Part of my low-rider wagon build is what to do with the left-over parts, the axles supports and the handle. I thought I should build another wagon from the parts, all I needed was some tires and a platform to put stuff on. Then one morning while laying in bed, I had an epiphany, build a trailer for the low-rider wagon. Because of the expense of building the low-rider has exceeded my expectations, I decided to do this build as cheap as possible. The first part was cleaning the leftover parts, they were pretty oxidized like the wagon tub. Instead of using a rubbing compound, I just used some spray cleaner and a piece of Scotch-Brite. Everything came out looking good enough, the only painting I may do is spray a bit of black on the rusty spots.

I have some wood slats from a bed in my shed and decided to use one to build the frame the bed. I’m not sure what kind of wood it is but it’s fairly heavy. It measures 2¼ by 1 inch. The outside of the frame measures 52 by 28 inches. I will add some cross braces to support the axle supports and hold the bed material. I am debating on whether to use plywood or some cedar fence boards, the cedar would be much cheaper. The only thing I have currently is a piece of inch thick OSB, that would make the trailer too heavy.

One of the items I will have to buy is the wheels/tires. I tried to find some off Craigslist but there was nothing available and I sure didn’t want to buy another wagon for the tires. Then I got an email from Harbor Freight, they had some on sale for only $6 each so I picked up 4 of them. The only issue is the wheels have a 5/8” mounting hole and the wagon axles are only 7/16 of an inch thick. I searched for some to use as a bearing to fill the gap and found some ½ inch copper pipe that is almost perfect. I am not building the trailer to hold a lot of weight so the copper should work fine. The wheels have bearings so the copper shouldn’t wear at all. These wheels are also easily disassembled which will make painting them a breeze if I decide I don’t want white wheels.

One issue I have to deal with is mounting the forward axle support. The support is designed to limit the turning radius of the wagon to prevent it from tipping over. There is a mating piece on the wagon tub that is welded on. I don’t want to try to cut that off, so I decided to make one of my own. I really don’t have the tools to make one out of metal, so I made one out of wood. I used a piece of Paudak, a very hard wood from Central America. I’m going to add a piece of metal between the piece of wood and axle support to prevent wear on the wood.

 

Cut some dadoes into the frame of the low-rider trailer, this will give the trailer a cleaner look.

The cross braces for the rear axle support.  This wagon is going to be about 20 inches longer than the stock John Deere wagon.

The front axle support. I doubled up the wood here so the turn stop will fit. I have a couple metal straps to add for additional support.

After gluing and screwing the cross braces to the frame, I threw on some cheap dollar store yellow paint. These braces won’t be seen when this is done.

 I can finally do some outside work without freezing so I took the frame outside and used my router to round over the frame rails. I did both sides of the top of the frame rails and the outside of the bottom of the frame rails.

The wood I used to build this came from the bottom slats for a queen size bed frame. Everything was nailed together using pallet nails making the slats fun to take apart. This also meant a lot of nail holes. I filled all the nail holes with wood putty. I also cut the cross braces before I made the frame perimeter, this caused the braces to be a bit short. I spread some putty to fill those gaps. I’m going to make a trim pieces to cover the short braces. I haven’t decided on what color to paint the frame, I will take any suggestions anyone might have.

I also filled the screw heads too.

After ordering the wrong part and waiting 12 days for it to arrive, I finally got the part I needed. The seller took pity on me for the long wait and sent the new part Fedex Express, I got it in only 3 days. I was able to finish the test fit for my wagon handle and it will work great. The only thing I discovered is I will need to wait till the assembly is put together before painting the parts. 

I now have matching grips for the upper handle. 

I am using a clevis pin to attach the handle to the wagon, this allows me to easily remove the handle if needed during transport. 

I was debating whether to do something to the inside of the wagon tub. My first thought was some kind of mat material. But I was thinking my great grand daughters would enjoy wagon rides so I decided to put a padded seat in the wagon. I found many suitable materials. I first thought was some corduroy but that is not readily available anymore, especially in the colors I wanted. After a few days of searching had one of those annoying ads on Facebook pop up for a discount fabric retailer. I checked it out and found some vinyl in the colors I wanted and the price was about 1/3 that Joann would charge for the same stuff. I bought a yard of both yellow and green. 

I also priced some cushioning for the seat and found poly foam to be pretty expensive. While at a Dollar Tree looking for something else, I found something that will work great, pool noodles. I only need 2 and you can't beat the price. 

I'm going to use a piece of plywood for a base for the seat. Previous experience has shown that stapling vinyl directly to wood can be fraught with peril, the staples are easily pulled through the material. A way to avoid this is to used staple strips. I found some on Amazon but thought $18 for a 6 foot piece was too much, I will need about 14 feet of it. While checking the inside of the travel trailer last week I found the perfect material and it's cheap. Ikea sells cutting mats, a 2 pack is $2. I bought a pack and cut one mat into what I will need and still have some extra if needed.