old wagon company i hadn't seen before

INCase

Well-known Member
been an interesting year this year with silage making a bit early.

seen some Amish using an old Allis-chalmers forage box (no picture), only the 2nd one i've seen. and came across this one i hadn't heard of. it says REX on the front cover. My uncles old LAMCO forage box also has REX on the front. i think i've seen more LAMCO boxes, especially in NW Pennsylvania, than i have ones that just said REX.

also see a couple amish chopping corn the other day with one team pulling a power sulky with the 2-row NH chopper and a 2nd fellow with a team pulling the forage box but directly behind the chopper with the chopper blowing over the 2nd team and the sulky into the wagon. I would think the 2nd guy would have a face full of corn before they went too far.
 
maybe this time
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Rex boxes used to be fairly common, here in n/w WI. Still occasionally see one. I've seen a total of three Allis Chalmers boxes in my life. Two were at a consignment sale a couple years ago. None were in working condition. Can't say that I've ever seen a Cherokee box.
 
I've seen REX boxes but do not know where they were made. LAMCO's were made here in the Finger Lakes a little bit south of where our own Bob Bancroft is from. The neighbor had one and they struck me as an economy grade box versus a JD or Badger. There is a guy not too far away that has AC boxes and I have seen others. The Amish here do the corn binder and stationary ensilage cutter/ blower. Some buy modified Deere 39XX or NH forage harvesters with a feeding table and set them up at the bottom of the upright silo.
 
Every now and then I see some nice barn find late model AC forage equipment at auction. I saw an AC short table blower north of Batavia at a sale a couple years ago that looked like the dealer just got it in from the factory. If I had money I would be tempted to buy a few pieces as collectables.
 
I seen a single row A/C chopper that mounted on the tractor, I would think it mounted on a WD. It was a neat little chopper, mounted on back and came around left side drive tire. Only one I have ever seen. Bob
 
As FordFarmer said Rex are common around here in WI.. Went out and checked the couple unloaders we have laying around(pulled from scrapped boxes), Seifert Mfg out of Kiel, Wi made em.. Ever hear of Kasten or how about Els(yes that's spelt right, pronounced like ice) wagons.
 
I remember driving to Dawson with Pa and the neighbor to pick up 2-14' Rex self unloaders. Pa built his own running gear and hoop tops for the boxes. Pulled them behind a Papec chopper. That was BTO! The ratcheting barge boxes got relegated to the other 3 seasons. Cob corn, wood hauling, hay baling, and stone picking. OK, stone picking was a season in itself in northern Stearns county. The 3rd year we took the Rex's down to the floors and built them back up new with taller sides. After that they were pulled by a NI 702 Uni and unloaded into a 54" Kools blower. If I recall the Rex had a 2 speed apron with a reverse as well and a clutch to stop the apron and beaters.
 
We were 100 percent IH in the forage line. 50 forage harvester with 2 row head. 61 forage boxes (ratchet) with 140 gears. Model 40 Universal table blower. Everything is gone now except for the 50. I kind of miss the other pieces even though the diehard IH guys said that those models were not the best. Chopping corn and filling silo were fun times as a kid and I enjoyed watching the equipment work. Probably should have had hearing protection and if I had a kid around that equipment he or she would having hearing protection.
 
weren't Kasten's built just west of West Bend? Weren't the IH boxes Kasten's.

see a few coby boxes here. Gehls of various years are probably the most common in N central IN. but Meyers is a very close 2nd maybe even tied now. then new holland/badger (same thing). one mid-size dairy has some 70's vintage JD's they're still using.

The dutchman that has the cherokee in the picture had 2 gehl 960 boxes they took off the running gear but might have put one back on since they also had a 960 next to this one.

if i can get a picture of the AC i'll post it too.
 
I understand Rex made some stuff for LAMCO. Rex was made in Wi, I never ran any but as I understand it they had the right name on them. I have seen a Cherokee wagon before. I don't think much of H&S or 960 and later Gehl boxes, seems they went to being cheap made.
 
I don't know where Kasten's were made, but yes, IH boxes were Kastens. Used to be a few of both of them around. I know of one IH still being used. LOTS of red on that farm.
 
I still have the two silage rakes. The 5 tine fork bent like a rake. I come across the old ratcheting jack for the old false front boxes now and then and realize that I'm old because very few know what they were used for.
 
Rex, H&S, Kasten, a few Badger, and a few Gehl. Lindsay and some others made a rear unloader for the STO. Could still use the long hopper with those. now it seems like Meyer has got the market cornered. the neighborhood roads are spotted with mud speed bumps form the outfits hauling silage now. The boxes are a lot bigger and unload a lot faster than what we grew up doing.
 
Hadn't thought about them in a while that brings up an interesting question does anyone know what the long hopper blower was used for ? I can still remember staking down the allis and lining up the belt. My one uncle climbing the silo with the rope to pull the pipes up he almost had an accident one day he was thin and put the pulley in his back pocket half way up gravity kicked in. They did a lot of chopping in the neighborhood. Remember holding the gate up with a 2x 4 had to watch unloading you didn't hit it. The unloading jack ran off an electric motor. Do you remember the stuff they put on the belt to make it less slippery and pull better it had a distinctive smell. Thanks for kicking in the memories hard work but fun
 
We had one forage wagon. It was a Coby manure spreader with wooden sides added on. It unloaded out the back into a long bed AC blower. We filled two silos with it. One was a 10x30 and the big one was 13x56 clay block silo. The chopper was an AC one row for corn and had a direct cut grass head. Still have two of the counter balance weights of the blowers.
 
Long hopper blowers would have been for rear unload wagons. Our IH 40 blower was like that even though by the time I came along dad was using self unload side discharge wagons. The story was the dealer had this blower left over in stock and was aching to get it sold. Dad paid 50 dollars for it brand new and that included 60 feet of pipe plus elbows and chutes.
 
PULLMOR brand belt dressing. just used some on the saw mill 3 weeks back. Molasses, Sorgum syrup, and for ACG out east Maple syrup also work. after a short run time they get tacky. I have also used Dawn dish soap and will say it did help.
 
Dad and a neighbor bought 4 new Rex wagons in the early 80s. Bought them from a dealer in central Mn. We are in E SD. Good wagons....he rolled one over and I bought it from ins. company and rebuilt the sides and end. Still here.
 
That's right I can still remember raising them up for the guy to drive through there was a big ring on the allis to hook them up and you brought them about 3 feet off the ground slid a pin through the hole in the hopper and then don't forget they had a hitch ball and down the road to the next silo. It seems to me the time to fill the silo depends on how good a cook was present. It be interesting at a threshree to see how many could answer that
 
The old IH 40 had helper springs and as a 7 year old I could just about raise the table by myself. I know the story about buying the 40 for 50 bucks is true because I saw the invoice but wondered if that was not a little cheap. I did some checking and the 40 was replaced by the 45 with a larger fan so the 40 was new obsolete stock for that dealer. Had dad put off buying he could have bought an IH 56 when they first came out in 1965.
 
Those long table blowers were used with sliding end gate wagons. Some of those blowers had a place to attach a shaft to turn tube that the cables from the end gate wound up on.
If you do a search for false endgate wagons there is a picture of one under images.
 
We still have the owner's manual for the IH 40 blower. A picture is shown of such a drive coming off of the blower as an option. It also could be run by belt or PTO although we always ran it with the PTO. I bet between our place and a couple of neighbors that blower saw 12-15 different tractors used on it.
 
Dad had a Rex back in the day, and it wasn't the best wagon either. I was told they were bought out by Miller though I don't know the validity of the claim.

Other manufacturers that are or were popular were Huebner (think that's spelled right) from Forest Junction, hasn't been a new one made since probably the mid 90's or earlier. Gruett's is located just a few miles from me in Potter and is one of the dealers I get parts from for our Oliver's. They still make new forage wagons, as well as bale racks, feeder wagons, etc... Badger was built right in Kaukauna where I grew up. They were bought by Miller, and now is owned by Artsway I think.

Of course Meyer, Miller, H&S, and Gehl are popular as well, but lately I see a lot of Meyer wagons.

I've made parts for Kasten wagons at the first shop I worked at, but I've only ever seen 2 or 3, but never in use. Also have seen a few knight boxes, but again, never in use.

Of all the brands I've named, I think they all are from Wisconsin. Maybe not the knight.

We currently have a Gehl 920 & 970, and 2 older Meyer's with wood sides on angle iron uprights.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
I bought a new Rex forage box with a Knowles wagon gear under it in 1970 or '71. Then a year or two later we got another new one. Some years later we bought a used one and then in a few more years a second used one. They are all still here being used every year. Pictures from this year and years past.
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