8-Wheel Automatic Steer Wagon

8-Wheel Automatic Steer Wagon WAGONS/TRAILERS Conversions 16-3-9 You've never seen anything like this "automatic steer" 8-wheel wagon built by New Brunswick farmer Curtis Steeves who used two sets of steerable wheels in front and two sets of non steerable wheels in back. All 8 wheels mount on walking beam axles and each front steerable wheel mounts independently so wagon can turn easily even under heavy loads. Steeves uses the wagon mainly to haul logs and gravel. "The combination of eight wheels and 4-wheel steering lets me haul loads weighing up to three times as much as conventional wagons this size can support," says Steeves. "I've used it to haul 10 yards of gravel weighing 20,000 lbs. A conventional 4-wheel wagon this size can carry only three or four yards of gravel. "The steering system works something like the steering on big cement trucks that have four steerable wheels up front. Each wheel has its own kingpin, and rods connect all four wheels together. Walking beam axles on each side allow one wheel to go up and the other to go down even when turning." An extendable gear pole allows wagon length to vary from 8 to 15 ft. long. Steeve uses a front-end loader to load logs onto 8-ft. wide crossbars at the front and rear of the wagon. The logs are contained by four 4-ft. high stake posts made from 4-in. dia. steel pipe. Steeve converts the wagon to haul gravel by laying 14-ft. long, 2 by 8 wooden planks across the wagon bed and then adding sides. To unload gravel he uses a steel bar to tip each plank on its side, allowing the gravel to fall through. He used 3 by 4-in., 3/8-in. thick angle iron tubing to build the walking beam axles and 1 1/2-in. dia. steel pipe to build the gear pole braces. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Curtis Steeves, RR 2, Petitcodiac, New Brunswick, Canada EOA 2H0 (ph 506 '756-2504).

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