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It started out collecting signs. That's it, just signs............Then came a visible........... Then a sign pole..........Then last spring I found a riveted tank a couple of hours away. At first, it was going to be "yard art". Somehow it morphed into a restoration. My wife got on board also. Information on horse drawn tank wagons is nill on the internet, so about all I had to go on was pictures. This is the story of the restoration process. To my knowledge, no one has posted about this before. We have learned quite a bit about horse drawn vehicles. The bad part of this is that when this is finished, we will primarily be going to parades, threshing bees, etc. But we will be ambassadors for petroliana. Please bear with me on this as my picture posting/resizing abilities are being tested. To some that may be easy, I have hours invested trying to do this and also a little help from Jim. So to start, the first picture is the tank when it came home. The running gear is totally worthless and not correct. The second picture is of a farm wagon that I went to Ohio for and hauled home on a flatbed. We took the box off the running gear and put it on another less desireable gear and put it in the yard. The third picture is of a gantry that had to be built and the first stages of marrying these two together. More to follow.

There has been a lot of thought that has to go into this project. All parts are handmade. A supply of square head nuts and bolts was procured. What is made/installed now cannot be in the way of something else down the line (this is the most important). We took the best designs/ideas (as we see it) and are incorporating them into this project. We do not own horses, nor do we intend on getting any, so we had to buy a UTV to pull it. It is also going to be set up so horses can pull it. This has to be pieced together all the way, and then taken apart to paint, then reassembled. After all this is done, an enclosed trailer will need to be purchased to put the UTV and the tank wagon in for transportation. This has turned from "yard art" into a full blown quest. So far, I have gone well above what I thought it would cost. It's not about the money, but about doing a project that is pretty rare. There have been some snafoos/happenings along the way which I'll share and you may get a chuckle. More pics. Making the frame.

Making sadles for the tank. Proper spacing for tank bungs, rear cabinet, and fitment for length on the running gear taken into consideration.

Wow! Tremendous undertaking! Thanks for sharing the process with us!

First picture, last post, handmade hardware to attach purchased springs to front bolster. Next we have straps made to hold tank to frame. A quick note on the frame, a VERY minimum of welds were added in the interest of safety. A supply of oak for the cabinet, seat and side steps. The cabinet being assembled on the wild frame.

Nice to have the space, tools and TALENT to do that. Looks good so far and looking forward to more posts of your progress and finished product.

The box with the doors in the background. and the front step and brake hardware.

Some of the cabinet hardware installed. Also, I had a local welding/fabrication shop roll and bend for drip lip, a top for the cabinet.

WOW what an undertaking ! Great Job that not many would tackle. This will be a generational piece for your family to enjoy for many years . Thanks for sharing .

A picture of the work area, working on the seat. And a picture of the seat.

The seat initially installed. 4 seat rods hand forged and threaded, each specifically made for it's position. Have to make minor tweaking on a couple of them. These are labeled so that when they are blasted and painted, they will be in the same position. All other items will be labeled so when they are blasted/cleaned and painted, they will go to the proper position. Custom made hardware on the seat for the rods to go through. Also making extra hardware for the seat sides because a grab handle for getting onto the wagon will be added later. Also, a buggy top is being added. My father in law discussing the project.

that is going too be killer when completed.. ...

What an awesome project Thanks for including us in on the fun!!!!

Nice work. Looking forward to seeing that done.

Squirrel,















Squirrel, My son and I giving each other military haircuts (there may be more squirrels). The beginning of the falling bow top. More to follow.

Awesome job. What a great project!



___________
Kurt

great project... tremendous work!

Awesome job Stu! I will have to check it out sometime.

A couple of pictures of what we have accomplished so far. My lovely wife early on. She really got behind this project when I agreed to include a falling bow top. Made the frame myself, and had a local upholsterer install the fabric. Squirrel, I contacted an Amish business that is not on the internet, catalog sales only, limited pictures of items, and asked the fine gentleman what I needed to complete this buggy top on this particular project. He told me what I needed and I ordered the parts. I got to looking at pictures of tops and ordered extra brackets that I thought would look good on this top. What do the Amish know, I know better. When I completed the top, I immediately realized that He was a little bit smarter than I was. So, fortunately, I had the original parts to complete this, and did so. Had a local upholsterer do the top ($1200 total). Pictures of this project so far.

Ooops. The other half of the equation.

That is looking great and will be a center piece for your collection. I especially like the beer in hand!

That is awesome ! Nice job on that old tanker wagon, love it.

Such an amazing project, Stu. Thanks for bringing us along.
Glad you got the image difficulty worked out. Very worth it!

Very cool project you have going on. Lots of history there to just sit and imagine the old days. You should be very proud of yourself. Thanks for the ride.

Stu, it looks fantastic... I found this image on the 'net. To my eyes, it looks "Oh so close"; to what you are doing:

Incredible. Mitch

Wow!! Now that is cool!! And great work!! Thanks for sharing!!!

Awesome job and love the Derby 42" outside by the driveway.

Your doing an amazing job. What branding do you have planned? (Forgive me if you've mentioned it) Did you bend the wood for the bow top? How many horses do you guys have? How many -and what type- will be pulling you guys around? Thanks so much for taking the time to let all of us in on this labor of love. So cool your whole family is involved.

That is really cool!

Very nice. Can't wait to see it completed!

Looks great!! Nice work!!!

I don't know how it is where you are, but I have two Clydesdale farms within an hour of me. They mostly do paid jobs, but maybe your project might be interesting enough if you have such a horse farm near you.

I know the owner of one of the farms (a funeral home) collects all kinds of carriages, and I would see him interested in at least trying something like that out. I took pictures of a mid-1800's hearse he had, that I used to help me with a painting I did that included a carriage from that era, for the shine/reflections in the polished exterior/hardware/wheels/paintjob/etc.

There are collectors in every field. And I bet also carriage horse associations. Here is a couple I found in your state.

http://www.bitsiowa.org/

http://www.midiowadriving.org/

Can't wait to see it finished, and behind a couple of horses!

That is so cool! Fantastic job!

Thank you, all, for the positive comments. To answer some questions. As much as this needs horses, we are not going to go that route. Expense, time and care involved. This will be set up so that it can be pulled by horses, but for now it will be pulled by a mule (Kawasaki). We have decided against branding, so it will be generic. Colors will be Phillips orange and black. With gold lettering for the signage. My wife picked the colors off a Phillips shield in the shop. The wheels are in So. Dak. @ Hansen wheel and wagon. We are having the hub bands tightened and rubber tires installed instead of the steel. Quieter, softer ride on pavement, and the wheels should stay tight longer. The oak bows for the top are steam bent and purchased from the Amish.

Damn !! Nice Work !!

GREAT JOB on the TANKER!! My Grandfather always talked about his 20's WHITE gas truck. He is the one on the left. The tank and rear cabinet look very similar to this one. Would these been retro-fitted from the horse drawn to these WHITE trucks? One thing that he always talked about was rod under or in the cabinet with washers on it. He would slide a washer over every time that he poured a 5 gallon bucket so that he could keep track to know what to bill the customer. j

Front view

I have noticed that the truck tanks are round and most of the horse drawn are elliptical. But, I don't see why they couldn't be fitted to a truck. I like the washer idea.

It looks like the center and right tank in the photograph may indeed be elliptical...

Excellent Job Stu, Thanks for posting.

Here is a smaller horse drawn tank wagon that has been restored.
There is a slider bar above the picture to zoom in.

Standard Oil Tank Wagon

Saw your pictures of horse drawn tank wagon.Was just wondering where you got the rear leaf springs and front ones for it? I have one to restore and was just wondering about the parts mentioned. Thanks Kevin Please call me 319 283 8347.

So, an interesting journey this has been the last year. Sent the wheels off to get rubber tires installed and the hub bands reset. That only took 4 1/2 months. After we got them back, I sat on my duff for about 6 months and did absolutely nothing to this project. I see now where folks start a restoration project (such as a car ), get a bunch of money invested and then lose interest. Now much more is invested than the project is worth finished. Then they try to sell it for an astronomical figure. And no one bites. Fortunately that did not happen here.
I took some days off starting around Labor day and took this all apart and sanded the wood and blasted the metal. We had a great autumn for painting. It took about 6 weeks to paint. I used a building that I previously used for road salt storage for my paint booth. A picture of modifying a pole (tongue) blank to fit the wagon. The booth. Blasting the front axle.

Some of the progress. There were 7 sets of painting, each had primer, first and second coat. The wheels had 5 coats. The wheel stands took 2 hours to make, but were well worth it. Just spin the wheel to paint where it was comfortable.

The first couple of rounds of painting were "fun", and a learning experience. The middle rounds were production and getting into the process. The last round I had had enough!

Now we have a lot of parts to put back together.

More pics.

Looks awesome!

And finally, a mostly completed project. Made a special hitch to pull this with the mule. Just got the polished/plated brass back. Waiting for the hand painted lettering guy to do his thing. I look back and realize how fortunate I am to have the facilities and knowledge to do a project like this, and I am thankful for that.

Oops.

Looks fantastic. Lots of hours in that project, and it shows!

WOW
A great example of what commitment and passion can accomplish.
Thanks for sharing the process.

Awesome Stu! I will have to check it out sometime.

Looks great, Stu!
People will really love to see it when it's all together. What a project!

Very nice! If only people had a clue as to the work that goes in to projects like these. But there are a lot of us that do know and really appreciate the efforts when we see them. Congrats on a great job....GB

Kind of forgot about this . Glad to see that is almost there . Great job and appreciate the dedication it took to complete this very big project . Awesome job .Congratulations .

Looks great. Will you put it in parades or display it somewhere around your home or business? Tim

So Sweet!!! Wow, now that is a project that required some commitment!! Great job!!

Fantastic!

Am in the process of and eventually will make contact with folks with teams of horses in the area/region. There is no way on this green earth that we are going to get and care for horses. For now it will be pulled with the mule and the special hitch. Mostly parades and threshing bees and the like. Not too many petroliana events around. Hopefully I'll be able to take it to It's a gas in 2018.

Super cool Stu!

Like a blast from the past.... or a bad penny, here we are again! In the last chapter, we were going to have the tank wagon lettering and striping hand painted. The painter wanted to do this at his location, so we had to buy the enclosed trailer before this painting. Special order, couple of months or so later it came. Take the wagon to him and a couple of months later it came back. Also had some valves brass plated and other brass polished/sealed. Have been to a couple of threshing bees and about 3 parades. Made contact with super nice folks down by Clarinda that have Shire horses. Don't know who was more excited about mating the horses and the wagon! So it was finally pulled by horses. Over three years later and this project is finally completed. So many positive comments about this from all kinds of folks. Looking forward to coming to It's a Gas this February.

Another pic.

WOW!! AWESOME restoration, very nice!!
Brian

Absolutely gorgeous! Well done. The horses are the finishing touch!

Well, that certainly buffed out nicely! Kidding aside you have done a masterful job, congratulations.