grain wagon

anyone replace the floor boards on a John Deere barge type wagon? what kind of wood was used? The metal frame is all I have to work with really would like to save it any thoughts or pictures would be helpful Thanks Howard

got a pic howard. oak? and i'm guessing.

White oak. That is what was used in the wood bodies of those old mack and white Packard etc. Trucks.

White oak or Ash if it sets inside. White oak is good Walnut would be good also. Tongue and groove would seal the best against any leaks. Though ship lap would work too. Ship lap would work better if using 2 inch thick material. easier to put in as you could tip it into place as tongue and groove you would have to put the last one in from the end or get more than a couple to go in at once at the finish.

I?m going to go against the grain and say Fir. I?ve never done a JD, but I know that several off brands in the Midwest used Fir. It will appear to be a tight long grain straighter than Red Oak grain.
Depending on your location White Oak, Red Oak or Ash might be easier to find. White Oak is closed cell and high in tannin that prevents rot and will last a long time.

I redid my barge box a few years ago. I just used treated 2x6s from Home Depot. Probably should have used tongue and grove but I didn't. It works for what I use it for though.

I would say Fir or Pine as both are strong enough and lighter weight than any of the hardwoods and total weight was a big consirn at the time those beds were made. They wanted as light a weight as possible to give more carrying capacity without going over the rated capacity of a running gear the bed was put on. And in the day of a hundred bushel rated bed a hundred pounds heavier made the load allowed 2 bushel less and 2 bushel was a big thing then. Not now when loads are 500 bushels or more. And back in the day a bed made out of the heavy wood like oak was called a horse killer. You take a wagon and lay the floor of a light weight wood on and try moving things by hand, notunload that and load it up with the oak and see how much harder it is for you to push it by hand. And factory wagon beds were pine for the stringers for its strength and lighter weight. Beds were made with the same toung and grove flooring that was ysed to make the porch on your house that is called 4" but actually has a 3 3/4" coverage and if it would stand the weare and tear and weather on your outdoor porch on your house it would stand the use in a wagon bed floor. Over the last few years I have bought dozens of flat hay-grain wagons for an Amish machinery dealer I work with supplying him with things not avaible in his area and If I see a wagon with a hardwood floor I would not even bid on it. And I have wagons setting here now for my own use that have that pine toung and grove porch flooring in them.

all I have is the metal frame no wood at all a friend of mine said he might have a set of side board in his dad's shed he thinks they are 1x4" boards I'm not sure if the floor boards are suppose to be 2x4" or 1x4" like the side boards Thanks Howard

1x4 or actually 3/4" x 3 1/4". If you have a John Deere bed then you have a very desireable collector item as there were very few out there. Never in my 74 years that I know of have I ever saw a John Deere bed. Something like that is what a collector would want to put on a 952 or 953 wagon to take to shows behind a tractor mounted corn picker and to have setting in bed different models of hand crank corn shellers plus larger shellers. All Deere. People in this area Ohio-Indiana would not pay extra for a Deere bed in buying a wagon gear, they would just make it themselves. Never saw a good picture of one either.

Thanks Leroy that's my plan I have a 237 John Deere corn picker and the wagon will look great behind it Good news today my friend's dad does have sides for it so I'm ready to get started on it now all i need is a John Deere hoist to go with it Thanks Howard