old farm trailers as a source of parts.

A few days ago I picked up a 53 Ford Jubilee tractor. It's a cool machine that I plan on having a lot of fun with.

While looking in the local want ads for a grading blade I ran across a listing for a cheap old 4 wheel hay trailer. As was common back then, this was farmer built. About 16' of 1930's heavy truck frame, a late 40's Pontiac rear axle and a complete 36 or 37 Ford front end. They also included 4 really nice wide 5 rims. For old farm gear the Ford parts are in really good shape (I guess the grass and mud is easier on parts than the salty Maine roads) and the price was right at $100.

The Ford parts are going to be put to use as God intended them (on a hotrod) and the rest will be used as a cordwood trailer hauling 4' logs out of the woods behind an antique tractor.

There's got to be a ton of good stuff living under trailers out there.

 

It was common to make farm trailer on car chassis.
I have a farm trailer that sits on a complete with hubcaps 1941 Ford passenger car chassis and another that is a Chevy chassis, about 1931
I have a pile of Model A and Model T parts that have been reclaimed from farm trailers

 

I bought complete 40 ford front end at a farm auction for twenty bucks.

It was flipped over, tie rod welded to the axle, hitch welded in at the wishbone pivot, and rod welded straight up on top of the axle.

It was used as a trailer for hauling barb wire spools.

Rich

 

I bought a hay trailer made from Lincoln K chassis with 4 Buffalo #6 wire wheels and hubs! I couldn't get the $250 out of my pocket quick enough....

 

I bought a farm trailer one day at my boneyard;just before it went in the crusher they realized it was old Ford and brought it to the office. '40 Ford with a Columbia!!!!!!! $2k pried the columbia from my grubbies.

 

I went by and picked up the old farm trailer today. The old guy that was cleaning the place out also presented the the rearend that must have come out of the same car as the frontend mounted to the trailer. So I added the assembly (rear axle, torque tube, radius arms, and wheels) to the pile on the trailer for an extra $30.00.

After I started this thread I did some research here to learn about the wide five setups. It looks like I have the frontend out of a '36, so I'll have to look for some '37 or later wide five drums and some hydro backing plates. I'll also need an adapter kit to run the 36 spindles.

Now I'll need to learn more about the 36 rearend. Any chance it'll have a long life behind a 250ish HP 327 and th350?

 

Old trailers are a great source for early Ford front axles and spindles, and rear axles with wishbones. That's where lots of the 35-6 rear arms come from now. They also seem to be a good source for pickup beds of most any year.

 

The previous owners of where I live now left an old homemade trailer. Old ford straigt axle under it will be my new old style motorcycle trailer.

 

One day a scrapper friend of mine stopped in to the shop and asked me if I had ever heard of a "BAKER"? Turns out that while he was cleaning out an old farmstead 8 miles away and found a rolling chassis with an ID plate that identified it as a "Baker" I bought it and my research showed that it was a 1910ish Baker 1 ton electric truck chassis used as a wagon gear.

 

My Model A build, but first, I’ll have to un-build this turnip wagon. I discovered it in the farming community in Crowley County Colorado. The chassis has been converted to a farm trailer. The tow bar mechanism is clamped to the front axle and tie rod and the hardware used is of pproduction quality, don't know if it was manufactured for the prupose of converting car chassis to trailers, or it it was designed as a quick bolt on towing system for the purpose of towing a car in tandem.

Yep, 17 inch wires......

 

I bought a model 'T' chassis that had been turned into a 'hay wagon' for feeding the livestock. It had 4) 17" rims two were bent spoke, two were straight spoke type. The front axle was complete as was the back. Too bad the chassis was really bent, from over loading and hitting a ditch while trying to make a turn! It's at least a good parts source, and was only $100.

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

Here is an old model a chassis, an early 28 ar it was 100% complete except for mismatch wheels it had been converted to a farm trailer in the early 50's, it hauled aluminum sprinkler pipes, most of the rack was gone when i bought it whoever did the work made a bracket to hold the wishbone and used an early ford front hub with bearings and dust cap for a pivot for the tonge hitch purchase price $200.00

 

Out West, when a pickup's engine craps out, it gets cut down and the rear half gets welded into a trailer. Good place to look for a bed.

 

Sears, among others, sold a kit to convert a car frame into a wagon. I have seen at least two wagons built on deuce frames.

 

I'm chasing a frame right now that was converted into a wagon. It has six lug wires on it.

The tear drop trailer frame I have has Model T rails and uses wide 5 wheels on a trailer style axle. I don't know much more about it except that it tows great going down the road.

I've seen a lot of old farm trailers around here that still had the Model T oil pans on them.
<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

 

Just got a T frame that has been built into a trailer from 8-ball here on the HAMB. It's been burried for years behing his shop and was overgrown with vines. If you didn't know it was there it might have spent eternity in it's resting place. The cost= zilch,$0........my kind of price. thanks, Lynn.

Frank

 

I scored a choice 32 fram and running gear that was under a hay trailer,it had chevy hubcaps on it and everyone thought it was a chevy.

 

A friend of my fathers was cleaning up his farm and ask him if he wanted an old hay wagon.I went to investigate and there was straight rust free A frame under it with all the suspension and axles.He told me the price was right, take it if I could use it.I sold off the parts to a friend who restores back in the 80's. When my grandfather saw the frame he told me he had something for me and the next day gave me an NOS rear crossmember with the dealer tag still wired to it.I still have the frame and crossmember stored in a shed.

 

Used to find lots of Model A chassis made into self propelled buzz saws also.

 

Here's one I found like that. I was able to use the crossmembers and the one frame horn off it on another project.

 

Here is a farmer built portable welder I aquired from a friend, the running gear is all early ford , and the powerplant is a flathead....chrysler 6, The welder works extremly good for a 60 yr old piece...and the inginuity ....there is a model A wheel / spinle under the engine that is the pivot for the front axel, the towbar pivots on modified spring perches, the rear axel is located by radius rods off who knows what....and it pulls down the road at 60 like nobodys buisness.. I hope to restore the old girl and add a few of my own touches. Anybody know who can repair old SUN tach? this one has a 6 volt one that needs some help...Enjoy Shawn

 

I live in the city, whats a farm?

 

I purchased a haybuck that someone built out of a 38 Ford. It came with a slew of 38 parts. The frame is going under my next project. More on that later.

 

There was an old welding shop here in town , "Still here" when they first started out they built grain wagons on Model A chasis , Still a bunch of em scattered around . Not uncommon in these parts at all to walk up and look under an old grain wago just to find the complete model a gear.

 

My A PU has farm parts on it. The front '34 bones came off a hay wagon. The rear '36 bones came from the leftovers of an old wagon on my grandparent-in-laws farm. And the bed was an old trailer from a farm 5 miles from my place.

I've always been amazed at the amount of car parts put to other uses. 1/8 mile down the road there's an old farmstead that has a torque tube for a mail box post. The same farm has an "A" chassis cut down and used as the base for a hand turn cement mixer. 1/4 the other direction is a chunk of Model A frame used as a diagonal support on an old fence. South of me is an old shed that uses the frame rails from an AA truck as roof beams.

 

two weeks ago, at a small farm auction, i bought a 32/33 pick-up bed on a home made tilting/dump frame. it's in pretty good condition too.

 

The Holy Grail of farm trailer finds.

 

Those old cord wood saws are fucking scary. I'd never seen them until I moved to New England. Lots of them up here and many still in use. The idea of an unguarded 24" saw blade spinning away like that must push OSHA employees into apoplectic fits. Personally I'll stick with a chainsaw.

 

sorry...none of that stuff down here...hey get outta my pasture!!!

 

this thread has me droolin, im heading out tomarrow to do some yard shopping...