Hay wagon ????

Hi all. How is your wagons attached to the running gears. I got a new "used" gear to replace a scary one under a hay wagon. Just wondering if there's a wright or wrong way to bolt it down, it only has one bolt in back. My other six wagons are all different. Ones bolted in front ones bolted in back, ones also has chains looped around it. What do you guys have. Thanks

don't bolt all 4 corners down. you'll break your wagon and/or bed or both. put a couple anti slide attachments on the bed frame on either front or back, the put a loose chain around the other end. make sure you have several inches of flex room on the chains. none of my gravity flow boxes are attachted, just chains on opposite corners and a angle iron bracket on the other corners on each side of the bolsters to keep it from sliding off front or rear. now...you can bolt down the rear to the gear, like if you have a hoist under the bed, but make sure you have at least 4 inches of space between the chain and gear frame. the gear will flex, and that will keep your bed from breaking, or if a hoist equipped you really don't need any chains in the front. I know I jumped around a lot, and hoped this helps, and didn't confuse you. I just trying to explain that the gear will flex even loaded and you don't want the bed to flex with it!

I know you can't do all four lol. And thanks

Edited by Mikez - 02 May 2018 at 8:15am

Mikez, Like others has replied, our gravity boxes or hay racks are usually bolted to both sides of rear frame of running gear. Then have a 5/16" chain or 3/8" cable which allows about 4" slack, ties the box or rack to one or both sides of front frame of running gear. Some have an additional safety chain/cable tie around the center reach pipe where front & rear frames meet. The running gear's pivot bolts in the rear pipe can wear in two, break, & then let frames separate.

Edited by AC7060IL - 02 May 2018 at 1:42pm

I just built a produce wagon, last year, fer a friend.  I ran a bolt through one side frame, opposite side on the back.  Put bolt through a chain, down to the metal frame.  Just enough play, to keep ends from coming out of the standards, both front and rear.  A little flex is a good thing, on a vehicle, with no suspension...

Gordy wrote:            Had a wagon that had a bit of overhang at the back and was not fastened in front got the first tier of bales loaded on the back and the front came up and dumped them and myself that was kind of exciting for a minute, Now I  always make sure the front has a chain so that cant happen again.

One neighbor had a 16 foot rack on a short gear. He had some balin wire on the front. I can still see that rack as I did 50 years ago, flip up when one wheel hit a fox hole and my brother just kept drivin ahead with the baler. A sharp whistle got his attention, but the rake had settled back to ground level by then.
 We had just pulled out of the cattle shed with an empty, headed back out and saw it all happen from a half mile away
 We never bolted the front down on either corner. The back usually just had blocks ahead and behind the upright, so it couldn't slide and the front usually had a  generous loop of #9 wire so it could flex plenty when going thru dips and twists.

Third pic didn't show up. Lets see if I can make it appear.... Lets try this..