Jeeps aren’t made, they’re built
There is a slogan among hardcore Jeepers that “Jeeps aren’t made, they’re built.” The fall season was spent spending money and tracking down parts to build our farm Jeep. We mail-ordered a number of small items, but had two PRTs (parts retrieval trips) worthy of note.

Through the wonders of e-bay, we found and “won” a 3 point hitch. This was a major find and will be a distinguishing feature of our farm Jeep. You can read all about our Newgren hitch here. The current home of the lift was somewhere east of Cleveland in a junkyard, a mere 700 mile roundtrip. So, on a beautiful October day we headed northeast to Cleveland.

The trip was uneventful and gave us a chance to see the fall colors and some beautiful Ohio farmland. We found the "junkyard" without a problem. It was perhaps, the neatest junkyard either of us had ever seen. Cars and trucks were sorted and neatly lined up in rows. They weren't pretty, but the owner assured us that it was a great system for making sure he could find and get to any part you might desire. Unfortunately, that didn't include Jeep parts. Although we had come equipped with a complete set of tools, the only Jeep in the yard was a CJ6 that had been stripped of all the good stuff.

The lift PRT return trip was just as nice, with lots of time spent scouting along the interstate for signs of more old Jeeps.

The second PRT was more of an adventure for Barry. Evan had located a Jeep hydraulic pump that we can use with our Newgren lift, until we can find an original crank pulley-driven pump. The owner had listed the pump with the option of a "free" snowplow if you picked the pump up (as opposed to the sensible idea of having it shipped). Barry, unable to pass up a freebie, volunteered to make the PRT on his own. Evan was a little less sure of what we might do with a snowplow taken off of a 1956 Jeep pickup, but agreed the price was right.

This PRT found Barry again Ohio bound. This time the destination was Zanesville, Ohio. Unlike the lift trip, the weather was terrible, with driving rain and high winds. But a deal is a deal and Barry headed out early on a Friday morning on his PPRT (plow parts retrieval trip). The trip was highlighted by massive traffic jams around Cincinnati and the complete shut-down of the I-70 through downtown Columbus, OH due to a fuel spill.

Barry managed to find the farm were the pump and plow were located, just outside of Zanesville. The farm had several outbuildings, including a multi level barn, that was open on the bottom. Barry could see several old Jeep wagons and trucks, along with a '47 Ford pickup (he asked) and assorted antique farm equipment parked inside. The farmer would only say the Jeeps belonged to "friends" and wasn't interested in giving Barry a tour. The plow was quickly loaded from the back of an old Suburban (it was a sort of moveable storage shed) into Barry's pickup.

The return trip was more traffic and more rain, but safe. The pump and plow made it back to the farm. The pump is undergoing test and the snow plow is in the field, awaiting a new owner - or maybe a new Willys truck might find its way home someday.

Barry's notes:
I had originally thought that the plow might work on the CJ2a. But it is huge and is more weight than I would ever put on that old frame. I have also thought about mounting the blade on my tractor. At least when we find the correct pump we can sell whole outfit to someone with a Willy's PU.

Evan's notes:
We agreed that a hydraulic lift was a must for our CJ-2A and had gone after the few we'd seen on e-bay and posted on Jeep-related newsgroups. As you would expect, one good purchase deserves another. Not only did we end up buying the snow plow for the hydraulic pump to power the lift, we also bought an engine governor to complete the basics of our farm Jeep setup.