Look What They're Doing With Old School Buses: Hog Hauler

Look What They're Doing With Old School Buses: Hog Hauler SCHOOLBUS CONVERSIONS Schoolbus Conversions 7-2-14 "This bus full of hogs handles better than a truck," says Dale Sargent, Eagle Lake, Minn., who's put 10,000 miles on a 1969, 60 passenger Chevrolet bus just hauling hogs. "I can haul about 100 feeders or 45 butchers at once," Sargent reports. "Two dividers divide the bus into 3 pens to keep hogs from fighting and crowding. The dividers bolt to brackets mounted to the safety rail on the side of the bus." Sargent removed the seats from the bus but left the old rubber vinyl floor intact. He says he changes the saw-dust twice a year but continually adds fresh sawdust to keep the floor dry and clean. Sargent also bolted railings from an old stock rack over the windows, a step he now feels wasn't necessary. "The windows are all I use for ventilation," he reports. "In the summer I open them to keep the hogs cool. In winter, I shut all the windows and put plywood over the endgate so it stays warm in the back." Other modifications Sargent made include making a divider out of plywood and insulating with urethane foam that seals off the driver's and one passenger seat from the hogs. He also moved the exhaust pipe towards the front of the bus, took out the emergency lights and painted the bus black. The emergency door is replaced by an old roll-up Knapheide endgate. "The bus is the right height for loading out of one of our barns and, for the other barn, we use a hydraulic lift to load the hogs," Sargent points out. He bought the bus for $1,000 and has another $150 invested in modifications, not including the tires. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dale Sargent, R.R. 1, Box 106, Eagle Lake, Minn. 56024 (ph 507 257-3945).

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