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Parade Hayrack
I need a little help, I am restoreing a John Deere hayrack
for parades, show, hayrack rides, etc...I will replace all
tires, sandblast running gear and paint with base coat/clear coat paint, then proper John Deere decals.
But...what should I make the 16'X 8' deck out of?? I was
thinking tongue&groove lumber with clear applied and
a little sand sprinkled in for traction?? How about
oak flooring over a sub deck??? Hayrack will be stored inside...Anybody got any neat ideas? Thanks Dan
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Parade Hayrack
Dan, if it is ONLY for show purposes, there is no real reason to use anything more than a single layer of Yellow Pine or similar wood for the decking.
Even though the wood will be coated and and it will be stored inside, Murphy's Law says it will get rained on and dirty, better to plan for that now. Instead of using T & G lumber just use plain wood, but rip both sides to a 45 deg. bevel. That way shrinkage won't expose a gap, but if it gets rained on, the water, as well as the inevitiable sand from feet, etc., will run right through and not be trapped in the dado.
Also, cut & dry fit ALL lumber for the deck BEFORE you screw any of it down, then pull it all back out and coat all 4 sides before putting it back in, then you know you have really good coverage and it will stand up the best.
Best of luck.
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Parade Hayrack
Thanks Murf,sounds like a great idea but I was thinking of
something a little more showy than pine? I want people
to look at this and say "wow".I had thought about using
oak or walnut boards with dowels&glue to hold them together
then use a floor sander on it,run a router around the
outside or put on some type of trim cap around the outside.
Then finish it with stain & clear, but maybe this would
make it look like a dinner table with a hitch and tires
under it? Just looking for more ideas than I can think of.
Thanks Dan
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Parade Hayrack
My way of thinking is: There is nothing any better than a nice knotty pine clear coated. Currently I use a lot of Larch. It has a light red tint with streaks of snow white near the edges and beautiful red knots. It is a very fast growing wood and quit unstable but very durable. But If you've got the money burl maple is the showiest.
Hard woods are nice but they just seem to lack the pure beauty and simplicity of a nice simple inexpensive pine wood.
Your float riders are gonna wanna staple or nail bunting and or banners on it.
You'll need a good set of steps and other stuff to get fat girls up on it...
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Parade Hayrack
I've played on a few floats and done sound engineering on others. I can't say that I've ever noticed what I was standing on except whether I had good footing or and how I got on and off. Of course these were 40' and longer transport flatbed trailers and not much to look at. I would keep in mind that you might be doing this more for yourself than for parade participants--and that's not a bad thing. Well, parade judges may be impressed and that also is a consideration. When I think of the fancy horse drawn wagons maintained by several brewers oak is what comes to mind. It's traditional for this type application for both structure and decoration.
I don't know what the deck is like now but I'd keep in mind that hay distributes its weight evenly and just lies there. People in parades may jump up and down together or all run to one side. Shock loads and stability may be an issue.
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Parade Hayrack
Dan, our family has bred & trained heavy horses, Belgians, for MANY generations, and we have several show wagons.
Regardless of how careful you are a wagon leads a rough life, there will always be rain and dirt to contend with. Any coating you put on it will be badly scratched and scuffed after the FIRST parade, you might as well accept that fact and plan for it.
Most of our floors are painted with acrylic enamel, the stuff genrically called 'porch paint' it is as tough as tough gets. It can either be applied in the usual grey or tinted almost any darker colour. We generally use black, mostly because it looks nice against the clear coated wood trim and the brass.
Best of luck.
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Parade Hayrack
Was just up to the NYS Fair and saw a couple of real fancy wagons that the 6 horse hitches pull. Now that is a show! The wagons look great but the amount of time to keep them in that condition has got to be awesome. One wagon was solid oak totally scrolled and engraved, not a screw or bolt or nail was evident in the body, and the dings in it were terribly evident against the artwork. Heck just the time washing and grooming the nags is just short of amazing.
I truely do enjoy the horses and the amount of training involved to get a 6 horse hitch to move in step and as a unit. I glad some people have the time and the money to still do this.
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DH1983; I wish I had time to learn how to do all the things the computer can do, but just too many other things to tend to. But anyhow when our son returns from vacation I'll have him post a picture of a parade wagon I built a few years ago on my profile page. It's about 1/3rd scale of a full size rack made of red oak with a pine floor. I used John Deere decals and matching yellow pin stripe from a local auto body supply house, then finished it with spar varnish. The running gear is a replica of a JD 963 gear in the same scale. It seats about six people on three straw bales. Usually we pull it with the Gator in local parades, and parades as far away as north central Minnesota. You might get some ideas from it that just need to be built on a larger scale. We used it as an advertising display for our furniture plant, plus just had fun doing it. Frank.
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Parade Hayrack
Thanks Guys for the advice, I think I will take your advice
and build this hayrack for function and show. I do like
Harvey's idea of useing knotty pine. Hardwood since you are
computer challenged.. ..I'll stop by someday and check
that hayrack out when I get in the area...of course I'm
sure you will heading to the field in a couple weeks.
I let you guys know how it turns out...thanks Dan
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drh1983; The computer whizz son came by today and posted the picture of our little hayrack on my profile page. There was a wooden donkey in the box of the Gator that the ropes were hooked to. Frank.
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