Our Own Farm Wagon

I dream of having a small tractor with a PTO and lots of attachments. In addition to a tiller and mower, I’d like to have our own farm wagon. Maybe turn it into a float for the Labor Day Parade. This is silly as the open area of the farm is still pretty small, but a girl can dream!

Last summer I decided I wanted a little wagon at least. A trusty red radio flyer perhaps (to paint orange). They are expensive though, even used. Mom was browsing one of the Facebook classified groups one afternoon and she got super excited. Someone had a Radio Flyer Towne & Country for $15 here in town. We went to look at it and it was in rough shape–but the price was right!

The wagon had set outside for who knows how long and the plywood the bottom was made of was peeling and not in good shape. I was going to patch it since I planned to paint it, but dad decided to make a new bottom piece out of 1/4″ plywood with heavier bottom supports. This was a good call. The old one was flimsy and in worse shape than it appeared at first.

I lightly sanded the slats then painted them with Sherwin-Williams’ Pennywise.

The bottom I painted black with Sherwin-Williams’ Tricorn Black (from Lowes).

All of the metal parts got lightly sanded then spray painted black. The white wheels weren’t going to give the look I wanted, plus they were starting to rust, so I also spray painted those black. I didn’t tape off the rubber part, I figure it will wear off over time. I didn’t realize the hub caps would get ruined once removed, but Ace Hardware sells replacements. They only have white, so I painted them black as well (do this after reinstalling the wheels).

To reassemble the wagon, holes were drilled in the bottom for the new bolts. Those were the only hardware I replaced. The slat brackets and screws I left original and slightly weathered.

The last step was to paint the slats with our name and location. I used my Silhouette machine to cut the words out of vinyl then positioned them where I wanted the words. I decided to use a Sharpie marker to color them in rather than messing with paint. It’s going to get weathered, but I think that will add to the look.

The finished product:

I love the finished product. This is something I pictured in my mind that came out exactly how I wanted it. And now it’s ready to get dirty hauling produce and chicken feed!

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