Hello all, been gone for about a decade or so. I'm getting back into doing hay again, and I've just started to collect equipment. I just bought 3 NH3 wagon gears, and I'm going to make them into hay wagons for small squares. I want to put 8x16's on at least the first two to see how they go. They're 10 ton gears with fifth wheel steering. I'm sure I'm not going to overload them. I have to extend them a bit, the axles have a 10' wheel base. What's the normal wheel base for a 16' bed? Am I correct in thinking that the front overhang is about a foot, and the rear is about 2'?
I'm going to remove the brackets and run 2 beams front to back, then run 2x8's perpendicular to the beams. I'd prefer running my floor boards front to back, but I want to save a little weight, and since the steering is fifth wheel, I need to have more clearance for turning. The wagons have 12.5L-15's on them, so that's just under 33" high. I'd like to keep the bed height at around 36" if possible, so that's the reason for running the floor boards perpendicular.
As for the beams, I'm thinking of using 3-2x10x16's laminated using construction adhesive and screws. I'm going to use treated lumber, anyone prefer fir or yellow pine? I hear fir might handle flexing better? I'm planning on having the beams 25" outside to outside as that will make mounting to the existing structure easy, and will give me room for the front wheels to swing without hitting unless I turn really tight. I also have to get a steel tube to extend the one connecting the axles as I don't think there enough there to extend it with enough in the ends to make it secure. I'm going to make sure the wood for the beams are dried out some and make a pass through the planer to get a nice surface for gluing, and make sure the top is planed flat to hold as little water as possible as they're going to sit outside. I'll use a preservative on the wood as well. I can adjust the axles wider as well, I'm thinking maybe 4" in from the sides of the wagon bed?
Anybody ever used this type of wagon gear for hay wagons? I'd appreciate your thoughts.
I'm going to remove the brackets and run 2 beams front to back, then run 2x8's perpendicular to the beams. I'd prefer running my floor boards front to back, but I want to save a little weight, and since the steering is fifth wheel, I need to have more clearance for turning. The wagons have 12.5L-15's on them, so that's just under 33" high. I'd like to keep the bed height at around 36" if possible, so that's the reason for running the floor boards perpendicular.
As for the beams, I'm thinking of using 3-2x10x16's laminated using construction adhesive and screws. I'm going to use treated lumber, anyone prefer fir or yellow pine? I hear fir might handle flexing better? I'm planning on having the beams 25" outside to outside as that will make mounting to the existing structure easy, and will give me room for the front wheels to swing without hitting unless I turn really tight. I also have to get a steel tube to extend the one connecting the axles as I don't think there enough there to extend it with enough in the ends to make it secure. I'm going to make sure the wood for the beams are dried out some and make a pass through the planer to get a nice surface for gluing, and make sure the top is planed flat to hold as little water as possible as they're going to sit outside. I'll use a preservative on the wood as well. I can adjust the axles wider as well, I'm thinking maybe 4" in from the sides of the wagon bed?
Anybody ever used this type of wagon gear for hay wagons? I'd appreciate your thoughts.