School Bus Converted To Grain Hauler

School Bus Converted To Grain Hauler GRAIN HANDLING Wagons (63E) 19-4-7 "It works as well as any conventional grain truck and it's a lot cheaper," says Nebraska farmer Wayne Jones, of Allen, who built a 375-bu. grain hauler from an old school bus and a new gravity box. The rig cost him just $2,300 - $800 for the bus and $1,500 for the box. Jones started with a 1980 60-passenger International equipped with a 9.0-liter, 551 cu. in., V-8 diesel engine and 4-speed Allison automatic transmission. He stripped the bus to the frame, leaving one seat behind the driver's seat and using 3/ 4-in. plywood to close off the front end. He replaced the rear axle with a 2-speed axle equipped with disc brakes and a 5:1 ratio rear end. Then he cut off the back of the frame behind the axle and bolted the gravity box onto the remaining frame. Jones uses the converted bus to haul grain about 10 miles to the elevator. "It travels much faster than a tractor and gets around better in muddy ground than a tractor pulling a grain cart thanks to the 2-speed rear end. By mounting chains on the tires I can go almost anywhere. The load is almost perfectly balanced, with 20,000 lbs. on the rear axle and 13,000 lbs. on the front axle. I put a tarp on the box so that I can park it in the field overnight. "I operated the bus from the time it was new as a school bus driver, putting over 100,000 miles on it. When the school district retired the bus, I decided to buy it. " Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wayne Jones, Rt. 1, Box 302, Allen, Neb. 68710 (ph 402 635-2352).

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