Jeep equipment

Does anyone know just how many factory mounted equipment was offered by jeep? I've seen snow plows, trench diggers, and forklifts mounted to the back of the jeeps. How many do they have?

 

There was a program of "Jeep Approved" special equipment. AFAIK the only distinguishing feature of this equipment was that it could be bought through the dealer parts network and easily rolled in to the sale, prep and financing of the vehicle. I'm sure you could buy all of it through other retail channels at a discount to "Jeep" list.

If you can find an older "Special Equipment" Jeep parts book, much of it is described in there. Parts support was also handled through the Jeep dealer parts network. My newer book (74-80) does not have all the farm equipment and such, but the heyday for that was after the war, I think. There may have been another book for the agricultural equipment, or it could have been dropped altogether by AMC. For Jeep, the emphasis had shifted from work to play for many customers ...

 

A guy here in York has one. There was a video, a couple years back, of another one that was for sale. The seller showed it working. It was cool.

 

Willys would build anything you want.
I have touched this. It lived in Wyoming 10 years ago and I got to crawl all over it.
It could have been mine for $25K.
50 built for the feds.

 

I think you could get stuff from Sears probably into the 1960s. They had a Farm and Ranch catalog.

 

This whole topic says a lot about the history and context of Jeep.

After WWII, servicemen came home with experience and affection of the amazing things Jeeps could do, and the many many unanticipated custom adaptations they underwent in the field. They spread the mythology of the Jeep as having almost supernatural abilities. They could parachute into battle, pull trains, operate underwater, roam the desert or cross the Himalayas...

At the same time, companies like Willys were suddenly scrambling to convert to a peacetime economy and market (For instance Gruman applied it's aluminum aircraft construction to manufacturing canoes...) Jeep was re-imagined and sold as the all-round platform for farmers, utilities, construction, etc. Every ex-soldier wanted one for some hopeful enterprise.

And most of all, easily forgotten today, at the time a rugged vehicle with low-range and four wheel drive was almost completely unknown - unless it was a Jeep. They were an object of intense desire that no other vehicle could even come close to. When you could get pie and coffee for under a buck, and land was $10 an acre, even a total wreck of a jeep never sold for less than "a hundred dollars per wheel."

Landrovers were pale imitators. Toyota was not even heard of yet. (See many H2 Hummers around today???)

When I was kid, Jeep was super cool, tough, and fun, all at the same time.

It is a powerful and proud heritage. As they used to say, "Jeep Wrote the Book" on four wheel drive.

 

I believe in one old Jeep early style infomercial they noted that after WWII many farmers did not have tractors. A tractor and a car was beyond their resources, so a Jeep was great because it did both. The attachment system was a great marketing tool for Willys. 4x4 was not new but rarely used in anything but trucks and a few odd cars before Bantam developed what was to become the Jeep. Badger Four Wheel Drive Auto company made the first good usable trucks with 4wd. Still they were not the little all purpose vehicle that we know and love.

 

The Jeep-a-trench apparatus was made by Auburn Machine Works and was an adaption for the Jeep of their popular trencher that usually was attached to farm-type tractors.
My father bought a smaller size Auburn trencher attachment back around 1977 for his then-new Kubota before they became popular. The trencher looked exactly the same as the Jeep version, except about 2/3 size. It's still mounted on that Kubota and is fully functional today.
-Donny

 

The Kubota is at my brother's house on the N. Carolina coast. I should be up there in June and will get a couple pictures.

 

The man from the local Jeep club has the pto driven drum roller on the rear of the pair of 2a's that he still uses to drive the portable saw mill when power is not available at the AMISH neighbors houses and farms.

I forgot about the twin boom TOW TRUCK on a cj5 frame.
Its twin still tows at the local dirt race track for SPRINT cars.