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Cutlas Manufacturing History

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

wUPDATE 3: Time to recycle this older post. 

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Originally Posted April 28th, 2017:

UPDATE 2: Niels shared a photo of his rare Cutlas key that can be used to spin the screws of the Power-Lock Hub.

UPDATE: 1) Well, it seems I forgot to read through this and edit it (I murdered the title for example) 2) The ending of the post has changed, thanks to Paul spotting an ad in the 1976 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine.

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This is a Cutlas brochure for the company’s first hub, the Power-Lock.

In January of 1958, James Russell Lloyd, who up to that point had been president of the Free-Lock Company in Denver, filed a patent for a new type of hub on behalf of a company called the Cutlas Tool and Manufacturing Company out of Lyons, Illinois. At the time, Lloyd was still based in Denver (according to the patent filing), so what his relationship was with the Cutlas and Free-Lock companies at that time isn’t clear.

cutlass-power-lock-hub-patent

Patent was awarded in January of 1962.

Unlike the Free-Lock hubs, which relied on a rotating center piece to engage and disengage the hubs, the Cutlas hub had two rotating screws that had to be spun to engage and disengage the hubs.

In May of 1958, Lloyd copyrighted the term Power-Lock Free Wheeling Hub, a name which the hubs would be known as from then onward. Here are some photos:

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The Free-Lock Corporation and Their Hubs

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features • TAGS: , , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE VII: A set of NOS Free-Lock hubs included documentation stating that by December of 1973 Free-Lock had become a “Quality Division” of Dualmatic Products Company. So, I believe this suggests that Free-Lock was acquired by Dualmatic, so now the questions are 1) when did this happen and 2) why didn’t Dualmatic use the branding sooner than circa 1970 (there was a gap between the end of Free-Lock in 1959 and the re-emergence of the brand circa late 1960s or early 1970s).

UPDATE VI: I located a set of Free-Lock hub instructions that are a pre-view for a later set of near identical Dualmatic instructions. This is clear documentary evidence that Dualmatic was linked to Free-Lock.

UPDATE V: I recently packed many of my father’s tools to bring them back to Prosser. I was a regular user of them when working on my bicycles, then my jeeps. So, I thought I knew them pretty well. That is why I was so surprised and did a double take when I removed this tool from a drawer and read the name stamped on it: FREE-LOCK WRENCH …

What??? Where’d that come from? I once asked Dad about Free-Lock hubs, but he didn’t know anything about them. So, I don’t know how he obtained it.

Anyway, given the primitive nature of it, I’d have to guess it was a first generation version of the wrench. As seen below, a second, more elegant curved-design with a better branding stamp was likely introduced after this version.

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Here’s a reminder of the other version of the Free Lock Wrench:
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UPDATE IV (From February 12, 2017): This page contains two later model Free-Lock hubs that resemble Selectro hubs. My theory is that Free-Lock might have evolved into the Selectro Company: http://www.ewillys.com/2019/07/08/selectro-husky-dualmatic-overview/

UPDATE III: Thanks to Steve, we’ve discovered an additional version. It is now number 5, which seems to be an evolutionary step between 4 & 6.

UPDATE II: Thanks to Frank Day and his grandfather Merton, who saved this rare piece, here is a scan of an eight page brochure related to the Free-Lock corporation. 

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Thor Products & White Automotive (Whitco)

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UPDATE II: Dinesh obtained these Thor-Automatic looking hubs, but on the cover they read Allstate Power Matic rather than Thor. I suspect they are Thor hubs rebranded for Allstate. Here are some pics:

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Here is a the interior portion of a set of Thor hubs:

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UPDATE (May 24, 2021): The October 1963 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine include this Thor-designed product to make shifting the transfercase more convenient. It moves the shifter from the passenger-side of the transmission to the driver’s side. I imagine there are few, if any, of these shifters out there.

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Originally published April 9, 2017:

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More information on some of these companies can be found here: http://www.ewillys.com/2019/07/08/selectro-husky-dualmatic-overview/


White Manufacturing Co. (also known as White Automotive and Whitco over time) was started in the late 1950s by Richard T, Bingman and partners. The company progressed at a modest level making, among other things, aluminum floral display stands. Eventually, White allied with Kaiser and began making tops. White filed for incorporation in 1959. One of the company’s earliest products was a white soft top for jeeps.

The next year, in 1960, Richard T. Bingham filed a patent for a pair of locking hubs. One set would automatically shift into gear when it sensed the axles were being powered (i.e., when the transfercase was shifted into four wheel drive). The second set of hubs added a dash-mounted button to allow for control of the hubs from the driver’s seat (assuming I have interpreted the patent correctly!).

The interesting thing is that Bingham never assigned the patents to the White Automotive Company. Instead, the patents and hubs ended up being used by Thor Products, which also operated out of Colorado Springs (though sometimes the address is Manitou Springs, a small town just west of Colorado Springs).

thor-automotive-logoThis suggests that Bingham had some time of relationship with Thor, but his exact connection to Thor isn’t known at this time (my guess is that it was a subsidiary or sister company of White).

1. The Thor auto-matic hub patent vs. the finished device:

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The Huffman Hub Company of Albuquerque, NM

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UPDATE IV: Well how about this …. There was an early Huffman hub that didn’t have the fancy ‘weapon-looking’ topper (as seen in the pics below). Instead, a cylindrical key was supplied to help select whether the hub was engaged or not. This ad is from the September 1962 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine.

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UPDATE III (May 17, 2020): In September of 1964 the Huffman Hub company posted this full-page ad in Four Wheeler Magazine —

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September 1964 Four Wheeler Magazine

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(UPDATE II: Finally got a look at the 1967 article about Floyd Huffman that appeared in the August 20, 1967, issue of the Albuquerque Journal (pg 28):
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1946 Patent(s) For a Body Extension

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UPDATE: In 2019 I posted a patent filed in September 28, 1946, for a “body attachment”. Yesterday, on an unrelated search, I discovered the names of the same parties, under a different lawyer, related to a patent filed a month earlier (August 12, 1946)  for a “body extension” for a jeep. The second patent is more detailed (seen at bottom) than the early one. Both were approved on the same date: June 5, 1951. See most of the body extensions produced over the years in this post

Filed August 12, 1946:

Attorney Roy Whittington assigned half this patent to William Isler and half, jointly, to Julius Negin and Ludwig Gaspar, the two who also filed the patent at bottom. The whys are likely lost to history.

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PATENT DESCRIPTION: June 5, 1951 R. D. WHITTINGTON BODY EXTENSION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed Aug. 12, 1946 A TTORNEY.

Patented June 5, 1951 BODY EXTENSION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Roy D. Whittington, Belton, M0., assignor of onehalf to William Isler and one-half to Julius A. -Negin and Ludwig J. Gaspar, J r., jointly, all of Cleveland, Ohio Application August 12, 1946, Serial No. 690,019 3 Claims. (01. 296-28) The present invention relates to vehicle-construction, and particularly to commercial vehicles such as trucks and the like, and aims to provide a practical form of extension for the body portion of such vehicles.

The invention has special reference tothe commercial type of motor vehicles such as have been known generally as jeeps in the army service, and which has a body of limited proportions and some forms of which have .an endgate at the rear end of the body. 7

Accordingly an object of the invention is to provide an extension of the body structure of this type of vehiclein the form of an accessory unit which is adapted to be mounted in the manner of a replacement for the endgate of the .vehiclebody and to receive said engate as a supplemental attachment serving the endgate function for said accessory unit….

Patent filed September 28, 1946:

I can only guess that this design was used by Newgren, as I *think* it was the only firm that built a collapsable body extension. The only thing is that Newgren had double supports, while the patent only shows a single support underneath.

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PATENT DESCRIPTION: ATTORNEY Patented June 5, 1951 BODY ATTACHMENT FOR JEEPS Julius A. Negin, East Cleveland, and Ludwig J.

Gaspar, Jr., Cleveland, Ohio, assignors of onehalf to William Isler, Cleveland, Ohio Application September 28, 1946, Serial No. 700,006

11 Claims. 1

This invention relates, as indicated, to body attachments for vehicles of the type known as Jeeps.

As is well known, this type of vehicle, which was developed and extensively used during World War II, is coming into general usage for commercial purposes, but its use for such purposes is somewhat limited on account of its body shape and dimensions.

Another factor which has inhibited the use of this type of vehicle for commercial purposes is the fact that the spare tire or spare wheel of the vehicle is conventionally carried at the side of and adjacent the rear end of the body of the vehicle, in which position, it is so remote from the plane defined by the wheels of the vehicle as to constitute a hazard, particularly when attempting to park the vehicle in city streets.

The present invention has as its primary object the provision of an attachment or extension for the body of a vehicle of this type, which attachment or extension materially increases the carrying capacity of the vehicle. Continue reading

 
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Kelly Manufacturing Self Locking Hubs

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UPDATE:  This post has been updated with more pics. Also, there is currently a Kelly Hub brochure on eBay.

In May of 1957, DA Ruben L. Beck filed a patent for a new hub design. Beck was a dreamer and like many dreamers, some saw him a genius while others thought him just plain crazy. Beck’s goal was to create a simple, but effective, four-wheel-drive hub.

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Beck had already made an early impact in the jeep world, when he founded D.L. Beck Manfucaturing in Middleport, Ohio, a company that made hardtops (see Beck hardtop history here).

1954-beck-all-steel-cab-brochure1Beck sold his hardtop company to Hubert A. Kelly, in the 1950s but Beck and Kelly remained in contact. The date of the sale, thought once to be 1951, is less clear after this document hit eBay in 2014. It indicates Beck was still selling hardtops in 1954.

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No matter when the sale occurred, Hubert took control. It wasn’t long after the patent filing that Mike Kelly, Hubert Kelly’s descendent, remembered seeing the hubs for the first time. He thought that was about 1958. I asked that he review the patent and Mike sent me the following notes:

“The Kelly Self Locking Hub I knew a was little different than the one pictured in the patent drawing. The housing was larger in diameter and had reliefs milled along the outside to allow clearance for the mounting bolts. The internal parts looked very similar to what I remember. I’m pretty sure the final Kelly product was a Beck design. I don’t recall anyone else working on it.

The hubs were manufactured in Charleston West Virginia. We already had an large machine shop there on Broad St. So moving production from Ohio to West Virgina was only logical. I know the assembling the hubs could be “interesting” if you weren’t watching what you were doing. Putting the internal workings together with the ball bearings being under spring pressure woke up more than one man who wasn’t paying attention.”
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1956 Patent for Endless Track Vehicle

• CATEGORIES: Documents, Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This patent application used a jeep to demonstrated how the endless track system would work on a vehicle not designed specifically for tracks. The patent was filed January 13, 1955.

According to inventor Fritz Riemerschmid, “Numerous constructions of the track! laying or crawler type have heretofore been proposed, but in all of these known cases special-type vehicles are involved, the construction of which either prohibits or renders extremely difficult the use of the vehicle under normal road and travel conditions.

Accordingly it is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide a crawler-type tracklaying undercarriage for automotive vehicles which, while being particularly suitable for travel over snow-covered terrain, can be quickly and easily substituted for the standard wheels of the vehicle. It is another object of the invention to provide a construction of the type indicated in which, except for the removal of the said standard wheels from the vehicle, requires no structural changes to be made in a given vehicle. Thus, the invention renders it possible, whenever it may be desired, to provide an automotive vehicle of any given type with a tracklaying mechanism which takes the place of the standard wheels on which the said vehicle normally travels.”

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The K And K Mower Patent

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In February of 1948 Allan Keyser filed a patent for a side mower. It appears this became the design for the K And K Manufacturing Company’s Mower as seen in the brochures at bottom. You can view other early mowing apparatuses here.

“This invention relates to a mower attachment for the presently popular small, four-wheel drive, automotive vehicles popularly known as jeeps, and has for its principal object the provision of means whereby a mower bar can be quickly and easily attached to, or detached from, the vehicle so that it will be easily visible and easily controlled by the driver of the vehicle.

Another object of the invention is to provide highly efficient means whereby the angle of attack of a mower bar may be adjusted to suit the desires of the user and the requirements of the particular crop being harvested.”

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Portable Derrick Crane Patent

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Henry F Illies filed a patent for a portable derrick crane that could fit over a jeep on September 26, 1947.

“This invention relates to a derrick crane adapted to be mounted on a small motor vehicle and while adapted generally for supporting, raising and lowering or conveying heavy objects is especially adapted to provide a support for an’– auger such as is employed for digging post holes and by means of which the auger may be adjusta- -bly supported with respect to the vehicle, lowered gradually as it advances into the ground,”


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1955 Barbed Wire Distribution Patent

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A patent for the distribution of barbed metal band from a short wheel base vehicle, preferably a jeep or jeep-like vehicle, was filed in 1955 by the Acme Steel Company.

“The purpose of the present invention is to provide novel apparatus by which barbed metal band may be formed in a continuous process and distributed as it is formed in the place and arrangement in which it is to be used. A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for distributing barbed metal band according to a prearranged plan and supporting it in the arrangement in which it is distributed. Another object is to provide portable apparatus having means for forming barbed metal band from a supply of fiat strip ma terial and for distributing the barbed band and arranging it during the travel of the apparatus. Other objects relate to various features of construction and arrangement which will appear more fully hereinafter.”

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The 1954 Power Tower Patent

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This April 12, 1954, Power Tower patent filing by Wallace Johnson and Robert Fisher was said to be designed for other vehicles besides the jeep, but given it’s length, it’s hard to imagine it would work on anything that wasn’t flat like the top of the jeep.

Here’s a description:  The present invention relates to a power tower for use by workmen employed as painters, electrical fixture repairrnen, aircraft maintenance men, window washers, and a multitude of similar occupations wherein it is necessary toperform a task at some distance above the ground and thus ordinarily require the use of ladders or scaffolding of some type. More particularly, the invention relates to a workmans platform supported by a collapsible tower structure which in turn is mounted on a wheeled vehicle.

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1949 Adjustable Scraper Blade Mount Patent

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Harvey Rust submitted this patent for an adjustable scraper blade mount on April 1, 1949.

“This invention relates to scraper blades of the bulldozer type such as used in leveling or pushing snow, dirt and the like, and in particular a blade mounting for removably attaching a blade to the front of a Jeep or the like wherein the elevation of the blade is readily adjustable and in which the blade is hinged and resiliently held to provide tilting movement when the lower edge of the blade engages a fixed obstruction.”

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1953 Patent for Gun Aiming Mechanism

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C.W. Musser filed a patent for a “Gun Aiming Mechanism with associate trigger release mechanism and supporting mount” on February 24, 1953. This illustration with the gun on a jeep accompanied the patent.

“Fig. 1 is a side view of my gun aiming mechanism and associated trigger release mechanism with supporting mount shown in heavy solid line. For purposes of illustration the aiming and trigger release mechanisms are applied to a typical, large caliber recoilless rifle and its attached spotting rifle (both shown in light solid line), and the supporting mount is secured to a representative motor vehicle which takes the form of the jeep (also shown in light solid line). For simplicity of drawing the customary sighting system for the guns has not been shown.”

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1950 Mechanical Bola Patent

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A patent for a Mechanical Bola was patented on September 23, 1952, by B.D. Manning with the purpose of helping a single person rope and manage cattle. The drawing reminds me of the early modified Texas hunting jeeps like this one.

1950-09-20-mechanical-bola

“A peculiar trait of such cattle is their curiosity with respect to motor vehicles. They soon become accustomed to jeeps, for example, and will come up to examine one, particularly if the motor is running. One can drive right up to a bunch of cattle in a jeep, without any of them taking the trouble to move, so long as the driverstays in the car.

With the device of my invention attached to aj eep or other auto vehicle, it is a simple matter to capture a single animal without waste of time, or if it becomes necessary to inspect or treat a large number of cattle for Screw-Worm or other disease, this may be done expeditiously, for if the rest runoff at the casting of one animal curiosity brings them back shortly if the driver moves his vehicle about a bit.”

 

 
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1959 Patent for a Portable Reeling Device

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The patent for this portable reeling device was filed on December 25, 1962. It isn’t just for a jeep, but a jeep-like vehicle is shown and referenced. I’ve never seen any evidence this was ever manufactured; anyone else?

 

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From the patent, “Now with more particular reference to the drawing, FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4 show an embodiment of the invention with a jeep as the means to drive a power driven communication wire reel 16. The communication wire is retrieved and wound onto the communication wire reel 16 by activating outwardly an adjustable speed disk 31 with a clutch lever 20. The power to perform this function is derived from a power take-off 38 from the engine.

Persons familiar with jeeps of the military variety know that such jeeps have a transmission which connects the motor to two shafts which are connected in parallel. One of the shafts drives the ground engaging wheels of the vehicle while the other shaft is connected to a power take-off. This power take-01f may be used to drive a hydraulic system or other attachment. In this case, the power take-off 38 is connected to the shaft 37 and thence to a universal joint 36 and, from there, to the clutch for driving the reel. A pressure spring 35 is held in place and away from a spinning friction power disk 33 by means of a bearing 34 which is fixed to the friction power disk 33. The constant pressure which is exerted on the bearing 34 forces the friction power disk 33 outwardly and against the adjustable speed disk 31. By moving the clutch lever 20 to the left, a pivot 40 in a clutch lever support plate 22 will force lever lugs 39 to the right.”

 
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Liftmobile Patent

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This Liftmobile patent was filed by Schultz Kurt-Gunnar on January 16, 1960. This seems to be the only patent related to the jeep that he filed. I can find no evidence that this

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According to the patent, “The present invention aims at providing an improved elevator-type motor truck or liftmobile, repowered, equipped and counterbalanced for faster transportation of the load under care, to more distant places, even off the road, where they may be urgently needed under adverse conditions, as after accidents, during strikes, rebellions, forest fires, etc.

More particularly, the present invention aims at adapting a motor vehicle or truck, for example, a commercially available vehicle such as a Jeep, by appropriate modification and reconstruction thereof to quickly pick up the load at a depot from the ground or from a lorrys platform, for instance, canned food and refreshments, packed in boxes, first-aid material, barbed wire spools, bundled on pallets, and various other auxiliary and protective articles, to expeditiously travel with the load at the usual convoy speed, about 25-30 m.p.h., even over rough ground and in roadless country, and to promptly deposit the load in dangerous places under fire from rebels, at dark, by dumping, i.e., without necessity of stopping the vehicle for purposes of unloading.”

 
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Auburn Machine Works Trencher Patent

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There are some great illustrations that accompanied this patent filed August 15, 1950, by Friedrich Schmidt on behalf of Auburn Machine Works.

According to the filing, “An object of this invention is to provide means for digging trenches particularly suitable for mounting on a conventional vehicle such as a truck or jeep without any substantial modification thereof and driven from the vehicle power take-01f. It is a related object to provide novel means coordinated with the digger portion of the device for enabling the vehicle to be advanced positively at a speed which is only a fraction of the normally obtainable minimum speed and with the engine operating at full rated R. P. M. I”

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1941 Willys-Overland Dual-Drive Patent

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Delmar Roos invented and Willys Overland patented this dual-driving-axle suspension on November 27, 1941.

According to the patent, “‘This invention relates to spring suspension for motor vehicles, and more particularly to vehicles of heavy duty or commercial type wherein the four rear wheels are mounted on tandem driving axles.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide means of mounting or connecting the axles to the chassis frame in such a manner so as to permit independentl vertical movement of the axles with respect to the frame without setting up undue strains in the connecting means, or materially restricting the vflexibility of the springs as the vehicle travels upon rough or uneven road surfaces or terrain.

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All-purpose-Farm Implement

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This “Frangible Frame All-Purpose-Farm Implement 2” was filed by Albert H. Stockmar on September 5, 1945.

According to the patent, “The principal object of the present invention is to provide a composite agricultural machine which is capable in a single operation of performing a plurality of related functions such as cutting sta ks. listing beds, leveling beds, planting seed and placing fertilizer.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a composite agricultural machine of the type described wherein the supporting frame is constructed substantially entirely of welded metal tubing which may be relatively inexpensively produced and which will require a minimum of maintenance attention in operation.”

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Power Take Off Mechanism and Drive Patent

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Inventor David Stone filed a patent for a Power Take-Off Mechanism and Drive Therefor, with Willys Motors as the assignee, on August 08, 1950.

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FC-170 Power Hoe Patent

• CATEGORIES: Artists/Drawings, Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I had this post all completed, then went to add some background information when I discovered that Craig had already added the first page of the patent to his post about the FC-170 Power Hoe. So, lots of heavy lifting in terms of content can be found here, while below you can view the whole patent. I think the illustrations are pretty neat.

Craigs FC-170 Power Hoe page: http://www.thefcconnection.com/Historical%20Literature/Custom%20Built%20Vehicles/The%20Lafian%20Powerhoe/FCaaca/FCaaca.pdf

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1945 Patent for a Jeep Bulldozer Attachment

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On October 11, 1945, George W. Mork patented the first bulldozer attachment for a jeep as part of his work with Caterpillar Global Mining company. I don’t recognize the design, so I don’t think this was ever produced commercially, but maybe Caterpillar used it??

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Jeep-A-Loader

• CATEGORIES: CJ-2A, CJ-3A, Features, Unusual • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: This is the original patent for the Jeep-a-Loader! The application was first filed on February 07, 1955, by the Minneapolis Freeman Mfg, Co. (Out of Minneapolis??). I am guessing that the Jeep-A-Loader Corporation was a subsidiary or offshoot from the above parent company. The drawing shows that the Jeep-A-Loader was designed to fit over a CJ-3B (perhaps a CJ-5 as well), though the only one I’ve seen documented is fitted on a CJ-3A.

The filing date likely means this was manufactured around 1955, plus or minus a year. The patent was granted February 11, 1958.

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This photo is from 2009:

From June 2008:  A reader named Ed sent me some pics of a rare find he just purchased:  A front end loader for a jeep from a manufacturer called Jeep-a-Loader.   The serial number is 1001. The hydraulics system is powered by a Hy-lo hydraulic pump, which has been used to power other Willys devices.  You can see an example of a Hy-lo pump here and here.  Here are some pics below.

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Stratton Hydro-Implement Lift Information

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Nate’s hoping to gather some Stratton-related information. So, I’ll be using this post to gather that info. If anyone has any more insights into this lift, email me at d@ewillys.com or post it directly to Nate’s thread on the earlyCJ-5.com page.  Also, Clint Dixon and Barry Thomas have authored a five-part series of articles for the Dispatcher Magazine titled “The Making of the Farm Jeep”. The Fall of 2018 issue includes information on the Stratton Lift. 

As early as 1949 Stratton Equipment out of Cleveland, Ohio, was marketing hydraulic products. One example was their truck lift, a hydraulic lift used for placing cargo onto truck beds. The lift is pictured at the top of page 146 in the October 1949 issue of Popular Mechanics. This was just one of multiple patents filed over the period of three decades (1940s-1970s) by Alfred F. Foote, product designs both jeep-related and non-jeep-related.

1) On July 27, 1960, Alfred F. Foote filed a patent for the Stratton Lift with the Stratton Equipment Company as the assignee. Due to the lack of information related to Stratton lifts, it was unclear to most when this product hit the market. Given the patent date, the lift likely entered the market in late 1960 or later.

As part of his patent, Foote references both the Monroe and the Love designs. The patent for the lift was granted on Feb. 26, 1963.

1960-07-27-stratton-pattent-US3078930A-lift-implement1 1960-07-27-stratton-pattent-US3078930A-lift-implement2 1960-07-27-stratton-pattent-US3078930A-lift-implement3

2) This Stratton brochure is currently on eBay (Nate has better scans of this brochure):

1960s-brochure-stratton-lift1 1960s-brochure-stratton-lift2 1960s-brochure-stratton-lift3

3) These are two mailers that I think someone sent me .. was it you Barry?  Continue reading

 
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Dual Wheel Adapters

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: See more information on the Rapport, Flox Foy, and Welliver adapters here.

I’ve spent the past couple days working through the selective hub relationships between Free-Lock (Denver, CO), Dualmatic (Longmont, CO), Husky (Longmont, CO), White Manufacturing (Colorado Springs, CO), and Cutlas Tools & MFG (Vinton, IA). During that process, I ran across more information about dual wheel adapters for the jeep. I thought it might be worth listing the one’s that have been documented. Perhaps someone has more information??

1. Max Rappaport’s hubs: A patent on these hubs was filed in 1947 (awarded in 1953), making them the earliest known hubs. Max Rapportaport was the President of Northwestern Auto Parts Company (aka NAPCO).


Here is an example of them:

This December 1947 NAPCO ad promoted the hubs:

1947-12-popular-science-dual-wheels-dually

This July 1948 Popular Mechanics ad might be advertising the same dual wheels, but rebranded as “Du All” Converters. The design looks very similar to the Rapport models:

1948-07-popular-mechanics-du-all-dual-wheel-adapters-ad

 

2. Welliver Jeep Dual Adapters No. 3000: These adapters were available by 1949 and sold by the Welliver Machine Shop. This April 1949 ad from Popular Mechanics provides a documented date.

Thanks to Stefano Oddo, we have this brochure regarding these adapters:

jeep-dual-adaptors-no-3000-welliver

3. Hickey Dual Adapters: Vic Hickey developed his higher compression head, giving jeeps a power upgrade option. Then, he designed a set of dual wheel adapters. The first documentation I could find on his adapters was this July 1952 article in Popular Science about his hubs.

1952-07-popular-science-hickey-dual-dually-adaptersThe next month, this ad appeared in the August 1952 issue of Popular Science:

1952-08-popular-science-hickey-dual-dually-adapters

This Photobucket page has some good close up photos of the Hickey adapters. Continue reading