Building a small wood wagon for the garden tractor

[Jags]

Looking good. And the weld next to the locking mechanism is pretty sharp. ;-)

 

[OhioBurner©]

Could always weld it.

Well thought about it, but wanted to test em out in the field to make sure they work before its truly permanent. I wasnt sure about welding through the zinc plating, and If I need another bolt or two I could also just drill a hole or two a little further in. For one thing the latches ended up a little lower than I wanted, the pin barely comes up through the plate, I want to make sure under weight there isnt enough flex that it might pull through before I do anything else.

Looking good. And the weld next to the locking mechanism is pretty sharp. ;-)

Thanks, I wish they were all that good!


Ok well this should [finally] finish up the construction portion of the wagon...

Thats all the decking I bought, and I should have barely enough pt plywood for the rest. I didnt plant on doing the gate out of 5/4 decking but I had just perfectly the right amount of cut off ends left over the right size, and I figured the tailgate could take some weight since it might be used as a ramp to roll up the big rounds. Axle is just mocked up, not attached yet...

Here are some brackets I made to mount the axle to the frame.

And thats how the axle goes into the brackets and bolts to the frame. It can slide anywhere from center to all the way back, just need another pair of holes to bolt it. Going to see how it does where it is first, I didnt go all the way back but further back than most since I think the extra tongue weight will aid in traction on the 2wd tractor. If its too much tongue weight loaded, I'll move it up.


And now for the mostly finished product:

I ran out of some bolts, but other than that the only thing that remains is to clean it up and paint it.

I couldnt find a load rating on those tires, but they do say only 2 ply. Same tires thats on one of my cubs thats hauled quite a lot of weight around, so hopefully good enough for now. But they are old tires so probably replace them at some point. They are wider than most small wagon tires, so should be good in mud and snow I hope. It does make the total width really wide though.

Thanks everyone for the help and support. I'll get to test it out soon, either this Sunday or next weekend. I'm pretty excited I think it turned out well, even though it took a lot more man hours out in the cold than I thought it would (and I think its why I got sick a few days ago), I'm glad its finally done.

 

[chvymn99]

That turned out great. I liked how you ended up doing the axles and tail gate.

 

[Jags]

Heck yeah, that thing should work like a champ. I like the axle brackets too. Nice build.

 

[lukem]

I like it. How do I place my order?

 

[firefighterjake]

Fantastic looking wagon . . . should work very well in the woods.

 

[Flavo]

I like it. How do I place my order?

Wanted to say the same thing. I may need to do something similar in the near future. Great job!

 

[OhioBurner©]

Thanks for the comments fellas!

Plan is to be up to the farm this weekend and start on my wood for next winter. We'll see how it does. Got to get it finished painted first though.

Also just got my clutch back from midwest super cub. Got to get that installed in my tractor... else I'll be using my other tractor with turfs n chains since I really dont want to take off weights and 2 sets of tires just for one trip. I think the ag style mudder atv tires work much better in the woods. I put the low range splitter in it too since I had it apart for the clutch. Can't wait to test out the new toys together!

 

[OhioBurner©]

I was rushed and got it mostly painted before we went to the farm but its not finished, I'll have to take it apart and do a bit more to it later. I didnt even have time to put it back together before we left so I took it all up in pieces and assembled on site:

I didnt realize just how close the width came to my 6x10. It fits, but straight in only a couple inches on each side.

And finally, loaded with wood!

I had planned to finally get the clutch in my other cub, but ran out of time. And I didnt want to go through the hassle of swapping the tires just for this trip so I took one of my old 129's which just has turfs and chains. The extra tongue weight surely helped, but I had a few issues at a few spots until I figured out how to get through it. The loose leaves and humus sure made the tires struggle pulling all that weight but other than one spot it performed beautifully. And for the first time ever I had to bump the throttle up to near full. Out in the open field were its steep on the return, that load really did work the tractor pretty hard. I wouldnt want to go any bigger on that grade. If I stalled the tractor out and it started to roll, its a long way down. That reminds me I need to get the brakes working a little better...

 

[ScotO]

You did a great job on your trailer, Ohio!! I like the heavy duty factor, the way you cradled and gusseted the axle tube, that's a really good design! Spark and Zap mentioned your welds, just a little more heat and you have it down pat. But your welds should hold up fine, they don't look bad at all for 6011 and 6013 stick! My only serious question to the whole project is WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO BUILD MINE???

 

[Gasifier]

Nice work Ohioburner! Very cool. Some day I want to take a welding class. I need to learn how to do that.

 

[MasterMech]

Spark and Zap mentioned your welds, just a little more heat and you have it down pat.

IIRC, His welder ain't got any more heat! :D

 

[OhioBurner©]

Thanks Scotty and Gasifier!

Master Mech yeah in hindsight I probably should have got a bigger welder. If I ever do anything of this scale again or bigger I will. It doesnt even have a fan. I triped the thermal protection on the welder the first day, and then again the second day, until I went in the house and stole a small fan to place beside it. Heck even at 70A the duty cycle was only 10% and I had it cranked to 100A the whole time. Due to the last minute nature of the project I decided to use what I had. I would have had to also install a 220V outlet for bigger welder, so some more work and time there too.

I went back into the woods sunday, and the problem spot became worse (I think it may have rained a little). After getting stuck bad and having to empty the wagon completely I found a different route that worked better. Later on I was working in my MIL's backyard on a downed cherry and its relatively flat and I was able to heap that cart up over the top without issue. I really need a bigger road trailer though. I had some issues fitting both the garden tractor and the wagon on the 6x10. But that shouldnt be an issue once its complete and I leave it there.

 

[Flatbedford]

The cart and the Cub is looking great!

 

[Jags]

I love it when a plan comes together. Nice job.