Cost of 325 Bushel Gravity Wagon?

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

I'm kind of in the market for one or more 300-350 bushel gravity wagons in fair shape.  That's all my tractors will pull on my terrain.  What do you think one would have to give for a fair wagon?  By fair I don't mean any better than it needs to be to do the job.  I'll fill them to the top, so they need to be strong enough for a full load, andn will pull them on generally smooth ground but on some pretty good hills.  Not much road use.  Iowa City, Iowa area.

[buckfarmer]

At a auction last week near here J&M 385 like new went for $8500. 250 a little more used but still excellent $2500. I kind of like the smaller ones and can pull two if I want. I'm usually most worried about stopping. anything over 300 would need brakes around here. I think you could find what you are talking about for less than $3000

[swmi]

I've had good luck on finding equipment on Craig's list.  Go to farm section and ask for   wanted: gravity wagon.  The prices are all over the map,especially the smaller ones.   Buck is right about getting 2 smaller ones;they will be a lot cheaper. I got 3 small wagons and put 200 bu. of cereal rye in one.  Got the rye for $9.00/bu. from a local farmer and drilled it in for an excellent cover crop after soybeans this fall.  I paid $500. to $1100. for mine. .  

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

I have a couple of pairs of small wagons in tandem.  they are a cheap way to haul grain.  Two problems - they have to be spotted separately at the auger and if left overnight they will settle in and I can't get them started.  I can start one wagon but can't start the tandem, so end up unhooking the back wagon.  Defeats the purpose.

My preferred practice is to put one wagon on the auger on slow and take a different tractor out to get the second wagon, This saves waiting during the dump then swap them and continue the practice.  With tandems, you can't do that as you have to wait wihile the second wagon dumps.  

[wgjerde768071]

Jim

I have 3 wagons to sell all aroundf 300  give me a call the wagons are around Mankato Mn  I bought two bigger wagons

612-865-4077

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

That's interesting but so very far that I'm not sure I can make it work for me, especially if the wagons can only run 25 mph per the tires.

[Husker-J]

Most Ag tires running 'empty' can be safely run to 40+ MPH, if you adjust the air pressure accordingly.   What causes problems is the heat build up in the tire from flex.   Reduce the flex, and you can increase the speed.   I know a guy who drove an empty wagon 2 hours at 50 MPH, without mishap.   Just don't do it on old, cracked tires.

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

I hear you, Husker, but sadly the boys in the blue cars don' t care about logic.  They care about the law and ag tires are almost always limited right on the tire to top speed of 25 mph or so.

[Husker-J]

I got to thinking about it, and regardless of the tires, if there is a SMV sign in the back, you are limited to 35 MPH.

[buckfarmer]

I've heard the Iowa state police/highway patrol are hard on farmers. Here in Ohio they are pretty lenient. But when it comes to farm machinery, and even farm trucks, there seems to be quite a bit of room for interpretation. The Farm Bureau, Highway Patrol, Sheriffs Association and department of public safety put out a pamphlet explaining farm laws. I keep mine with me just so I can show it if I ever get into a situation.