Low-Maintenance Forage Wagons

Low-Maintenance Forage Wagons HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Forage Handling 19-4-6 When it came time to replace his three commercial forage wagons, David Hoover decided to build new wagons him-self. He came up with a nifty new no-maintenance, easy-to-use design. "I eliminated the pto's, bearings, roller chains, and apron chains on these wagons. All you have to do is hook up one hydraulic hose and pull a lever to dump," says the Patton, Penn., farmer. "End gates open, close and lock automatically as the wagons are raised and lowered." The wagons are 10 ft. long and 7 ft., 8 in. high. They're 8 ft. wide at the rear and 7 ft., 9 in. wide in the front. Tailgates that hinge 4 ft. from the rear so they'll lift over the top of the wagon. Lengths of cable run from the bottom of the wagon frame and to the top of each end gate. As the wagon box is raised hydraulically, the cables tighten and lift the gate. As the wagon is lowered, the reverse takes place and the gate locks with two arms or latches on each side of the gate. Wagon frames are made of square steel tubing. The sides, front and back are made of plywood. Wagon boxes mount on 18-ton running gears fitted with 10 by 22.5 in. tires. "The running gears are Canadian-made and they're the heaviest I've ever seen," Hoover notes. Hoover built the wagons last August for $5,500 apiece. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David Hoover, 772 Carroll Rd., Patton, Pa. 16668 (ph 814 674-5412).

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