[yamato72]

I'm going to look at it tonight, seller says only surface rust.

From my Gravely brochures and the IPL, it sure looks to be a Gravely cart.

Did Gravely manufacture the carts themselves or buy them off-the-shelf? I have never seen a similar design from another manufacturer.

TIA

 

[arcam8123]

Looks like one to me. I'm pretty sure they subbed stuff loke that out.

 

[yamato72]

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.

 

[yamato72]

Alright I brought it home

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.

 

[DJ in WV]

Nice grab. A good solid undercarriage is the important part.

You did good getting the ball, split hitch, and adapter too.

 

[arcam8123]

Looks like it has a split hitch, hitch ball and a mount for a sleeve hitch on it as well.

 

[Dwjr]

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........

 

[eveled]

I had to patch mine too. They are definately more solid than the newer ones that can be found now. Ed

 

[yamato72]

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....

 

[yamato72]

Just remembered I took some more pics today. I love the dump handle arrangement. Simple and robust

Split hitch is pretty much rusted together so some persuasion is in order. I may see about just replacing that round pipe.

This is one tough trailer

...and I found out the wife swiped the camera when I wasn't looking

 

[DJ in WV]

You're right. That split hitch is in rough shape.

 

[yamato72]

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.

 

[yamato72]

Here's the design I gave to the welder. Fabrication is supposed to happen this week:

 

[yamato72]

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.

 

[Mickeymotormount]

Marc, that looks great so far. Can't wait to see the finished pics of her. Good luck with it.

 

[DJ in WV]

Looking nice. The blasters did a good job.

So what kind of tires are you using that they are back ordered? Just curious.

Thanks for the update.

 

[yamato72]

Looking nice. The blasters did a good job.

So what kind of tires are you using that they are back ordered? Just curious.

Thanks for the update.

lol Carlisle Turf-Savers from summitracing.com, $41 shipped, for the pair.

(if they actually show up, that is a screaming deal)

 

[DJ in WV]

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.

 

[yamato72]

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.

 

[yamato72]

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....