Hay wagons; let's see them!

[DMF]

Hello again DMF. Looking forward to the running gear with a bed on it. Help me out here, I can't see any steering linkage in the last picture. Is it my old eyes or are they hidden?

It's not your eyes, they are just hidden behind the front axle beam. See this view from before it was shortened.

 

[DMF]

I did a wagon last year that is more yard art than anything. Used milled telephone poles for bed.

Very nice; I like the spoked wheels!

 

[DMF]

We pull ours behind the baler. No sense in lifting them off the ground when working on flat gournd. We call them rack wagons around here. We fill two wagons then unload them in the shed or on to my fifth wheel to haul to another farm. These are home made. One with rough cut oak on the floor and the other with ply wood. The plywood floor is very slick.

Dan

That's pretty cool... A lot of the places my partner and I hay is not very flat; my farm is quite steep so I'm not so sure how well that would work for us...

I'm the "young" guy at 44 and my partner is 76 so I'm usually the one to throw the bales although he often has his wife drive the tractor and him and I both pick bales until we are a couple of rows high then he climbs up on the wagon to stack and I toss...

 

[jayste]

It's not your eyes, they are just hidden behind the front axle beam. See this view from before it was shortened.

Ok. I see it now. It's just the opposite of the one we have. Ours is in the front of the crossmember/axle. I'm looking forward to see your finished product. I've been looking for one of these for myself to modify. I'd like to retrofit one to either use with a vehicle or change tongues and add a double tree and have the mules pull it.

 

[Conservation]

Finding labor for that isn't a new problem. 15 years ago or better, a friend of mine and myself were the only ones that a local farmer could find for bailing. When we got real jobs, he used to beg us to come out after work. Between having a family, suffering with alergies, and bailing during the hottest part of the day, and hustling because you only had a few hours of bailing time, he went to round bails. I really enjoyed it as long as the wind wasn't in your face from the machine, and I didn't have to spend a lot of time in the loft. I really didn't like that. My buddy and I were pretty good sized and in good shape. We could stack a mean, high load in the day. That farmer loved us. I may have to beg him for work this summer!

 

[jayste]

DMF, Don't mean to come across as "pirating" your thread but just have to concur with DanD78 here. Yes, I'm afraid even some of the 4H and FFA kids have even given in to the "New Millinium" way of thinking. Can't find too many of them that want to do very much physical labor. I guess they have grown up in a more mechinized and computerized world. I guess I am sitting here typing on this gadget along with my cell phone "holstered in a tied down rig on my hip" Hahaha! I've even got kids who got caught in the "Nintendo Trap" and I guess I assisted in setting it but would love to go back and "take out" the first game system with a good 4lb. shop hammer! OK! "nuff said" Now back to those good ol' runnin' gears and hay wagons!

Jay

 

[oldhippy]

jayste
sorry out of town a while. Don't know much about the trailer. There were no letters of numbers on it anywhere. A buddy of mine found it and just knew that I needed it.

DMF
The spokes were why I got it. I don't know what size the rims were when it was new. Someone had welded 16" rims on the spokes. big dan

 

[jayste]

jayste
sorry out of town a while. Don't know much about the trailer. There were no letters of numbers on it anywhere. A buddy of mine found it and just knew that I needed it.

DMF
The spokes were why I got it. I don't know what size the rims were when it was new. Someone had welded 16" rims on the spokes. big dan

Big Dan,

It's funny you mentioned what you did about your rims. The ones on my dad's wagon are the same way. It appears that a previous owner welded newer rims on these spokes as well. You can't really see them in the pictures I attached in the previous post but they are exactly like yours but yellow. When dad painted it he wanted to give it a John Deere look.

 

[oldhippy]

Jay we have allis chalmers so thats why they are orange. big dan

 

[DMF]

I haven't forgotten this...I've been working on it quite a bit; hopefully I'll get some photos this weekend.

 

[tanglefoot]

Hi,
This is a very interesting post. A few years ago I wanted to build a trailer to haul round bales. So I bought this running gear off of Craigslist. After I bought it, I realized I don't need to haul round bales because I produce all the hay I need. I don't have to move them very far. So I've had this running gear sitting in the way for several years. Anybody need it?
Butch

 

[jayste]

Hi,
This is a very interesting post. A few years ago I wanted to build a trailer to haul round bales. So I bought this running gear off of Craigslist. After I bought it, I realized I don't need to haul round bales because I produce all the hay I need. I don't have to move them very far. So I've had this running gear sitting in the way for several years. Anybody need it?
Butch

Butch,

Where are you located? I'll take it if you're anywhere around here!

 

[tanglefoot]

My email is mckaymed.yahoo.com. I'm 50 miles northeast of Dallas, and I'm not talking about giving it away.
Butch

 

[klm]

I was practicably raised in a hayfield. I have bucked a lot of square bales and just as many of the little Allis Chalmers round bales. Seen about every kind of hay wagon made and we went to using the 16' to 24' flat tandem trailers. Several reasons, not as high off the ground being the biggest reason, also much easier to back. Didn't work for attaching behind a baler but we didn't do that much. The big round bales finally came to the rescue.

 

[KeithF]

Hi, great thread! I just bought this old wagon that has been sitting a while... steering is rusted and does not turn. Thankfully I could back my trailer right up to it to winch it on.

Am planning on taking off the steel bed, and returning it to a wood bed.

Seller said it might be a John Deere from the 50's. Any-one know how to tell for sure? There is a tag on the rear axle, but it's blank... If it's a Deere I'll paint the frame green, and the wheels yellow.

Also, any-one still sell parts for these? Would like to replace the bearings and seals on each wheel, and the steering bolt on each front wheel as they are badly rusted and worn. JDParts drew a blank when searching for wagon...

Thanks! Keith

 

[southrnr17]

I bought an old running gear at auction this spring for $75 and after sandblasting and painting it I finally got a deck on in time for fall hay rides and corn picking. I think it's an old homemade running gear - not the greatest but hopefully will serve my purposes. I had a really hard time finding a cheap running gear. Granted with all I've spent to date I probably could have bought a used hay wagon with a name brand running gear, but I've got the specs I wanted and to me there's something to be said for building it yourself based on your own vision.

 

[DMF]

Sorry it's been a while but I do have some more pictures. I built it all and then pulled it apart for painting (I know....WAY overkill)

First one shows the disassembly of the deck; all oak framing. These were all eventually coated on all sides and ends with outdoor deck stain tinted Massey Ferguson gray to match the wheels.

Second shows the framework I built being primed.

Third is the frame stripped and painted Massey Ferguson Red.

Fourth shows the framework painted Massey red as well.

The wagon is complete and assembled (has been for a while) but I haven't taken any pictures of it. I'll try to get some soon and post them up.

 

[jayste]

Hi, great thread! I just bought this old wagon that has been sitting a while... steering is rusted and does not turn. Thankfully I could back my trailer right up to it to winch it on.

Am planning on taking off the steel bed, and returning it to a wood bed.

Seller said it might be a John Deere from the 50's. Any-one know how to tell for sure? There is a tag on the rear axle, but it's blank... If it's a Deere I'll paint the frame green, and the wheels yellow.

Also, any-one still sell parts for these? Would like to replace the bearings and seals on each wheel, and the steering bolt on each front wheel as they are badly rusted and worn. JDParts drew a blank when searching for wagon...

Thanks! Keith

Keith, reference post #8 in this thread. We don't own this wagon anymore but was an experience working on it. Like you, we didn't know much about ours but figured ours to be a late '30 or '40's model. We based this on the type of wheels it had mainly. Older JD tractors had similar wheels on them as well. Anyway, we did the same thing with the paint job. Ours was converted to a covered wagon and we put brakes on ours. When we got it, it had a hand brake on it. As far as bearings we never replaced ours we just pulled and packed them. Most of these old wagons don't see too many long or high speed trips. Good luck with yours.

Jay

 

[DMF]

Hi Keith - Nice looking wagon you found! I love the spoked wheels. For parts like bearings and seals you may just find something at NAPA or other autoparts stores. As Jayste mentioned, these wagons don't see much high speed so cleaning and repacking may be all you need; that's what I did with my running gear. I did need a new seal however and Autozone had one; it was a standard size. For a steering bolt you may have to find a good grade 8 bolt and modify it to suit your needs or something.

Good luck and post up pictures of your work please!

 

[firefighter9208]

I bought an old running gear at auction this spring for $75 and after sandblasting and painting it I finally got a deck on in time for fall hay rides and corn picking. I think it's an old homemade running gear - not the greatest but hopefully will serve my purposes. I had a really hard time finding a cheap running gear. Granted with all I've spent to date I probably could have bought a used hay wagon with a name brand running gear, but I've got the specs I wanted and to me there's something to be said for building it yourself based on your own vision.

What size is your wagon??? How high are the sideboards??? What did you use for your runners on the frame??? Did you use 4x4's for the "floor joists" What size wood did you use on the floor??? Is it pressure treated??? I was worrried about loose corn falling through when the pressure treated shrinks.

Do you have any pictures of the construction process???

BTW: I like it.

I'm going one day this week to look at some running gears. One guy has two that he wants $100.00 each for. I want one to pull behind my corn picker, It's a New Idea 323. Looks a lot like yours.

Another guy has a wagon with a floor and sides he wants $250.00 for. Not sure what it looks like though. It does have Electric running gear.

Sorry for so many questions.