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Success with the new wagon and old loader.

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Here’s the finished product. The short side uprights will likely not stay. They were there to help move square bales.

We are going to load the first loose hay on it today. Maiden voyage.

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I’ve started building. Will finish the deck today and probably the uprights. It’s a big wagon but I can still move it around easily on flat ground.

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I’m once again just going to read and learn from you all. Trying to figure out the timing of haymaking and learn the species involved. I made some after cutting back pasture on Memorial day, just to see if the equipment would work. I think I had beginners’ luck- it’s good hay. made for long days, teaching and haying after 3pm.

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I am at the point where I would like to take on a small forestry job for someone else. I feel confident in my ability to do the work, and desire to learn more about the logistics of doing the work commercially.
If anybody has a 3-8 job for a sawyer and team, I’d be interested.

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I have transitioned from bush hog to sickle bar for the same reasons Ed mentioned. I now only mow with the brush hog if I get behind in the season and have to rush.

On Sat I had the good fortune to run a John Deere #3 mower and a McCormick Deering #7 one right after the other. That was pretty cool. This was the first year that I didn’t accidentally clip a fiberglass fence post too…

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Thanks Michael,
Your info matches very well what I received from David Fisher via email. I am sharing his response here so it is available to other people too. I’m going to start my build soon, and will post pictures as it goes.

From David Fisher:

“When we got in to loose hay I copied the wagons of Donn Hewes’ Amish neighbors (and their barns to go with them).

Our wagons are 76” wide X 14’ long. The Amish were a full 7’ wide. We were reusing old cross members that were 76” so that’s where we stopped.

The deck stands about 38” off the ground. This is kind of high to hop on and off of, but we wanted the extra height to be able to get produce across the river here even in somewhat high water. Certainly could go lower.

In case I didn’t mention, our wagons are dual purpose – farm / produce wagon one day, hay wagon the next. So for general use, front standards are 33” high off the wagon deck. For hay, we swap it out for the hay standard which is 78” tall. Could go taller still, I suppose, but that’s plenty for us. Note – these numbers are to the top of the boards. The vertical posts extend maybe 6” higher which I like for tying up the lines. Just leave wide enough gaps between boards on the hay standard so that you can pass the lines through for driving as the load builds up – as you see in the photo you sent. No doubt, there are times when the boards are right in front of your face. I have fantasized about plexiglass instead of wood.

The rear standard is 37” high off the deck. Don’t go much higher or it will bind with your loader on tight turns.

All of our standards, as well as sides are easily removable. They just drop into metal stake pockets. The front and rear standard pockets we made custom. Needless to say, make them beefy and attach them strong, as there can be a lot of force on them, and leverage with the big standard especially. As you can see from the photo, we use 2 x 6 in the strong direction, tapered towards the top to save some weight, but heaven forbid your standard should pull off the front of the wagon and land on your team – yikes!

One important detail is that the rear edge of the hitch (for us this is essentially a beefy ring welded on to the end of a piece of flat stock, all in one plane, parallel to the ground, for the loader to latch onto) should be about 7” rear of the rear end of the wagon deck. Closer and again, your loader will bind on the wagon. Much further and your hay will come off the loader and drop down behind the wagon rather than on the wagon, only to be picked up by the loader again and again in a never ending cycle.

As for the deck, I gap the boards so as to let any moisture dry more easily. However, the gaps to collect hay chaff, etc. and we usually have a late hay crop growing out of the gaps by the end of the year right on the wagon – talk about labor saving! If I had a roof to store my wagon under, I might consider a tight deck. Oh, and we have our main beams, then 4 x 4’s cross wise, then the 2” decking on top, running lengthwise. I like this because it makes sliding hay / hayforks rear to front much easier.”

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Thanks Tom, Killian and Moose are doing well. Semi-retirement I call it, as they only get out once or twice a week, sometimes only every two weeks. They stay sharp though and are really great after 203 days of straight work. Killian still wants to pull more.
I meant to ask, have they plowed a lot before? They stepped right to it. Thanks again!

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It might be fun to get a group together with the equipment to make 2-3 carts in a well stocked shop. We’d be able to compare different tractors used and methods of fabrication. I am going to have to make one of these or buy an I&J cart in the next year or so too.

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I just had this conversation with Donn Hewes last Sat. Biggest advantage of the McD mowers is the availability of parts. JDs, being rarer, are harder to find parts for. Also, the bar on the JD is bolted to the shoe with 2 bolts in line. The McD has 3 bolts. Maybe better. I mowed fine for two years with the #3 and like it a lot. I am going to try a McD #7 next.

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That is the problem. I don’t really know vintage tractors either. First I would try and be as specific as you can about what you hope to use it with. I have said for a long time the secret to a Ground drive PTO cart is matching the weight of the cart with the desire task. Too light and it will skid (not work when you want it) and too heavy and you need extra horses.

I also think there are a lot of tractor makes and models to chose from and many have not been made into a PTO cart yet. Here is my guess on how to go about choosing. I think you are looking for a tractor from the late 40’s or 50’s. In this era most of the PTO and tranny set up would have been simple enough. The next thing to look at is the overall size and weight of the tractor. This will determine the final size and weight of the cart.

The Case B PTO cart that have works great, I have used it for about three years now. I use it with three horses and it is probably 500 pounds heavier than it needs to be to run my tedder. Here is a utube video.

[LongViewFarm]

Tom, maybe we can find two such tractors and tackle the PTO cart challenge at the same time.

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I’ll bring the horses too and rake for you Ed…

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Last try

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Trying picture again

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