Hay wagon running gear...

[phylodog]

Understanding that there is a wide variation out there in both quality and condition, I'm curious if there is a practical speed limit to towing hay wagon running gear? The reason for the question is that my hunting partner and I plan to pick one up and build a hunting blind on it. We've got one satellite property which is reclaimed mining land so there aren't any trees suitable for stands. We want to put a blind together that we can move around this property as needed.

I've been watching for a decent option to show up on FB marketplace for a few months and haven't found anything remotely close to us. I may end up buying something closer to home but it's a two hour drive on I70 to get out here. Assuming the quality and condition are good, can these things be towed that fast? It'll just be the frame and axles, I don't plan to buy a ready to go wagon.

 

[Leadeye]

Back when I worked on a hay crew that moved them with pickup trucks I think 40 was about top end before they started to vibrate and shimmy badly. Granted that was 50 years ago.

 

[phylodog]

Back when I worked on a hay crew that moved them with pickup trucks I think 40 was about top end before they started to vibrate and shimmy badly. Granted that was 50 years ago.

I'm assuming they're pretty limited but figured I'd ask.

 

[Leadeye]

I'm assuming they're pretty limited but figured I'd ask.

I like the haywagon/blind idea. I have seen pictures of round bale blinds, and at one time I used a round culvert that had been stood on end as a blind.

 

[Creedmoor]

Hay wagons I've been around tend to sway from 15 to 50 mph depending on the wagon. Also most come with low speed tires. Not something I would want to pull down the highway for a few hours.

 

[phylodog]

I like the haywagon/blind idea. I have seen pictures of round bale blinds, and at one time I used a round culvert that had been stood on end as a blind.

We're planning to build a few of those as well. He's very fit for our age group but has had a heart attack and I'm not what I once was so we're slowly settling into the idea of staying out of the trees.

 

[Leadeye]

We're planning to build a few of those as well. He's very fit for our age group but has had a heart attack and I'm not what I once was so we're slowly settling into the idea of staying out of the trees.

Valve replacement this year slowed me down some, mostly from the wife worrying about me. New neighbors on the southern border put up a blind which makes three in a row along the fence line. Sooner or later those guys are going to shoot each other when a deer runs between them and stops at the fence.

 

[Ingomike]

And on an old wagon it is highly doubtful that the bearings are ready for a high speed trip. Beg, borrow, or steal a trailer to bring it home on. This advice comes from the experience of 8 hours in a walmart parking lot with a seized bearing on the hub. Thank me later.

 

[KellyinAvon]

It depends

 

[shibumiseeker]

There’s a sweet spot for any of these trailers. No weight in them, and they throw all over the place. Too much weight in them and they can sway so much it’ll throw you around no matter how big a vehicle you’re towing it with. They simply do not track. Once they get into an oscillation, it’s almost impossible to recover. Low speed, tires, and often poorly packed bearings, and I would not want to tow one for any long-distance even at low speed.

I’ve been buying cheap trailers off marketplace to use around the ranch, and if you don’t need to haul a bunch of weight, these are generally a better option for highway use. Just repack the bearings first.

 

[dak109]

Depending on how big you want it to be, look at smaller trailers or old pop up campers. They are more road worthy than hay wagons or gravity/grain wagons.
That being said, my summer project is building a blind on an old gravity wagon.

 

[Michigan Slim]

I thought about going the mobile blind route but bought a bunch of popup blinds on sale at Menards.

 

[ws6duramax]

As others have alluded to, try to transport it on another trailer and just pull it around once you get to your destination. They most definitely are no fun to pull any distance. About every one I've been around has swayed back and forth. Some do it at 10mph others might be 30mph. Since you have a long way to go, it will probably start at 10mph, at least that would be my luck anyways....

 

[KellyinAvon]

It depends

We had one hay wagon on the farm that I think started its life as a silage wagon. It was heavy duty, you could’ve probably done 40 with it pretty easy.

We had one that you could see Sears Roebuck on the back axle, that wagon gear was sprung, it waggled down the road at all speeds. Put it this way, you didn’t put the tractor in the road gear pulling that wagon.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Depending on how big you want it to be, look at smaller trailers or old pop up campers. They are more road worthy than hay wagons or gravity/grain wagons.
That being said, my summer project is building a blind on an old gravity wagon.

How many gravities will a gravity wagon hold?

 

[El Conquistador]

I did what you are wanting to do a few years ago. I got a hay wagon just outside of Muncie put it on a trailer and towed it down to my place near Madison. A buddy of mine had a trailer he towed his skid steer on, the hay wagon fit on there fine and towed without any problems

I built the blind for a grandson that refused to climb a ladder stand but would climb up into this blind. It works great and a few deer have been taken out of it.

 

[indyjohn]

New neighbors on the southern border put up a blind which makes three in a row along the fence line. Sooner or later those guys are going to shoot each other when a deer runs between them and stops at the fence.

So, this summer building a mechanical 12 pointer rigged up on a 100 yd rail (think greyhound racing) starting at the edge of the woods comes to mind. Just an idea.

 

[Michigan Slim]

Ten yards from a neighbor that thought he would hunt our field. Man was he pissed when I put up the first blind in this spot. They shot up another one. Patched the holes with caulk.

 

[Creedmoor]

There’s a sweet spot for any of these trailers. No weight in them, and they throw all over the place. Too much weight in them and they can sway so much it’ll throw you around no matter how big a vehicle you’re towing it with. They simply do not track. Once they get into an oscillation, it’s almost impossible to recover. Low speed, tires, and often poorly packed bearings, and I would not want to tow one for any long-distance even at low speed.

I’ve been buying cheap trailers off marketplace to use around the ranch, and if you don’t need to haul a bunch of weight, these are generally a better option for highway use. Just repack the bearings first.

Lol, I've seen a few with a wire rope tied to the rear axle to to the front of the wood frame to tension the rear axle one way or the other to stop the sway.

 

[Creedmoor]

How many gravities will a gravity wagon hold?

English or Amish bushels?