Add-On Axle Keeps Pickup Sprayer Level

Add-On Axle Keeps Pickup Sprayer Level SPRAYING Miscellaneous 23-5-27 "Adding an extra axle to the back of my pickup sprayer keeps it riding level even when the 600-gal. tank is full. It also makes the pickup ride much smoother," says Lawson Jones, Webster, N. Dak., who mounted the wheels, axle, and springs off a trailer house on back of his 1985 Ford F-350 1-ton pickup. The pickup is equipped with an 88-ft. spray boom. "I used it to spray almost 5,000 acres this year and it worked great," says Jones. He paid $100 for the trailer house wheels and axle. The wheels measure 7.00 by 14.5. He cut off part of the axle to narrow it up and slipped a steel pipe over it, welding it in place. To mount the axle, he removed the pickup's rear bumper and bolted on a pair of 4-in. angle irons which extend the pickup frame by 18 in. A vertical length of 4-in. sq. tubing is U-bolted to each angle iron and also clamped to the back end of each spring on the extra axle. The front end of each spring is attached to a steel plate that's bolted to the pickup frame. "Before I added the axle, the bed would sag so low that I couldn't even drive the pickup over shallow drainage ditches. Now I can fill the 600-gal. tank completely full and go anywhere with no problems," says Jones. "To adjust the amount of weight on the axle I can slide a U-bolt at the bottom of the vertical tubing up or down." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lawson Jones, 8243 59th St. N.E., Webster, N. Dak. 58382 (ph 701 395-4437).

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