Hay wagon

Just wondering if there is any set "benchmark" for the wheelbase of a flat bed hay wagon in relationship to the over all length of bed itself. IE what should the wheelbase and frt vs rear overhang be on a 16' deck? Looks to be a 5 or 6 ton gear.

I'm by no means and expert but I build hay racks so that the distance from the pin on the tongue to the front of the deck is the same so I can hook and go between wagon changes behind the baler.

I have built several and I usually try to set the wheel base at about 10' 6" to a little over 11'. Depends on where the holes in the reach come. if I remember right I try to have 48 to 52" from the front of the rack to the center of the pin hole in the tongue. this could vary depending on how long a chute you have on your baler. If your search by my name or maybe "Doug Wis" I have posted pictures of one I built.

I have built a lot of hay wagon beds. I have 11 now that I built. I usually leave 20 to 24 in on the front and 3 1/2 to 4 ft. on the bak
depending on how long the bed is. All of mine are 18 or 20 ft. I usually need to extend the reach by welding to it.

I haul mine behind a pickup quite a bit, so I try and keep the rear wheels as far back as possible to reduce sway. I basically center both the front and rear between the first two cross pieces
Pete

I maxed my wagon out to the last bolt hole in the center tubes. The front of my deck, I made just long enough that I could fold the tongue up and lean it against the deck. The rear is about a 2-1/2 or 3 ft overhang, I don't recall just now. My goal was a 14 ft long wagon and my wagon gear was small to start with, so even extending it out as I did - 14 ft was all I could get for a deck, so it worked out.

I've got two other 16 ft deck'd wagons I bought and the extra 2 ft makes a difference in ride. When I re-deck those wagons, I'll probably trim them down to 14 ft too - so as to fit two wagons end to end in my shed, which is 30 ft long.

IMHO - if you are stacking off the wagon by yourself, 14 ft is ideal. Not such a long walk front to back, over and over again. I guess 16 ft is OK too. I had thought about doing 20 ft wagons, but was advised it would be hard on the stacker - and I can believe it. Also - figure 50 lbs per bale and a 20 ft x 8 ft deck, 5 bales high can get into tonnage quickly. Be very careful on hills.

Now if I had help that was there everytime I baled, i.e. two boys (which I have - for another few years), I'd go 20 ft wagons.

YMMV

Bill

if you max ou6 the center pole to the last hole ,..as long as the ground is smooth no problem , however it might be a good isea to cable both sides of the gear to frontand back tite ,,,..I have a 4 inch curb I back loaded wagons over ,. even with a a ramp under a heavy load I risk bending the center pole ,.. cabling the gear helps and I want to do mote of the wagons I have..

My wagon is bolted to all 4 corners of the running gear. I'm not really counting on the tube for much in the way of structural integrity for the wagon as a whole.

no standard for deck to gear ratio that I know of. Just the longer the wheel base is the easier it is to back up. We make our wagons so the gear is stretched as far as possible then build the deck so that we can turn as tight as the gear allows(with as short of hitch as possible) and not run over the towing piece(baler, tractor, truck).Our baler chute is set for a average of 3-5 inches from wagon. As for over the back axel on running gear, that's as far as you dare,(or clearance restrictions allow if going to tow other wagons with). Just remember load not as supported and more likely to tip(or break something) the farther behind back axel you go.

Here are two pictures of the two flat rack wagons thatI put together last week, using Army surplus truck decks. These wagons are 8x16 and are on ten ton running gear that were under old worn out forage wagons. They track good going down the road with this wheel base , but as they where old forage wagon gears , the tongues are a bit long. Going to have to make a longer shoot for small square baler. Bruce

I think it depends if it's a flat rack for stacking, or a kicker. Can't imagine a kicker really cares all that much. For our flat racks, I try to keep the pin hole about 4' from the front edge of the deck. I also like to stretch the gear out some. If it's too far forward on the back, the wagon starts wanting to tip back when in the field. As long as it's tied down it's not as much of a problem, but I still counter it with a couple bales on the front of the wagon until I get past the rear axle on that wagon.

Once I went for a ride on my brother's new wagon. Never bolted it down, and as I got about up to the rear axle, she tipped back and dumped the stack on the ground, myself included as I was just throwing one up to the 5th layer on the back. The extra shift in weight helped it go.

This is the last one I built





And the one before that one.



Donovan from Wisconsin