Willys MB Jeep used as a Tractor.

Texasmark1

Well-known Member
I have seen pictures of them being used for a tractor, surely some of you have done that.........yea got the tractor word in there. Grin. The one I saw was a guy moldboard plowing his garden.

I have wanted one all my life and as a teen "lusted in my heart" (Jimmy Carter) for some military issue non-directional mud grip tires but none to be had. Never got the opportunity to get a jeep although a hunting buddy's dad had one.

Well last week I bought one brand new; right out of the box, literally. Another Grin.

I bought a plastic 1/35 scale model and just started to put it together. Can't plow, been raining almost daily for the last 10 days and more forecast for the rest of the week. That's the way it is down here, monsoon or drought, no inbeteens.

Anyhewwwww subject matter requested and the reason for the post:

The thing had leaf springs on all 4 wheels. The front differential (Dana I guess) was on the right (curb) side. The front spring on the driver's side was like the other 3 except it had a couple of helper leafs.

I had 2 trains of thought:

1. The guys that made the molds got the right and left springs mixed up and the helper spring needs to be on the side with the differential due to the added front end weight.

2. The spring is on the left to offset the weight of the driver.

What do you know/think?

I tell you, if you can't get outside to do what you need to do and are driving the misses nuts with your "Cabin Fever", take up building plastic models. I have really enjoyed it and have learned a great deal about how things are made. What's neat is that you can get on the www and look up what you are building and learn the history of it and all that. Really gets you into the thing.....like you are part of it.

Thanks.
Mark
 
I wonder if the helpers were to compensate for frame twist when plowing, and keep the right front tire planted in the furrow.
 
I restored an M38a1 military Jeep some years ago. It's been my summer driver for almost 18,000 miles. Springs are the same side to side, L.H. same as R.H. I know Willys tried to enter the farm market with their Jeep in the late 40's, but it wasn't well suited to heavy pulling. I've pulled a grain drill & cultipacker with mine but the limited turning radius isn't good. It's a lot better suited to running to the seed dealer, loading up bags of seed and hauling it to the field. Still better than no tractor, but not as good as a decent two plow tractor.
 

I luv to put models together I have some i have over 100 hr in and spare no expense when it comes to expensive automotive paint...
 
A friend had a '76' CJ that they used to rake hay with. With the top on and doors off and radio blaring, his was haven a ball.
 
I have always wanted a good old military Jeep, had a family friend that had several over the years. Last time I saw one for sale it was beautifully restored and I was afraid to call and ask how much. Probably should have but I guess I'll never know.
I'd love to have one, even an old beater would be fine with me.
 
There is a commercial hay producer we work with in the San Joaquin Valley of California who uses a small fleet of Wrangler Jeeps for rake pullers. He runs large Darf wheel rakes and mounts a hydraulic unit in the rear bed to do the folding. He says that he can buy used Jeeps for a fraction of what a good tractor would cost and can obviously get around to the many fields he works much faster. They are all open cab models with bikini tops for sun shade.
 
A little off the subject but I'm and old IH Scout fan. A few years ago at the ACAEC show I saw an early style one that had a 3 point on the back where the tailgate would have been. It didn't look to be a home-built setup.
 
I had a '47 Willys CJ2A that I pulled a 2x14 JD trail plow with. It would out plow a new Ford with 2X14s.
This was in '48.
Vern
 
According to an IH truck history book I have a company called UTEMCO in Ft. Wayne, IN marketed equipment for the early Scout including the 3-point hitch, PTO, and other attachments. Considering the wide turning circle of my 1961 Scout I wouldn't think such usage would have been very practical for most jobs. That said, it would be great to find such a system to install on my truck, though!
 

The extra springs were there to prevent "Jeep squat". I forget why they do it, but all the older, earlier CJ's and earlier Jeeps had it. Pretty common to see helpers. You can research it on any of the old Jeep sites.
 
I have a 1975 CJ-5. I don't see how it would make much of a tractor. While it has a lot of power it's so light it doesn't have as much pulling power as my G20 Chevy van.
 
Over the years I have fixed all my equipment and have everything ready to move ahead with this year's farming activities...once it
stops raining.....funny the last 3 years it's been a drought. Now a monsoon. I even cleaned up and organized my shop to have
something to do.

I'm not much of a reader although the Tom Clancy type novels (prefer other authors, but the type) get read from time to time.
Enjoyed the biography of H. Ford in "Wheels for the World".

So my sweetie suggested building models. I googled and found several suppliers of such. Hobbylinc.com is my favorite as they have
great prices and a tremendous variety. I have 28 aircraft built and more waiting. Every one has a story to tell as it was part of my
life. Currently I have added the Jeep and the Sherman, and half tracks.

The Jeep is pretty small, about 4" long but the detail is fantastic. For example, each of the leaves of the springs is identifiable in the
mold. I have built enough of them to learn how to do it and the quality of the finished product is improving. I have added the
necessary paint supplies and other things like hemostats, scalpel blades and handles, table vise, table magnifying glass to make the
job easier. The blue painting tape is super in assembly as it is easy to install either for spray painting or holding parts together while
the glue is curing...leaves no residue but will lift the paint off if you put it on a painted (slick plastic) surface.

I installed half a dozen six foot shelves to house them and hanging from the ceiling I have a " Red Baron Tri-plane (Red Baron
Pizza), a He 111 (that bombed London) and a PBY (that saw the Japanese fleet headed for Midway). Sizes vary from 1/32 scale to
1/700 on the Hancock aircraft carrier....which has it's own story.

Other thing I find with this is:

Pride in accomplishment.
Mental involvement in figuring out reality and what the directions say.
Mentally tying each model to something in my life.
Being able to Google historical facts about the models. Gets you right there. Brings it to life.
Super time consumer. Get engrossed and the hours fly by.
Quit worrying about when it will quit raining.
Lot cheaper than restoring tractors like I originally did upon retiring.

Great sport.
Mark
 
The differential does not add anything to the right side of the body weight except some from the transfer case. It does add to the axle. Spring is supporting the body. Old CJ-2A had same springs side to side.

Wife and I used CJ-5 and walk behind plow to plow garden once. That was a trick with her using clutch and me walking backwards for the next short pass.
 
After WWII, 1946, Willys came out with lots of advertising for the use of Jeeps as tractors. Had a full line of implements. I was 14 and sorely wanted one. Instead we got a Farmall H. Disappointment quickly disappeared
 
My CJ3B has the same springs left and right. Unsprung weeight is not counted as described in the other post. Jim
 
(quoted from post at 18:50:19 04/22/15) Over the years I have fixed all my equipment and have everything ready to move ahead with this year's farming activities...once it
stops raining.....funny the last 3 years it's been a drought. Now a monsoon. I even cleaned up and organized my shop to have
something to do.

I'm not much of a reader although the Tom Clancy type novels (prefer other authors, but the type) get read from time to time.
Enjoyed the biography of H. Ford in "Wheels for the World".

So my sweetie suggested building models. I googled and found several suppliers of such. Hobbylinc.com is my favorite as they have
great prices and a tremendous variety. I have 28 aircraft built and more waiting. Every one has a story to tell as it was part of my
life. Currently I have added the Jeep and the Sherman, and half tracks.

The Jeep is pretty small, about 4" long but the detail is fantastic. For example, each of the leaves of the springs is identifiable in the
mold. I have built enough of them to learn how to do it and the quality of the finished product is improving. I have added the
necessary paint supplies and other things like hemostats, scalpel blades and handles, table vise, table magnifying glass to make the
job easier. The blue painting tape is super in assembly as it is easy to install either for spray painting or holding parts together while
the glue is curing...leaves no residue but will lift the paint off if you put it on a painted (slick plastic) surface.

I installed half a dozen six foot shelves to house them and hanging from the ceiling I have a " Red Baron Tri-plane (Red Baron
Pizza), a He 111 (that bombed London) and a PBY (that saw the Japanese fleet headed for Midway). Sizes vary from 1/32 scale to
1/700 on the Hancock aircraft carrier....which has it's own story.

Other thing I find with this is:

Pride in accomplishment.
Mental involvement in figuring out reality and what the directions say.
Mentally tying each model to something in my life.
Being able to Google historical facts about the models. Gets you right there. Brings it to life.
Super time consumer. Get engrossed and the hours fly by.
Quit worrying about when it will quit raining.
Lot cheaper than restoring tractors like I originally did upon retiring.

Great sport.
Mark

I don't use much glue I melt the parts together. I use a small touch and heat a pocket screwdriver tip...
 
The "Willys Farm Jeep" was tested at Nebraska in Sept of '53. Test #502. Produced 35 belt HP and 25-26-27 drawbar HP. I remember seeing ads for them with a 2 bottom plow mounted on a 3 pt hitch. Never actually saw one.
 
I think I see the answer to my question now that I just married the undercarriage to the body.....automotive assembly line here, overhead cranes, robots, dip painting...........

The Jeep is so narrow that there isn't room for the front differential between the front springs so the engine has to be offset from center to the driver's side allowing room. Therefore on the passenger side you have the diff, and you may or may not have a passenger. On the driver's side hopefully you have a driver and you have a good part of the weight of the engine and tranny. The transfer case is mostly on the pass. side but is about "amid ship" so it's weight is proportioned between both axle springs. So I guess that explains why you need a little tougher spring on the driver's side, front spring.

This model is built by Tamiya in Germany and the quality and detail is superb as with most of their models. I can't tell you how much fun this particular model is to build, being the MB Jeep, wherein you are right there with each component, making it all go together and obviously it worked, looking at how simplistic and rugged it is, yet functional. Really beats cabin fever. Might try it some time. You just (as I found out) might like it.

Mark
 
Saw a PBS(?) special several years ago on the drive-in movie theater craze that swept the nation after WW11. One of the contractors that was big in their construction (in CA?) used a fleet of surplus jeeps fitted with after market 3 point hitches, blades, rippers, terracers, trenchers, posthole diggers, and other tools to build them. IIRC when interviewed, his old employees said that his philosophy was that the jeeps were cheap and plentiful, and although not construction machines, they were somewhat like ants if you had enough, you could get the job done.

Have seen 2 at shows with 3 point and 2x14 plows.
 
I hear you on the spring supporting the body, but when the wheel hits a chug hole the spring has to be able to transmit that energy to the body without passing the point of no return. I know what that is as I passed it on one occasion where I was trying to soften the springs on my boat trailer. When they pass it they break, being spring steel, brittle and stiff. Since all the running gear is chassis mounted, then the only thing left is the driver if your analogy were all that there was to it......seems to me.

Mark
 
(quoted from post at 08:35:19 04/22/15) I have a 1975 CJ-5. I don't see how it would make much of a tractor. While it has a lot of power it's so light it doesn't have as much pulling power as my G20 Chevy van.

Back when my biggest tractor was a 10hp Jacobson, I used my 59 CJ5 a lot. I dragged wood, harrows, rocks, plowed snow and dirt with it, pulled a slip scoop, etc. Put it in low range, chains all the way around, take an extra dose of patience and get it done. Seems nuts when you're used to a real tractor, but very few people had real tractors where I grew up and a Farmall A or H was a "big" tractor. The Jeeps and Doodlebugs we had were lots faster than human sweat and muscle.

For comparison, I plowed gardens for years with a Simplicity walk behind tractor with a 3hp engine pulling an 8" plow. The jeep ws a big step up...
 
Now that is a great idea. Glue is one thing I would like to eliminate as you know the mess and defacement of parts, especially things
like windshields and aircraft canopies. I'll look into that.

Thanks,
Mark
 

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