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Post by jbird on Sept 18, 2019 11:03:06 GMT -6
So I have been working on a project that my son has dubbed "the battle wagon". My son claimed that the light grey color looks like to old WW2 german grey...and some how battle wagon came to be. We bought a recently freshened up gravity cart (new tires, paint, patch work, wood and bearings) for $250. The hopper is 6 feet wide and 10 feet long and the top is about 6 feet off the ground. The intent is to put a deck on this and then an enclosed hunting blind. The reason for all this is that I have an area that needs an enclosed blind, but it floods in the spring real bad. As such I can use small metal ladder stands and the like, but wood structures will suffer from the water damage. As such, we but the blind....on wheels! Thus far all the 2x's are from wood I had on the farm already so I have only purchased the sheeting, coated screws and the windows thus far (still in progress). The enclosed blind is 6 feet wide outside dimension and is 7 feet deep outside dimension. It's mostly 2 x 4 construction. I got 24" tall x 48" wide, vinyl, double slider windows coming. I am NOT a carpenter, so the fit and finish isn't the best....but that is why they make caulk and expanding foam! Everything is made in modular form to allow easier install on the platform. So I first started off with the "deck" and used 2x8, but they are not cooperating as planned so that will be re-done and I will make the 2x8 joists and use sheeting. I want this blind to be very well sealed and that warping is going to work against me....so fuck it....I'll do it a different way!  Below is the front and side wall. I am doing all of this on my own, and building without any plans, so there is a lot of thinking and building and then more thinking....  As I finished framing the other 2 walls and some sheeting and started framing the roof it was brought up that it wasn't a proper construction project without a flag. Wall sheeting is only 3/8" plywood but the roof is 5/8" plywood supported by 2x6. My son wants to be able to get up on top of the roof and use it as well.  30" wide door and roughly a 3 foot deep porch/landing area. The tall corner posts are to support a railing for the roof, but I think the front ones will have to go as they are complicating things.  Right now the plan will be to paint or seal everything - I may apply siding of some sort later. Roof covering will be either shingles or maybe rubber sheet covered. Roof has slight grade the slopes towarss the front so water will drain away from the landing and ladder area. I'll continue to update with progress pics as I get time to work on it. I hope to have the new deck done soon and we can start putting panels on the wagon. For now working at ground level is nice and a lot safer.... |
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Post by Tooln on Sept 18, 2019 13:17:50 GMT -6
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Post by jbird on Sept 18, 2019 14:33:03 GMT -6
I guess you can't see the ones I linked to from another site. I'll see if I can try it a different way.....sorry. |
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Post by jbird on Sept 18, 2019 14:35:23 GMT -6
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Post by Tooln on Sept 18, 2019 14:52:02 GMT -6
Fill the gravity box with corn, open the chute. Shot as they are coming for dinner.
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Post by Freeborn on Sept 19, 2019 4:58:53 GMT -6
Are you going to be unassembling the blind on the ground and then assembling it in the wagon?
It's a great idea, I have seen other builds on different forums, they seem to work well.
If you place it in a wet spot it may sink or settle allot, will you move it out each fall?
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Post by jbird on Sept 19, 2019 8:20:11 GMT -6
Fill the gravity box with corn, open the chute. Shot as they are coming for dinner. Baiting is illegal here. So no corn in the wagon. I contemplated using the space as storage via a trap door in the floor, but that just seems to complicate things for now. Maybe down the road...but not right now. |
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Post by jbird on Sept 19, 2019 8:40:34 GMT -6
Are you going to be unassembling the blind on the ground and then assembling it in the wagon? It's a great idea, I have seen other builds on different forums, they seem to work well. If you place it in a wet spot it may sink or settle allot, will you move it out each fall? Yes - the blind is made in a modular form so I can disassemble and then reassemble on the wagon. The panels are heavy for one person and I plan on using the FEL on the tractor to assist.....but trying to build stick by stick on the wagon seemed like a fall accident just waiting to happen. The plan is to move it out as soon as we are done hunting for the year...to higher ground. It will be moved as needed in the summer as my son wants to use it to target practice and sight rifles from as well (the roof is heavier so he can shoot from a prone position up there if he wants. We will move into position in the early fall for hunting. I have some large pieces of slate that we intend on using to help distribute the weight and to jack and level the blind once in location as well. I am investigating adding leveling jacks (like they use on RV's) later as well. The area we will be using this is a flood plain but the soil drains fairly well and as long as we avoid the flooding we should be OK with out a lot of risk of it "sinking". The mobility of this is the key. If I want to use it in a different area next year I can. Hell I can even move it in the same season if I want...not recommended, but I can. Right now the plan is functionality...later we can pretty it up (siding) and add some more "nice to have" type features (levelers). |
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Post by Freeborn on Sept 19, 2019 9:14:05 GMT -6
Are you going to be unassembling the blind on the ground and then assembling it in the wagon? It's a great idea, I have seen other builds on different forums, they seem to work well. If you place it in a wet spot it may sink or settle allot, will you move it out each fall? Yes - the blind is made in a modular form so I can disassemble and then reassemble on the wagon. The panels are heavy for one person and I plan on using the FEL on the tractor to assist.....but trying to build stick by stick on the wagon seemed like a fall accident just waiting to happen. The plan is to move it out as soon as we are done hunting for the year...to higher ground. It will be moved as needed in the summer as my son wants to use it to target practice and sight rifles from as well (the roof is heavier so he can shoot from a prone position up there if he wants. We will move into position in the early fall for hunting. I have some large pieces of slate that we intend on using to help distribute the weight and to jack and level the blind once in location as well. I am investigating adding leveling jacks (like they use on RV's) later as well. The area we will be using this is a flood plain but the soil drains fairly well and as long as we avoid the flooding we should be OK with out a lot of risk of it "sinking". The mobility of this is the key. If I want to use it in a different area next year I can. Hell I can even move it in the same season if I want...not recommended, but I can. Right now the plan is functionality...later we can pretty it up (siding) and add some more "nice to have" type features (levelers). Good thinking on the build. If I could find a unit near my place I might try doing the same thing. I was thinking of building a blind on a sled system but building anything out of wood you drag around probably would not hold up very well. There was a guy making steel sleds but he stopped building them. I don't think he was making any money out of them. |
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Post by jbird on Sept 19, 2019 11:30:34 GMT -6
Yes - the blind is made in a modular form so I can disassemble and then reassemble on the wagon. The panels are heavy for one person and I plan on using the FEL on the tractor to assist.....but trying to build stick by stick on the wagon seemed like a fall accident just waiting to happen. The plan is to move it out as soon as we are done hunting for the year...to higher ground. It will be moved as needed in the summer as my son wants to use it to target practice and sight rifles from as well (the roof is heavier so he can shoot from a prone position up there if he wants. We will move into position in the early fall for hunting. I have some large pieces of slate that we intend on using to help distribute the weight and to jack and level the blind once in location as well. I am investigating adding leveling jacks (like they use on RV's) later as well. The area we will be using this is a flood plain but the soil drains fairly well and as long as we avoid the flooding we should be OK with out a lot of risk of it "sinking". The mobility of this is the key. If I want to use it in a different area next year I can. Hell I can even move it in the same season if I want...not recommended, but I can. Right now the plan is functionality...later we can pretty it up (siding) and add some more "nice to have" type features (levelers). Good thinking on the build. If I could find a unit near my place I might try doing the same thing. I was thinking of building a blind on a sled system but building anything out of wood you drag around probably would not hold up very well. There was a guy making steel sleds but he stopped building them. I don't think he was making any money out of them. My boy found this cart on FB, craigslist somewhere for $300....we paid $250. It was a long drive home about 40 miles - only able to get to about 30mph before it develops the "death wobble" on us. But for the condition it was in...well worth it. I didn't NEED it to be in great condition...but I didn't want some rust bucket with seized bearings either. All I really wanted was the frame and the running gear, but with the metal being in good shape it seemed silly to pull the hopper off to scrap it just to try to re-construct a wood "tower" (especially considering scrap prices are crap right now). I am still concerned about if it will sit high enough for hunting...since floor level will be roughly 6.5 feet off the ground. But we will see. I plan on it being mostly used for gun hunting so the lack of elevation we can make up for in range. It's a bit big compared to my other blinds as well, but the room was there so I figured I might as well put it to use. I am sure I will find improvements that need to be made or things I wish I had done differently, but so far so good. |
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Post by jbird on Sept 23, 2019 9:25:31 GMT -6
Just a little progress.... Got the sides all sheeted up  Got the roof decked  Re-done the wagon deck with frame and sheeting as well.....much better.  Got to get it painted, windows in and on the wagon.... |
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Post by Tooln on Sept 23, 2019 15:23:21 GMT -6
Looking good, going to camo paint it?
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Post by Foggy on Sept 23, 2019 15:43:40 GMT -6
Yes - the blind is made in a modular form so I can disassemble and then reassemble on the wagon. The panels are heavy for one person and I plan on using the FEL on the tractor to assist.....but trying to build stick by stick on the wagon seemed like a fall accident just waiting to happen. The plan is to move it out as soon as we are done hunting for the year...to higher ground. It will be moved as needed in the summer as my son wants to use it to target practice and sight rifles from as well (the roof is heavier so he can shoot from a prone position up there if he wants. We will move into position in the early fall for hunting. I have some large pieces of slate that we intend on using to help distribute the weight and to jack and level the blind once in location as well. I am investigating adding leveling jacks (like they use on RV's) later as well. The area we will be using this is a flood plain but the soil drains fairly well and as long as we avoid the flooding we should be OK with out a lot of risk of it "sinking". The mobility of this is the key. If I want to use it in a different area next year I can. Hell I can even move it in the same season if I want...not recommended, but I can. Right now the plan is functionality...later we can pretty it up (siding) and add some more "nice to have" type features (levelers). Good thinking on the build. If I could find a unit near my place I might try doing the same thing. I was thinking of building a blind on a sled system but building anything out of wood you drag around probably would not hold up very well. There was a guy making steel sleds but he stopped building them. I don't think he was making any money out of them. I saw some really nice steel sleds that had a ladder and landing on top all welded together. They were made to hold a box blind on top. They were selling for about $800 two years ago.....and when I went to buy one this year the owner of the hardware store told me they were no longer being made as they were too expensive to build (by his sources). These were at the hardware store on Hwy 371 at Bakus (cannot remember the name now). Very nicely built and were quite popular at one time. I think they were about 8 feet high at the platform and mostly made of tube steel. I'd sure like to have one or two of those stands and put a Redneck blind atop one of em. Might be a good project for an entrepreneur like batman or ? to make these in kit form and sell em nationwide? (I want two) FORE! |
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Post by jbird on Sept 24, 2019 8:10:12 GMT -6
Looking good, going to camo paint it? I will paint it....not sure if I will go some sort of camo or not. I want to paint it just to protect it, until I can maybe put some metal on it next year. I want to paint the interior flat black and I will probably paint the exterior a flat olive drab or the like and then turn the kids loose with the tan, brown and black and see what happens. Right now I'm focus on function first.....then we will see what it looks like. |
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Post by jbird on Sept 30, 2019 9:52:41 GMT -6
  So I got it painted and up on the wagon.... Modular design helped, but man am I getting old for this shit! My hands feel like I have been in a fist fight! It's roughly 14' to the roof. It's a little unstable on the move, but once we get it placed, leveled and the like I think it will work out well. |
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