Home-Built Studebaker Corn Box Wagon
“I recently built this colorful replica of an antique Studebaker corn box wagon, which the company manufactured from the 1870’s to the 1920’s. It was designed to be used back when corn ears were harvested by hand and thrown into a horse-drawn wagon,” says 84-year-old Paul Michener of Waynesville, Ohio.
Studebaker corn wagons were built at a factory in Indiana. “At first the company built their wagons with horse hitches and wooden wheels, but in later years they switched to steel wheels and made tractor hitches optional,” says Michener. “As the demand for cars and trucks picked up, they stopped building wagons entirely.”
The wagon is about 2/3-scale and measures 12 ft. long by 40 in. wide, with 24-in. high sideboards. The box is painted green and yellow with red pinstripes, and sets on a red frame with a yellow tongue and hitch. A partially built wooden bench is on front of the wagon, which rides on whitewall bias ply tires.
Michener says he built the wagon entirely from memory, based on a real 1920 Studebaker horse-drawn model he owned many years ago.
“About a year ago I was sitting in a McDonald’s restaurant when a young man drove by with a truck and trailer loaded with junk, including the running gear from an old Studebaker corn box wagon. I offered him $75 if he would drop the running gear off at my shop, and he did.”
The wagon is equipped with a small “false” endgate on front and a bigger 2-piece endgate on back that’s used to shovel the corn out by hand. It consists of 2 boards, one above the other. The top board rides in slots, while the bottom board is hinged and can be swung either forward or backward. “The hinge I used is 20 in. long and came off the door of an old dairy barn,” says Michener.
To unload corn, the operator lifts the top board off and sets it aside, then unlatches the hinge and swings the bottom board backward. The ears of corn then fall into a a ‘shovel box’ that angles back 2 ft. to keep the corn from spilling onto the ground. Once the shovel box is empty, the operator pulls it out and shovels out the rest of the wagon.
“The real wagon was equipped with ‘funnel’ sideboards on top that extended outward at a 30-degree angle to help catch the ears of corn thrown toward the wagon by the pickers. I plan to build funnel sideboards and add them to my wagon,” says Michener.
He says the wagon has drawn a lot of interest in his area. “Even though the wagon isn’t done yet, I’ve already been asked by a few store owners in town if I would park it in front of their businesses.”
He hopes to take his replica corn box wagon to antique tractor shows this summer, and also drive it in parades.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul Michener, 5565 Lytle Rd., Waynesville, Ohio 45068 (ph 513 897-5142).
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Home-Built Studebaker Corn Box Wagon WAGONS/TRAILERS Conversions “I recently built this colorful replica of an antique Studebaker corn box wagon which the company manufactured from the 1870’s to the 1920’s It was designed to be used back when corn ears were harvested by hand and thrown into a horse-drawn wagon ” says 84-year-old Paul Michener of Waynesville Ohio Studebaker corn wagons were built at a factory in Indiana “At first the company built their wagons with horse hitches and wooden wheels but in later years they switched to steel wheels and made tractor hitches optional ” says Michener “As the demand for cars and trucks picked up they stopped building wagons entirely ” The wagon is about 2/3-scale and measures 12 ft long by 40 in wide with 24-in high sideboards The box is painted green and yellow with red pinstripes and sets on a red frame with a yellow tongue and hitch A partially built wooden bench is on front of the wagon which rides on whitewall bias ply tires Michener says he built the wagon entirely from memory based on a real 1920 Studebaker horse-drawn model he owned many years ago “About a year ago I was sitting in a McDonald’s restaurant when a young man drove by with a truck and trailer loaded with junk including the running gear from an old Studebaker corn box wagon I offered him $75 if he would drop the running gear off at my shop and he did ” The wagon is equipped with a small “false” endgate on front and a bigger 2-piece endgate on back that’s used to shovel the corn out by hand It consists of 2 boards one above the other The top board rides in slots while the bottom board is hinged and can be swung either forward or backward “The hinge I used is 20 in long and came off the door of an old dairy barn ” says Michener To unload corn the operator lifts the top board off and sets it aside then unlatches the hinge and swings the bottom board backward The ears of corn then fall into a a ‘shovel box’ that angles back 2 ft to keep the corn from spilling onto the ground Once the shovel box is empty the operator pulls it out and shovels out the rest of the wagon “The real wagon was equipped with ‘funnel’ sideboards on top that extended outward at a 30-degree angle to help catch the ears of corn thrown toward the wagon by the pickers I plan to build funnel sideboards and add them to my wagon ” says Michener He says the wagon has drawn a lot of interest in his area “Even though the wagon isn’t done yet I’ve already been asked by a few store owners in town if I would park it in front of their businesses ” He hopes to take his replica corn box wagon to antique tractor shows this summer and also drive it in parades Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Paul Michener 5565 Lytle Rd Waynesville Ohio 45068 ph 513 897-5142
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