Another Hay Wagon Rebuild

joewilshire · Aug 30, 2012

I talked with a carpenter...he said to put the boards with the cup down...like a frown.

joewilshire · Sep 12, 2012

Home from vacation on Sunday and started more work on the wagon. Got the deck completed.

joewilshire · Sep 12, 2012

Put on side boards...used original boards and hinges. Won't be able to use original front and rear boards because the rebuild is wider. Will use 5/4 x 6 treated wood for front and back. The back is on hinges and the front has stake pockets.

MIKE R · Sep 12, 2012

Looks good.

wmonroe · Sep 17, 2012

Nice job. My dad has an old hay wagon and this is making me want to tear it down and rebuild it.

joewilshire · Sep 26, 2012

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I took off the wheels and had the tires de-mounted. One was so bad that it took three guys and three pry bars and a can of spray lubricant to get it off the rim. Needless to say, the inside of the rims had lots of flaking rust and I wire wheeled them alot. One rim had rusted through pretty bad around the valve stem hole. I asked a neighbor if he could fill it in with some metal pieces and braze it. He wanted to charge $60.00 per hour and it would take about 1.5 hours. Ouch.
So instead of going that route, I got some J.B. Weld and did it myself. Turned out better than I expected. Saved money that could otherwise be spent on paint and grease for the axles and rims.
Inside one of the rims there was some paint that said "40 CHEV". I suppose the rims could have come from an old chevy because there were extra spoke holes around the rim. Smaller holes than the metal spokes that are currently used. I think that someone used old wagon wheels and different rims and welded them together... However, inside of one of the rims I noticed a stamping in the metal that said "Made in U.S.A. by Motor Wheel Co." There is also a stamping that has numbers "16, 100 or 400, and 576." I guess the 16 could mean the rim size as there were 16" tires on it. I will post pics later when I get them transfered to my computer.
I used an old tractor inner tube and cut strips to put around the inside of the rims to help keep moisture from weeping through the extra spoke holes. I am going to paint the rims white and the caps red. I am also going to paint the rest of the wagon red for a Farmall...IH theme. I will pull the wagon with my '51Farmall Super C which I am continuing to fix up. It is mechanically sound, just needs lots of wire brushing and painting.

joewilshire · Sep 26, 2012

Sorry...this pic is upside down.

MIKE R · Sep 26, 2012

joewilshire said:
View attachment 282209

View attachment 282210
Sorry...this pic is upside down.

I see you found the manufacture info on the inside of the rim. Most all rims made back when things were a quality product had the info stamped into them. On my Case Sc the rims are stamped December 1944. Once you paint the inside of the rims you will never have to worry about them rotting for another 70 years or so. Good luck.

joewilshire · Oct 3, 2012

Got the rims back with the used tires back today and packed the bearings and put on new felt seals. I think it is all starting to come together now. Need to let the wood dry for a while before I paint with an oil base. Here are some more pics.

joewilshire · Oct 3, 2012

From my previous post...the last picture shows the old seal. It was also felt with a thin layer of rubber. I think the new one will be ok without any rubber as long as I keep them greased well.

In another picture you can see the "castle nut". It's not really a nut, it does not have threads just different depths of slots where a pin goes.

I have a picture of a wheel with the cap installed on the trailer. I will post it as soon as my e-mail goes through to my computer.

MIKE R · Oct 3, 2012

Keep the updates comin. Can't wait to see the finished product.

joewilshire · Oct 3, 2012

Ok. Here is the picture of the tire/wheel/cap.

Well...that will be all for a while. Thanks for all the great comments. Hoping to get more...LOL.
Let me know what you all think.

Thanks.

Joe

P.S. I don't know why...but this picture is sideways.

MIKE R · Oct 3, 2012

That looks great. You should put some Meguires tire wax and shine on the rubber. It will make them look like new. Nice shiny black tires like on a car when it comes off the showroom.

joewilshire · Oct 7, 2012

I have some pictures of the wagon with the unpainted box. Blotches of paint that you can see on the sides is from spray painting the inside of the hardware before it got installed.

sixdogs · Oct 7, 2012

Wow, that really looks neat. Good job.

wmonroe · Oct 7, 2012

Great job!

joewilshire · Oct 7, 2012

Thanks for the comments. I have a question. Because this is a fifth wheel type steering, when I stand in one of the front corners of the wagon, it "squats" to one side pretty much. I know that I can evenly load the wagon to help compensate but just wondering if anyone has suggestions.
I was thinking about attaching a piece of metal or hardwood in the space shown on both sides steering on this picture and keeping it well greased.
What are your thoughts?

Also, would it be adviseable to add "safety chains" when I pull the wagon?

Thanks again.

crazyangel · Oct 7, 2012

Nice workmanship :thumbsup:

wmonroe · Oct 7, 2012

I would not add blocks to that area, I think you will want the flexibility when going over uneven terrain.

joewilshire · Oct 10, 2012

The paint can said "Barn Red". It looks more orange so now I have to get a paint chip from the color of the gear and have some mixed up. I will still paint at least the inside of the side rails with the orangish barn color and re-cover with the mixed. Here are a couple pictures.