plow may be a re-branded Monroe plow made by Newgren. Perhaps the “SC” code stood for “SCotch base.” In any case, this is additional data for us to use as we explore the Bantam plow story.
New FAQ and Dave’s Story
An ongoing project here at Farm Jeep is spreading the word about these amazing machines. As we park our Farm Jeep at various antique farm, machinery and even Jeep shows, we try to provide a story about the vehicle and its place in agricultural history. We are adding a Frequently Asked Questions About the Farm Jeep section. It will be both a part of the information presented here and at shows in the form of printed materials. This will be an evolving document and hope to hear your feedback to make it better.
We asked Dave Eilers, founder of eWillys.com to tell his Jeep story. If you are an eWillys fan as we are, you will want to read about Dave and his adventures here.
Notes from the (hay) field
It is mid-summer and antique machinery shows are in full swing. We represented Jeeps in agricultural again this year at the Pioneer Engineers Club of Indiana Reunion held in Rushville, Indiana. Just like last year, there were 600 tractors of every make and model, along with 30 or so operating steam traction engines and 1 Farm Jeep.
This four day show is one of the oldest and largest in the Midwest and is located on a club owned farm. It features a daily parade that can last over an hour. There are all sorts of farming demonstrations. A favorite is plowing demonstration using the massive steam engines. The plowing demonstration can be viewed from a hilltop.
We enjoy engaging visitor, both to tell the Farm Jeep story and to hear stories, of which there are many. We use the ad below to illustrate Willys use of women in their marketing efforts. It also usually gets remarks about the corn crop.
Spring weather here in the Midwest was extremely wet and many crops simply did not get planted or were planted very late in the season. More than one farmer remarked that the corn in the ad reminded them of this year’s crop.
Full Head of Steam
Although this is a Jeep site, we love the beauty of the old steam engines. We took a couple of hundred shots of these machines in action. We will share a few from one of the daliy parades here.
Seeing these machines is a treat for the eyes and ears (except for the noon time whistle blow that requires you to cover your ears), We strongly encourage you to visit you local antique machinery show, even if the don’t have any Jeeps. You won’t be disappointed.
A Farm Jeep in the West of Ireland
In 2007 we received a note from Seamus Lefroy-Brooks of Buckingham, England about his family’s farm Jeep and brochures from the British company that had sold the Jeep to his father. Somehow this story didn’t get moved from the old Web site and we had forgotten about it until our friend Dave at eWillys wrote asking if we still had the brochure.
Seamus’ story about the ex-British Forces 1942 Ford GPW’s arrival on the farm and his description of its uses as a tractor deserves to be told again. So we have moved the story and brochure. Be sure to check out the photos at the bottom of the story.
A Farm Jeep in the West of Ireland
Dave has published a series of articles on the Metamet company-
Farm Jeep Asks – How Do You Remove A Steering Wheel?
Some days we have to ask the questions. While we had made a good start on a new body for the 2a, we hit a snag when we tried to remove the steering wheel. The following is the rest of the story.