Round bale wagon bunk construction.

[BarnyardEngineering]

My round bale wagon currently has 4x4 wooden bunks, but only 7 of them, spaced too far apart for 4x4 round bales.

I want to replace the bunks, space them for 4x4 bales, and add an 8th so that I can more easily stack 4 bales on the bottom row.

Do I really need 1/4" wall steel or will 1/8" wall be adequate? There's a guy on Marketplace selling 20' lengths of 4x4 for $200 each, which is a fraction of what the steel yards want. My gut says 1/8" wall is fine.

 

[DRussell]

My round bale wagon currently has 4x4 wooden bunks, but only 7 of them, spaced too far apart for 4x4 round bales.

I want to replace the bunks, space them for 4x4 bales, and add an 8th so that I can more easily stack 4 bales on the bottom row.

Do I really need 1/4" wall steel or will 1/8" wall be adequate? There's a guy on Marketplace selling 20' lengths of 4x4 for $200 each, which is a fraction of what the steel yards want. My gut says 1/8" wall is fine.

You making dry bales or wet bales? You're probably fine with dry bales. Probably not for wet bales.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

The guy seems to want the same for 1/8 or 1/4 wall tubing, so for the same price I'll probably do 1/4 wall.

 

[SamV]

I would definitely use the 1/4" tubing!