Old Feed Truck Makes Great Grain Wagon

Old Feed Truck Makes Great Grain Wagon TRUCKS Conversions 25-1-37 When they needed a good, heavy-duty wagon, Doyle Scott and his sons Ray, Bob and Terry of Hoagland, Indiana, decided they could make one for less than they could buy one. They started with the frame of an old GMC bulk feed truck. The truck, which Scott says was a 1960s vintage vehicle, had only a single rear axle. "All we had to work with was the frame, which we pulled out of the weeds behind a local elevator," Scott says. The coil spring front and leaf spring rear suspensions were still intact and they decided it would be good to leave those to make the wagon more flexible and stable. "We took out the steering box and added a tongue, which we connected to the existing tie rods for steering," Scott says. They made the tongue from used channel iron and machined a couple of plates to fit over the tongue and steering control arms. They put bearings in the plates to allow the tongue to pivot . The hitch end on the tongue has an extension on it that lets them back the tow vehicle or tractor up to it without being too exact where they stop. Once they've hitched on, they merely back up to close up the extension and lock it in place before driving off. They built an 8 by 24 by 3-ft. deep box for it from scratch, using two 24-ft. long 6 by 6-in. oak beams for the base. They set the 6 by 6s about 30 in. apart and put 8 ft. long 4 by 4s across those every 4 ft. The box itself is made of 3/16-in. thick sheet steel, which they cut and welded together. It has a small rear door in the tail gate, just like a grain truck box. They hinged the box at the back and put a three-stage truck hoist with two hydraulic cylinders under it so they could raise it to dump. "The wagon has its own hydraulic pump for the hoist, powered by a pto shaft from the tractor," Scott tells. "Dad ran across another rear axle for that particular truck, so we added it ahead of the existing axle. It helps take some of the weight off the steering axle, so it pulls and steers a little easier." They didn't install brakes on the wagon, although Scott says they might be a good idea. "We usually pull it with a tractor, going fairly slow, and never go more than a couple of miles with it," he says. The wagon holds about 500 bu. of grain. The Scotts figure they have about $1,200 invested in it, and right at $1,000 of that was for the hydraulic hoist, which was salvaged from an old dump truck. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ray Scott, 11910 Hoagland Rd., Hoagland, Ind. 46745 (ph 219 639-3195; E-mail: rs11910@aol.com).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.