All I really care about is the axle, tongue, and dump latch as I can build the rest out of lumber. But if it is in restorable condition I will make it Gravely red again someday.
It's a bit the worse for wear, but it's definitely a Gravely cart (you can make it out in the second picture above). The bed has some rust through and the joints along the edge are rusting away, but the undercarriage is solid (it still has paint on most of it), the wheels turn smoothly, and the important bits like the dump handle are beefy and in great shape. It even has the original split hitch and the ball that belongs on the liftable hitch:
My neighbor and I are going to fix this up together, and I think there are two ways we could go with it: get the floor cut out and a new piece welded in, blast the whole thing, and repaint it, or, I think I could have welder build up a tray out of angle iron, and we could use that as a base to build a new floor and sides out of wood.
Mark, nice find and it looks pretty solid,I had to do mine over a couple weeks ago,I put
a piece of 1/4" steel plate on the floor right over the old one.stiffen it right up. good
luck with yours, looking forward to seeing it finished........
I pressure-washed it today, which did a good job of cleaning up the wheels and removing all the mud. And opening up more holes in the sheet metal.
The wheels are in better shape than I thought, they still have most of their paint, though even with persuasion, I couldn't get one of the hubs to take any grease. The zerk accepts the grease but it just squirts out from the base, maybe the hole is elongated. As I said though the hubs spin nice and smooth.
There is enough heavy pitting and rust-through that I will probably proceed with building a new box out of wood, just need to come up with a design. I'll get the undercarriage blasted and painted (thinking black now) and get some new tires and be back in business. If I make the box out of wood, I could make the sides removable too... gotta get out a pencil and paper and start designing....
Well all the parts are at the sandblaster's. The wheels are already back and came out pretty nice, not too much pitting. I gave the guy my plans for the frame, which he will weld up out of 2" steel angle. 1" steel angle will reinforce the bottom and he will be able to locate and drill the holes for the axle weldments and dump bracket weldments. I'll see if I can post a picture of the drawing I gave him.
The tires are on order and will be Carlisle Turf-Savers.
The bottom and sides will be made out of wood but I haven't decided yet on what kind.
The drawbar itself and the axle will be re-made with new stock.
This is not the cheapest route to go, but my neighbor and I are splitting the cost and I'm sure the cart will outlast the both of us.
Parts are back from the blaster, along with the new frame. Going to try to get it all primed tonight. The tires are backordered until early September, but at least now we can start looking for lumber for the bottom and sides. I had him make the drawbar (the round pipe) one foot longer. This cart did not appear to be used for a walk-behind (I never saw any evidence of foot pegs) but I thought the drawbar was a tad too short. Also sprung for a new axle.
That is a good price on those. I haven't dealt with Summit before, just looked at the catalogs, but I've never heard anyone say that they had been stiffed on an order.
I just got my third backorder notice, now they are expected in November, so I've cancelled the order and I'm looking for another set. :crybaby:
I've decided that the sides will be made from 3/4" exterior plywood, laminated in 2 layers. I'll cap the top with hard pine. I've drawn up some ideas for fastening it all together, should be pretty sturdy. I really would have liked to have wheels on it by now, though. I'll stain it a dark red, kind of like the 18-G color. I'll stay away from anything orange-y as I don't want it to look like a Halloween decoration.
The frame is actually back at the welders so he can "fix" two holes in the drawabar that he drilled off-center. I expect it will need some paint touch-ups when he's done with it.... :banghead3
Little bit of progress tonight. All the parts were still heavily pitted but not bad enough to weaken anything. The sandblaster was very impressed with how heavy-duty the parts were. I went with gloss black since my neighbor will be using it too. He has an old green MTD.
I began assembly today, though I'm still planning on clear-coating it. I painted the inside of the wheel rims in canvas white and I'll see about painting the outside after the tires are on but not sealed.
Right now, I'm thinking of doubled-up 3/4" plywood for the bottom and sides, with a solid wood cap to mimic the look of the old cart. Not going to bother making the sides removeable. Planning on staining the wood red, and I am trying to think of a clever way to make a "dump" tailgate that pivots at the top.
The welder drilled the holes in the drawbar for me, but the two vertical holes (one for the hitch and the other for some type of shock/spring assembly) are off quite a bit. Not sure yet how I'll hande.
Still expecting the tires to be in the second week of September....
Great work - looks like she'll be able to handle some serious weight! Good idea on the heavyweight construction - you never know where you'll have to haul that MTD out from.....
It has been years, since I've seen one, but I'd pretty much guarantee that it's the real deal. I remember us using one of these trailers, with a plank along the front of the box and two guys would sit there with their feet on the tongue, while one guy would drive the tractor. We would load this buggy (trailer) right up with topsoil, with the two guys sitting on it and those Gravely 816, 8163T and the 8199KT tractors would still move us around with little to no effort.
A nice find. It will look great in no time. You seem to be restoring it with tlc.
You do know that you can get a replacement wood kit from Craig Seabrook over in OH. I can PM you his e-mail if needed. He's using ash and yellow pine with the correct rivets. Of course he has the decals as well.
I thought about that but since this is the later-style cart, and has now been modified so heavily, I was not planning on putting the Gravely name back on it. Oh, and the local lumberyards I've looked at have nothing but ply and SPF lumber, nothing fancy whatsoever....
I may have a lead on tires from ebay, crossing my fingers.
Kendas... those would work fine, thanks for the link!
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