[Fiziksgeek]

Well, I went ahead an ordered a 6500LW from Country Manufacturing.

http://www.countrymfg.com/farmers_wagon.htm

The shipment arrived today via Fedex Freight. The tractor trailer showed up 2 hours after my delivery window....not a huge deal, and not Country Manufacturing's fault.

Anyway, It arrived around 4pm. The box looked in reasonably good condition. I opened one end and peaked in, everything looked in decent shape, so I accepted the delivery. I used my GC2400 to get the box off the tractor trailer!!

Not a huge fan of their packing, lots of metal on metal rubbing, and as observed by others, the paint is pretty thin as it is. I began to unpack and sort out all the parts to begin assembly after dinner. The metal seems to be plenty strong with decent welds, just medicore paint. I pulled out the assmebly instructions and started reading, got my tools together, and began.

First step was to attach the wheel carrier to the bottom of the main frame...then it hit me...where were the wheels..? Took a look around, scratched my head a bit, nope, no wheels.

Pretty sure even I can't misplace 4-16 inch diamter wheels....So annoying. Will call first thing in the morning, but probably going to have to wait another few days to get them. Hopefully they will ship in some method other than fedex freight so I dont have to take more time off to wait for a delivery...

 

[Jim_WV]

Nothing like forgetting to send the wheels :fing20:.

Congrats though and hope it all works out well .

 

[Whirly]

was everything supposed to b in one box...... or was it shipped in 2 boxes...& Fedex forgot one box..

my former work place had that happen thro fedex....only delivered half the order...3 days later...the second half appears at loadin dock..

 

[Fiziksgeek]

No such luck, I called Country Manufacturing this morning, they will ship out the wheels/tires today, but I likely wont get them until next week. At least they are coming FedEx ground, so they will just be left at the door, I wont have to schedule and be here for the delivery...

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Round 2.

Received a box from Country Manufacturing. This time it clearly looks like the box was opened and 2 of the 4 wheels either fell out or were stolen. Already called, they are sending 2 more wheels. I forwarded them these pictures for a claim against FedEx. The guys at Country Manufacturing don't sound the friendliest, but they did apologize for my troubles, and so far, have done what they said they would do.

 

[Jim_WV]

Wow !, you've certainly had a time with this thing, at least we appreciate the information and updates. It help members know who to buy and who NOT to buy from :fing20:

Hope you get the second set of wheels in soon :fing32:.

 

[7sleeper]

The wheels sure look different from the pictures.

7

 

[Fiziksgeek]

The wheels sure look different from the pictures.

7

I think they are the correct tires. Here area couple of pics from their website showing the tires that are supposed to come with the trailer model I ordered.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Finally got all the wheels!! Had enough time to put them on and install the bed. I used some left over 5/4x6 PT decking that I had form building my kids a play set. I put a couple grooves on the boards for overlap. This should help keep the joints from opening up as the wood ages and dries out. Its not tongue and groove, I believe I created a ship-lap joint on the bed.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

And to give you guys an idea of the paint quality...or lack of...here are a couple quick pictures...I know who their painter is...I have his fingerprints!!

 

[no2498]

sure dont look like the wheels are placed right to me
is to be the same as the first pic on the site
john

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Looks right to me...maybe just the angle of the picture..?

If you go to the link in the first post, its hsould look like the one at the bottom on the page..

sure dont look like the wheels are placed right to me
is to be the same as the first pic on the site
john

 

[Marauderer]

Interesting thread. Overall with the shipping problems and paint aside what do you think of the overall quality for what you paid for?

 

[7sleeper]

I use old engine oil to "impregnate" the wood that's treated unfriendly but should have a little bit protection. I know it's unhealthy and bad for the environment but the wood last's longer in my experience.

7

 

[Fiziksgeek]

I am out of town right now, attending a conference, but I have a few minutes and just had to post a couple pics!

I finished the bed this past weekend, and put it to use right away. Inside dimensions of the bed are 36" wide, 70" long, and 21" high, which gives it a volume of 30 cubic feet, or a little more than 1 cubic yard.

I immediately put it to use spreading mulch. It takes 5 or 6 bucket loads to fill up, and seems to have no problems with the weight. I would not load it full like this if I were spreading soil or stone, or something with a higher density.

It doesn't seem to dump very high, not nearly high enough to actually dump all the material, which was OK for the task, as I didn't want/need a full load of mulch in one spot, but needed to spread it out anyway. I am going to take a closer look when I get home and see if I installed something backward which is limiting the dump height..?

For ~$700 bucks, I don't know if it was a steal of a deal, but I like the size, bigger than the 10-20 cubic foot dump carts. I wish it had a slightly wider stance. I have granite block curbing all around the driveway, and I feel I need to creep over them with the cart in town for fear of tipping over. I also wish it had a jack stand, but I can add on cheap enough.

 

[PA318Guy]

Looks like it'll haul quite a bit of material. I'd also want one that dumps everything though; is it possible a 2nd stage isn't coming up out of the hydraulics?

 

[SandDawg]

Good review!

Thumbs up to Country MFG for shipping out missing parts ASAP...twice!

Looking at product/paint quality, price and shipping cost, think I'll just weld up my own cart using as much scrap steel as I can find to keep new steel purchases as low as possible. That would be the best option for me. For nonmetal workers, this seems to be a fair deal. Sad that while wagon is brand new I would have to repaint everything before assembling it! :banghead3 Alot easier to do it before putting it together than disassembling it, cleaning all rust off, priming/painting and then reassembly!

Thanks!!