Lets see some wagons!

KA656 · Old Timer

RE: Lets see some wagons!

Super A · Wasn't Born Yesterday

I need to look around to see if I can find a pic of one of the "wagons" the old timers used to pull around here, mostly behind 100/101 Deere one row picker/snappers.

It was a home-made box, about the size of a pickup truck bed, usually with flare sides, all wood. The axle usually came from an old car. The old one my grandfather had had removable head and tail boards, the metal hardware holding them in place were old strap hinges with the pins drilled out, and replaced with carriage bolts....

Simple, but effective. Wouldn't take a 2 row picker long to fill one though!

Al

iowafarmerzwife · New Guy

This is our antique corn wagon. We were told it was for hand-picking ears. The one side is higher so when the picker chucked it at the wagon, it would hit the taller side and fall in. An old-timer we spoke with said that the guys would get to where they never even had to look where they were chucking the corn. It has bent wood on the under gear. The back door swings down. We plan to just protect the wood and leave it rustic-looking. It looks nice next to our wood grain bin. bin and wagon 170.JPG bin and wagon 171.JPG bin and wagon 172.JPG bin and wagon 169.JPG

fergie40 · Old Timer

Bought a David Bradley barge box on McCormick running gear today. Any idea what year the box might be? The running gear has a double reach beams. My grandpa has one just like it. He said it was bought new in 1953. Is the box probably the same age?

KA656 · Old Timer

Great looking wagon!! My dad would call that a triple box wagon. This is probably the oldest wagon posted on here!! I am glad you are going to preserve it!! That wooden corn crib is AWESOME!!

iowafarmerzwife · New Guy

Thank you! It's amazing how many people comment on it around here. The funny thing is, the crib was literally just south of here on the same road for the last 40 years and no one ever saw it. Of course, it was falling over, so it looks better now. The inside of each board has a horizontal groove the entire length of it. It's cut at an angle. We're not sure what they're for, but speculate that it may have to do with air flow or expansion/ contraction of the wood. When we cut the replacement boards we made sure to also cut in the grooves.

I loved the old wagon when I saw it. I knew it was going home with us to sit next to the crib. Thankfully, I only had to pay $150 for it! Thank you for the extra info on it. Now, any ideas on where to get info on the crib? biggrin

Art From De Leon · Old Timer

The slots being cut at an angle were so that you could remove them either to scoop out of the opening, and to enter the crib.

KA656 · Old Timer

Well, wonders never cease!! I was just minding my own business the other day when my phone rings. A nice lady on the other end tells me she has a Minnesota barge box #1262 and would I be interested in it. I asked her about the wagon and if she could share some pictures. She had put it on craigslist already so I had to do some fast work. Needless to say the pictures were all I needed to close the deal with her. So this weekend the long awaited MN #1262 finally made it to my collection. I do not have a clue as to what the gear is. Patience is a virtue as I started this search 6 years ago. Thank you Kim from Cokato for finding me!! Now I suppose I have to tell my wife....

Also, I did pull out my other MN barge wagons and shot a couple of photos. From left to right, MN 1062, 1262, 1462, 1462 and a MN 130 flare wagon.

jdtom · Old Timer

Nice lineup - I have never seen that many Minnesota wagons in one place before!

632mh · New Guy

Superpicker · Wasn't Born Yesterday

Picked up this New Idea flare with Midwest hoist and Westendorf gear.

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KA656 · Old Timer

I really was not looking...I really wasn't. But something things just happen. That is what just happened. For some reason, I was looking on Craigslist and just happened to search for barge wagons and guess what just popped up minutes before my search??? Yep, another Minnesota 1262 barge wagon and it was just in my area. I had seen this wagon before and actually visited it and the gentleman who owned it. At that time we could not make a deal. This time we did. Bruce put new 4x4 cross members, floor boards on this wagon and a set of nice snow tires. Next summer, sanding, priming, painting, and stenciling will be on the list of things to do.

KA656 · Old Timer

I bought this Minnesota 1262 barge wagon a couple of years ago and now have finally have it restored/refinished. I had sanded down the wood and varnished it after painting on the stencil work. The metal was primed and painted. Then I went ahead and clean, sanded, primed, painted and put new decals on the running gear.

jdtom · Old Timer

Hey that turned out really nice! Looks like you were able to get the stencils really close to original. Looks like a Lundell All-Star hoist under there?

KA656 · Old Timer

Tom, I have spent some time working on those stencils. Lots of chalk rubbings, photocopies, and the measuring and redrawing them. Then I took pictures and measurements of the original decals for the MN 6 ton gear to a local sign shop and they made the decals for the gear. Yes that is a All Star hoist under there!! Hope all is well with you and harvest!! Any corn picking for you?

jdtom · Old Timer

Didn't pick any ear corn this year. Late harvest & low yields from the wet weather & late planting. Plus I had a couple of hybrids that had bad greensnap so that pulled the yields down even more. But it's all done now - hopefully next year will be better.

KA656 · Old Timer

Okay, it has been a while since I posted wagon photos, but that doesn't mean I stopped finding one or two along the way. The 6x12 Heider I bought from a buddy of mine, Josh, and refinished it. Lots of sanding and I used boiled linseed oil on the wood. Just waiting for my Heider logo stencil to come to finish the one panel. The MN 1262 is one of two I have found in the past couple of years that made it's way to my place. This one in the picture I am going to repaint/restencil it and the other new-to-me, I plan to paint it Oliver green with white stencils. In my research I had a guy tell me that they had 3-4 MN green barge boxes when they were farming back in the day. He did remember that they were not JD green but more Oliver green. The last picture is of many of my barge wagons after corn picking last year put away in my new shed.

Art From DeLeon · Wasn't Born Yesterday

I love barge wagons! And NOT the long, low-sided, WIDE ones either.

The first picture wouldn't, by chance, have a Westendorf gear under it, would it? The way the tongue is attached makes me think it is.

KA656 · Old Timer

Art, yes it is a Westendorf gear, a first for me. Hopefully, I can clean up and repaint that gear soon!!

Art From DeLeon · Wasn't Born Yesterday

KA656 wrote:
Art, yes it is a Westendorf gear, a first for me. Hopefully, I can clean up and repaint that gear soon!!

10-15 years ago, I bought decals at the factory in Onawa, IA, for mine, BUT, and I may be wrong, they did not say Onawa, IA, under the word Westendorf, and they certainly would not have any that are labeled "Smithland, IA" on them.