Square Bale Wagon Deck for JD running gear

EH in SC

Member
I have a JD 963 running gear and want to build a deck for it. Are there any plans out there and can anyone make suggestions as to the layout? I was planning to use 6"x10" stringers and full 1"x6" deck with 4"x4" cross members. Rough cut White Oak was going to be the prefered species. Also overall size preferences? Thanks for any help!
 
Sounds good, I've built one 16' long x 8' wide much the same way. I used 2 2 x 8 for main beams, 4 x 4 cross sills bolted and 2 x 6 and 2 x 8 floor deck, the only treated is the cross sills, everything else is pine. I do oil the deck each fall, mostly cause they sit outside. Mine are rack wagons used behind a kicker. Have a 14' built the same and am going to make another 16' this winter.
 
Thanks! This will be to load the old fashioned way, from the baler chute to the wagon. Hopefully I can con the grandkids into stacking the hay rack :) Appreciate the size suggestion, that helps a lot. Still not sure about location and spacing of cross members or stringers.
 
That"s very substantial stringer material, but heavy is better than light. My 18 foot racks have doubled 2x8s. No matter what size, I"d recommend that you install spreaders near the front and back, roughly over the wagon axles, between the stringers. Thinner stringers tend to roll. I prefer steel pipe over wood. Just weld a flat piece of steel on each end of the pipe, and drill holes in the flats to anchor them with lag screws or bolts.
 
I think 3x8 is sufficient. That's what was commonly used here. 3x4 for cross pieces, about every 2'. And 1x for flooring. Usually all oak, rough sawn. 8x16 was pretty common. Have one built this way that hold 10 3x3 bales pretty regularly. That weighs about 3-1/2 tons. If you had a much bigger load, you would need a heavier bed, but also a heavier gear.
 
I have built a lot of wagon flats and never seen the need for cross pieces. I get rails long as I want the flat and 4" wide by tall enough to clear the tires and nail 2 x 10 x 8 ft treated boards crossways. It is a lot quicker. I can make a 8 ft by 20 ft. wagon bed in 3 to 4 hrs. With a framing nailer. I have 8 now I have built like that.
 

I use 4x10 Hemlock for stringers and inch and a half by five actual white oak for cross-members. be sure to lay flashing on your cross-members before screwing the deck down.
 
Check out the weight of all those pieces and add them together, I think you will be about to the capacity of your gear (J D 963 is 5 ton) Without any bales on it. That 5 ton rating is both the gear, bed and load.
 
I've noticed the flashing part quite a bit. What I do is center 2 x 8 boards over the main stringers and fill with 2 x 6 boards, gaps between the deck are usually about an 1" or so apart, gives the stringer complete coverage and allows the use of a broom to sweep the cross sill of between cuttings
 
my hay racks are to short at 14 ft the one i like best has floor boards across the stringers with a 2x 4 running length of
rack.
the flashing idea sounds like a plan that should keep water off of stingers. i rebuilt 1 this year the stringers were rotten.
 
Read what MikeinKY said below. That is how my new wagon flats are made and they work great.
Square bale wagons are NOT carrying a real heavy load, and my wagons never leave the farm, or go faster than 3 MPH.
Bolt them at 2 cross corners.....not all 4 corners.
 

Whatever you do don't do like MikeinKy. My buddy decided to get radical and do one that way once, maybe twenty years ago. They used it for only about three years. After that you couldn't walk on it the boards were so uneven. It would probably work if you bolted the ends of the planks to another pair of lighter strings out at each edge to hold them even as they weather.
 
oops.... MikeinKY's basic idea works but with a 2x4 stringer bolted down the outside edge to keep them aligned. Showcrop is right.
 
I built ours with the stringers and then just 8' 2x whatever width was available at the time. I've used 2x6, 8, and rough cut from a sawmill with varying widths.

I bolt a 2x4 length ways on either edge. It helps to hold the bales from sliding sideways. For the backs, I made up brackets that bolt to the stringers, and then they make a pocket for a 4x4 to slip into. The backs are removable but solid when stacking against. I only built the backs about 4' high. Any higher and they didn't really do much because I'd then start pulling the bales in a little bit from the back on the 5th layer so they never touched it. 4' would just catch the bottom of the 4th tier.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
This year I built some wagon decks with 4x8 stringers, 4x4 cross members and 1x6 deck boards, all white oak. Very heavy deck. Last year I built a deck with 2x12 (or 10) full cut/ruff cut pine doubled up stringers and ran 2x6 full/ruff cut perpendicular for the deck with a 2x4 full/ruff cut down the each side to tie them together. It is a very good wagon.
 
(quoted from post at 02:49:35 07/14/17) This year I built some wagon decks with 4x8 stringers, 4x4 cross members and 1x6 deck boards, all white oak. Very heavy deck. Last year I built a deck with 2x12 (or 10) full cut/ruff cut pine doubled up stringers and ran 2x6 full/ruff cut perpendicular for the deck with a 2x4 full/ruff cut down the each side to tie them together. It is a very good wagon.

Bill, are your last year's stringers each made up of two pine 2x10s? If so here in NH at least they would last barely four years, unless they are fastened tightly together and with a lot of glue between.
 
Yes - they are bolted together down the length. Full cut 2 inch thick boards. I don't think they are going anywhere.
 
I am very appreciative of all of the help! I am understanding that the 4x4 cross members be lagged or bolted with large "L" brackets to the main stringers with one at the front end of the stringers and one at the back with how many others in between for a 16 foot length? Also, does this mean that my deck boards will run the length of the rack or would they go width wise as well? Seems that the 8/0 deck boards would be easier and less costly to source and makes sense if there is a 2x4 bolted to each edge to keep bales from sliding sideways. I also understand from one of the posts that just opposing corner stringers be U bolted to the gear? Is that to allow some twist when going over uneven ground? I apologize for all of the questions but would like to do this once and do it correctly. I also am taking from the posts that I could use 4x8 stringers as long as they give clearance over the wheels?
Thanks Much!
PS Any pictures available would be great!
 
(quoted from post at 13:13:29 07/17/17) I am very appreciative of all of the help! I am understanding that the 4x4 cross members be lagged or bolted with large "L" brackets to the main stringers with one at the front end of the stringers and one at the back with how many others in between for a 16 foot length? Also, does this mean that my deck boards will run the length of the rack or would they go width wise as well? Seems that the 8/0 deck boards would be easier and less costly to source and makes sense if there is a 2x4 bolted to each edge to keep bales from sliding sideways. I also understand from one of the posts that just opposing corner stringers be U bolted to the gear? Is that to allow some twist when going over uneven ground? I apologize for all of the questions but would like to do this once and do it correctly. I also am taking from the posts that I could use 4x8 stringers as long as they give clearance over the wheels?
Thanks Much!
PS Any pictures available would be great!


I use a total of 7 cross members because that is what I need to match up with the steel sides. They are through bolted with 18 inch long 3/8 carriage bolts. they are sealed at the top by the aluminum flashing. I would not go 4x8 stringers unless they were steel. I use 4x10 full.
 

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