Following the introduction of the first “Jeep Approved” Love hydraulic lift in the fall of 1946 (one year after the introduction of the CJ2a), the newly formed Newgren Equipment Company took over the the manufacture and distribution of the lift. It was rebranded and certain engineering changes were made and the Newgren Lift became the second “Jeep Approved” lift. This lift was produced until sometime in late 1948, when the company was purchased by the Monroe Auto Equipment Company. Monroe would replace the Newgren lift with their own lift and Newgren would produce plows and numerous agricultural implements.
The history of the Newgren company is very short. Thanks to Keith Buckley, we now know that company was around long enough to issue service bulletins in the spring of 1947. Keith has provide the three bulletins presented below. (Note the need to scroll to see the complete document.)
This service bulletin was of special interest to us since we suffered multiple high pressure pump failures. Our solution was to place a pressure relief valve in the system. Also of interest is the reference to the governor handle notch for gauging engine RPM.
The original Love configuration of the Newgren lift used a belt-driven pump. Perhaps after the first 1400 units (based on the serial numbers) they provided the crank-driven replacements. The indication that serial numbers might have started with #2000 is also a helpful clue. Farm Jeep’s serial number is 4244, so we can assume that at least 2500 units were produced. The number of lifts manufactured in the company’s short life is and may always be a mystery.
This bulletin address another issue we experienced; problems with the attachment nut loosening. It would have been extremely useful to have had these documents when we were installing our lift.
Again thanks to Keith for uncovering these rare documents.