Little red wagon

[Lee Schierer]

My DIL wanted a wagon for her son, my youngest grandson, so she can pull him around the neghbor hood and yard. A few years ago we had picked up plans for wooden wagon at a woodshow up in Woodstock Ontario, but I had never undertaken the task to build one. After reviewing the plans with my DIL she approved and the project started for his second birthday present. It was an interesting project. The instructions with the plans were pretty good, but a few key dimensions had to be figured out as I went along.

The wagon floor is baltic birch type plywood, the handle, sides and parts of the runnng gear are all soft maple. The side gates are poplar. The maple portions were coated with three coats of a outdoor rated polyurethane and the side gates were covered with a glossy red enamel. I picked up the pneumatic tires at a local Tractor Supply for $8 each. They have ball bearings so the wagon rolls pretty easily across any type of terrain.

My chief inspector has given it a cat scan and pronounced it fit for use and has already taken to napping in it. It will get delivered next weekend, so I'm sure Grandpa will be giving lots of rides.

[David Keller NC]

Lee - Very nice, but I might suggest spacing the wheels out a couple of inches on each side. My thought is that with the high fence sides, a youngster is likely to want to lean on them while standing up in the wagon, potentially causing it to tip over.

[John Keeton]

Well now, ain't that cute!! Good job Lee, but I do agree with David on the wheels. It does look a bit tipsy. Could you glue on extensions to the axle hubs and use a longer axle?

[John Thompson]

Nicely done Lee and will be well recieved. Those are some pretty heavy duty wheels on the wagon and much larger than the narrow ones I had on my red wagon as a kid.

[Prashun Patel]

Nice fit and finish!
I particularly like the handle.
What hardware did you use for the front wheel pivot?
A Lazy susan?

[Ken Garlock]

Very good job, Lee. I am sure that all users will be very happy with it, at least the cat is

Give it a good workout this weekend.

[John Schreiber]

Your grandson will be the envy of his neighborhood. At least the other kids dads will be amazed. I especially love the curve in the handle. It gives a bit of grace to the design.

[Lee Schierer]

Lee - Very nice, but I might suggest spacing the wheels out a couple of inches on each side. My thought is that with the high fence sides, a youngster is likely to want to lean on them while standing up in the wagon, potentially causing it to tip over.

The wheel base can be expanded if it proves tippy the axles are 5/8 steel so extending them a couple of inches would hurt them. So far it seems pretty stable partially due to the weight. We'll test it next weekend.

The front pivot is what the plans called for, a 4" lazy suzan bearing. It is rated for 300 pounds so it should hold up, if not I think a 5" bearing would fit.