Help! Hayride wagon needed for CT/NY Nature Center

[hennydamule]

Hi again all TBNers! Haven't been on in a while since dealing with 1 1/2 year old, another in the oven, 210 yr old house renovation, running nature center, and worst of all... Broken BX23!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

But I know where to go when help is needed. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

For those of you in the CT/NY area, I run the Woodcock Nature Center in Wilton, CT. We are starting a new fundraiser for the kids this Halloween, offering a non-haunted hike for young children. The hike will have costumed characters reading scripts that teach the kids about misunderstood animals like spiders, snakes, bats, etc.

Which brings me to TBN. Does anyone have a wagon that they could lend the Nature Center to use as a hayride for this fundraiser? We were hoping to get a hayride to fit about 15 people, half kids / half parents. By Halloween I should have the BX23 fixed, I hope, to pull the ride myself.

Many Thanks As Always,
Hen

 

[RobertN]

Another possible option is a flatbed trailer. I have towed Cub Scouts in a local Christmas parade for four years now. I tow my 16' flatbed trailer behind my Farmall. I put hay bales on it for seating. They usually have decorations on it too. A couple times it was a sleigh, last year they set a tent campsite up with hay bales around it.

I am very particularr when I tow. The tractor does not move unless everyone is seated. If someone gets up while we are moving, I stop right away. We usually have a parent on either side walking next to the float to make sure everyone is safe.

I tie an extra length of wire to my breakaway brake switch on the trailer, so it reaches to the tractor seat. I can pull it and activate the brakes on the trailer in an emergency.

Towing people around is fine in flat area's. Watch the slopes though, even if minimal. My trailer weighs 1600lbs. Add some hay bales, and a dozen people, and you have a sizeable load for a small tractor to control. You'r looking at 3500lbs+ for just what I mention. That's a lot to stop with a small tractor.

It is a ton of fun to do the parades; we won 1st place 2 of 4 years. But, the operator has to be REALLY careful.

 

[hennydamule]

Thanks for the suggestion Rob!

I'd be willing to try that to if anybody has one to lend a nature center for Oct. 29th and 30th.

Junkman? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[BB_TX]

I would agree with Robert. As neat as the old time hay wagons are for hay rides, for safety sake (especially with kids) I would opt for a flat bed trailer with side rails. Hay bales around the perimeter with loose hay in the middle. No legs hanging over the side. Less likely for a fall and not as far down if someone did. With a little work, you could hide the fact that is was a basic utility trailer.

 

[RobertN]

I'll bet a local Boy Scout Troop with some Tenderfoot Scouts could use an hour of community service for thier 2nd class badge. They could decorate a flatbed trailer so you'd never know what it was /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

One other thing of note. Is this a hydro tractor that's doing the towing? If it is a gear tractor, you have to be REAL careful; the clutches like to grab, and can make a jerky start with a trailer full of people. I have to be very careful about that when towing with the Farmall.

 

[hennydamule]

Robert, thanks for the warning about the gears, but I'm hydro, so we should be good. Maybe this is the excuse that I needed to buy a trailer. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif