This listing is for what I believe is a very scarce farm wagon running gear marketed by the Montgomery Ward Company sometime in the middle 1930′s or so. Part of what makes this so interesting to me is the fancy cast aluminum hub caps. The best one is shown in the second photo of this listing. Imagine how nice this wagon running gear would look if it was restored with new dark red paint (like Oliver red) on the wheels and with dark green paint (like Oliver green) on the rest of the parts. It is equipped with wheels with drop center rims that accept 18 pneumatic automotive or implement tires. That larger 18″ tire may make this running gear earlier than similar later wagons that used 16″ pneumatic automotive or implement tires. This wagon can be restored and would be the hit of the tractor and engine shows if it were used as the base for a very interesting engine display. Some of my internet research indicates that this running gear may have been built by the Electric Wheel Company somewhere in the mid-west. I believe that those hub caps for the Oliver wagon running gear said “Oliver” on them rather than the words “Wards LoLoad” like the hub caps for this wagon running gear have on them. The third from the last photo of this listing shows the Oliver version of a wagon running gear that appears to be identical to this running gear except for the addition of spring bolsters front and back. Please notice the very vulnerable and fragile cast aluminum hubcaps, cast steel I-beam section front and rear axles, tubular steel front and rear wishbones and the auto steer hardware on the front axle that match the running gear I have listed here. I believe this photo is of a page from the Crestline Publishing book on Oliver farm equipment. The heading above this photo lists the following features: “Spring Bolster All Steel, Auto-Steer, Timken-Bearing, Combination Wagon and Trailer”. The caption below the third from the last photo reads. In addition to the Oliver all-steel farm wagon, the Oliver-Electric was available on rubber tires. This one is shown with spring bolsters, but this was an option. In addition, the rubber tire version shown here was equipped with Timken roller bearings. The rubber tires and the Timken bearings permitted higher road speeds than were possible with earlier styles and show the transition from small, lightweight models to heavier models that were capable of higher road speeds. As a mechanical engineer, I noticed that the unique construction of this running gear is very interesting. Both the front and rear axles are cast from steel, are identical and have bosses for king pins to go through to hold the spindles in place. Both of the identical axles have the words PAT. APPLIED FOR cast into the area between the upper and lower flanges. The front and rear spindles are entirely different. The front spindles steer and have steering arms cast or forged into them. The rear spindles are fixed and do not turn at all. They have identical arms cast or forged into them that project inward about 8 on both the front and back sides of the rear axle. The wishbones are identical for both the front and rear axles. The front axle wishbone stabilizes the front axle. The threaded ends of the rear axle wishbone go through both of the arms on the insides of the rear spindles. Both of those wishbone ends clamp those rear spindle inner arms securely to the center flange of the rear axle to keep the rear spindles from steering at all. This unique method of construction seems very novel if not economical to me. It also seems to be a rather complicated and quite expensive way to build an otherwise very simple rear axle for a wagon running gear. Perhaps there was a very good reason to make a running gear rear axle this complicated. I have no idea what that reason might have been so please help me out here and enlighten me if you possibly can. All four of the front and rear wheels appear to be identical and have the characters “F&H” and “FC41″ cast into the hubs. I believe these very special wheels were made by French & Hecht who also made a lot of different pneumatic tire wheels for various makes of farm tractors and implements. Was French & Hecht by chance a division of or owned by the Electric Wheel Company? All of the 4 wheels are very sound and run true. The left rear wheel has a rim that is in nearly perfect condition with only very list surface rust between the tire beads. The left front wheel rim is almost as nice with only minor pitting between the tire beads. The right front wheel has a thin and rusted through section about 4 inches long on the bead of the rim as you can see in the 9th photo of this listing. It would not be very difficult to cut a section from a 1932 Ford wheel or similar 18 wheel rim and replace this rusted section. The rim of the right rear wheel is not shown well in any photos because it is beyond repair and will have to be replaced. There is at least one vendor that advertises in the antique tractor magazines that specializes in replacing the rims on wheels like these. As you can see in the third photo of this listing, the arm where the hitch tongue attaches has been broken and fusion welded with a torch. I suspect someone was backing this wagon up at some time and jack knifed the tongue and broke the steel casting that holds the tongue and steers both of the front wheels. The reach of this running gear telescopes through a casting at the front of the rear wishbone as well as a hole in the center of the rear axle. As this gear is shown in the first photo, the wheelbase measures about 85 inches. The wheelbase can be shortened by 6 inches or lengthened by up to 33 inches. This adjustability gives this running gear a range of wheelbases that run from a minimum of about 79 inches to a maximum of about 118 inches. The front axle has both of the vertical members that hold the wagon box in place but they are missing from both ends of the rear axle. If you have or know of any of these parts, an 18″ rubber tired wheel or any of the cast aluminum hubcaps that say “Wards LoLoad”, “Oliver”, “International Harvester”, “John Deere”, “Electric Wheel or anything else on them, I would be interested in them to make this running gear more complete. The last pair of photos show a pair of steel wheels with hub caps from a running gear like this and those wheels with hub caps are part of this listing. Fortunately, they have a pair of very nice cast aluminum hub caps that are correct for this running gear. Both of those hub caps say “Wards LoLoad” on them just like the hub cap shown in the second photo of this listing. The man I bought them from in Washington state will deliver them to a friend’s place in Missoula in western Montana some time next week. I will pick them up there in the next few weeks. The hub caps on that pair of wheels will be perfect for this running gear. The new owner of this running gear can possibly sell those two steel wheels to someone who might need them for another Electric Wheel running gear whether it be from Wards, Oliver or some other retailer. The addition of these two nice hub caps to the pair that are on this running gear with give a total of 3 very nice caps with one that may be repairable depending on your aluminum fabricating and welding skills. These very visible and distinctive hub caps are what sets this running gear apart from the others. If you or a friend are handy with making aluminum or brass casting patterns or machining parts on a CNC lathe or milling machine, custom hub caps could be made. They could have your name, your business’s name or anything else one could imagine on them. The sky is the limit when coming up with combinations for custom fabricated hub caps for this running gear. I have plenty of free and reasonably secure storage here in Montana and will store this gem for free if you or a friend are planning a trip to beautiful Montana later this year of next year. I also have several friends in the collectible car, truck, tractor, toy and sign hobbies that travel throughout the USA and Canada. Perhaps one of the them can safely and economically deliver this running gear to you depending on where you live and how soon you might want this running gear. I will add more information soon. The item “Montgomery Ward LoLoad Farm Wagon Oliver Triple Box Hit Miss Gas Engine Steam” is in sale since Thursday, March 17, 2016. This item is in the category “Business & Industrial\Heavy Equipment Parts & Accs\Antique & Vintage Equip Parts”. The seller is “toysanyone” and is located in Bozeman, Montana. This item can’t be shipped, the buyer must pick up the item.
- Brand: John Deere
- Part Type: International Harvester
- Model Year: 1935
- Model: Triple Box
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
